On Thursday, February 15, 2024, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the Despotic Feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple in the Patriarchal and Monastic Church of the patrons of the Patriarchate Saints Constantine and Helen, presided over by Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem with the attendance of the High Priests and Priests of the Brotherhood.
The feast was also celebrated at the Holy Monastery of Panagia Sayda Naya, near the Patriarchate in the Christian quarter.
On this occasion, Vespers was held in the evening and the Divine Liturgy in the morning in the above-mentioned Monastery, presided over by the Elder Secretary-General, Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, with concelebrants the Archimandrites; Ieronymos and Makarios, the Presbyters Fr. Farah Badur and Father Nikolaos Kulinsky, Hierodeacons Eulogios and Dositheos. The chanting was delivered by the Secretary of the Holy Synod, Hierodeacon Simeon and the Patriarchal School Students in Greek and by Rimon Kamar and his assistants from Saint James Cathedral.
The service was attended by monks, nuns, pilgrims and members of the parish of Saint James the Brother of God, in the presence of the Greek Consul Anna Madika and other members of the Greek Consulate General and the wife of the US Consul in Jerusalem.
Before the Holy Communion, the Metropolitan preached the divine word about the ecclesiological and theological interpretation and significance of this feast.
During the Divine Liturgy, the Patriatch visited the Monastery for veneration with the Holy Sepulchre Fathers.
The Patriarchal and Episcopal Entourages and the congregation were offered a rich reception by the Abbess, nun Seraphima, who has renovated the Holy Monastery and maintains it as a functional Spiritual Centre.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
