On Friday, February 23, 2024, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the feast of the Holy Hieromartyr Charalambos in the Holy Monastery, which is adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the north and near the Gate through which the Lord passed to Golgotha, which is also known as the 8th Station of Via Dolorosa.
On this feast, the Church remembers that Saint Charalambos was a priest in Magnesia in Thessaly and martyred as a confessor of Christ during the reign of Severus and ruler of Magnesia Lucian in the year 198.
Saint Charalambos is venerated by the faithful as the saint who protects from the plague and other infectious diseases.
Saint Charalambos was honoured in the above-mentioned Monastery with Vespers on Thursday afternoon and the Divine Liturgy on Friday morning, presided over by Archbishop Theophanes of Jerash, with Archimandrites Philoumenos and Amfilochios, the Presbyter Charalambos Bandur and Hierodeacon Dositheos. The chanting was delivered by Hierodeacon Simeon and the students of the Patriarchal School of Zion, in the presence of members of the Greek Consulate General in Jerusalem, nuns and monks and lay members of the Church.
Before the Holy Communion, the Archbishop preached the Divine Word on the holiness, martyrdom and antiquity of the Holy Martyr Charalambos in the Orthodox Church, as well as his protection for the Orthodox believers.
During the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Monastery was visited by Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem with Holy Sepulchre Fathers for veneration.
The Patriarchal and Episcopal entourages and the people were offered a reception by the zealous guardian of the Monastery, Archimandrite Kallistos.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem