On Thursday, 25 June 2026, the Patriarchate celebrated the commemoration of our Venerable Ascetic Fathers Onuphrius the Egyptian and Peter of Mount Athos.
Saint Onuphrius first lived in a coenobitic monastery in Hermopolis, in the Thebaid of Egypt. Emulating Saint John the Baptist and the Prophet Elijah, he withdrew into the depths of the desert, where he lived for sixty years, sustaining himself on herbs and dwelling in complete nakedness.
By divine providence, Saint Paphnutius discovered him a few days before his repose and heard from him the account of his life. After the Saint’s death, Paphnutius covered his body with a portion of his own garment and buried him, his body being clothed only by his long beard.
The memory of this holy ascetic was celebrated at the monastery dedicated to his name, situated in the biblical Potter’s Field (Hebrew: Akeldama), the “Field of Blood,” which the Pharisees purchased “to bury strangers in”, and which lies opposite the Pool of Siloam.
At this monastery, Patriarch of Jerusalem, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, presided at the Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating with him were their Eminences the Archbishops Aristarchos of Constantina and Philoumenos of Pella, Holy Sepulchre Hieromonks, with first in rank the Elder Kamarasis, Archimandrite Nektarios, Archimandrite Nektarios, Abbot of the Monastery of Omblou of the Holy Metropolis of Patras and Spiritual Father of the Monastery, the Archimandrites Claudius, Raphael, Stephen and others, Fr Yousef Khondali, priest of the village of Beit Jala, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Fr Prodromos.
Also participating were monks, nuns, and faithful of the Church of Jerusalem. The chanting was led by the Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod, Archimandrite Christodoulos, together with Archimandrite Eirenaios. Present also was the Consul of Greece in Jerusalem, Mrs Anna Mantika.
To the assembled faithful, His Beatitude delivered the following sermon in Greek:
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God… The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:14–17).
Beloved brethren in Christ,
Pious Christians and pilgrims,
The grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us all together in this sacred Monastery of Saint Onuphrius, situated upon the holy Scriptural site known as the “Potter’s Field,” which was called the “Field of Blood” (cf. Matthew 27:7–8), that we may celebrate the sacred memory of our Venerable and God-bearing Father Onuphrius the Egyptian.
Our Father Onuphrius, being of Egyptian origin, fled into the depths of the desert, following the example of the greatest among the Prophets, John the Forerunner, and of the Prophet Elijah the Thesbite. There he lived in the wilderness for sixty years, never beholding another human being throughout that entire period. It was there that the great Paphnutius found him in the place of his ascetic struggle, after journeying through the desert for seventeen days. Having met Saint Onuphrius, he learned from him both his name and the story of his life. The God-minded Onuphrius was counted worthy of beholding the ineffable beauty, that is, the supernatural beauty of God, having fulfilled in both practice and contemplation the commandment of the Lord, Who says: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).
Interpreting these words of the Lord, “and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21), Saint Cyril of Alexandria says: “Discourses concerning the vision of God shall be pure among the pure. Christ shineth forth within them through His own Spirit, enlightening each one according to what is needful, and revealing Himself, making Himself manifest through certain ineffable illuminations of the mind. Blessed and worthy of emulation are those who have once and for all chosen this path. Such a one, I think, is the Prophet David when he says: ‘I will hear what God the Lord will speak in me’ (Psalm 84[85]:8 LXX). Likewise, the divine Apostle says: ‘Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me’ (2 Corinthians 13:3). For Christ speaks in the saints through the Spirit concerning Himself, and furthermore reveals to them other mysteries. Therefore, those who have attained an exact understanding of these things sometimes say, ‘But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 2:10), and at other times, ‘But we have the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16), calling His Spirit the mind of Christ.”
And, in simpler terms, interpreting the Lord’s saying, “I will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21), Saint Cyril of Alexandria teaches: “To the pure, teachings concerning the vision of God are themselves pure. Christ shines forth within them through His own Spirit, guiding and enlightening them with His light in all things that they need. He reveals Himself and makes Himself known through ineffable spiritual illuminations. Those who have once and for all chosen this path are blessed and worthy of imitation. Such, I believe, is the Prophet David when he says: ‘I will hear what God the Lord will speak in me’ (Psalm 84[85]:8 LXX). Likewise, the divine Paul says: ‘Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me’ (2 Corinthians 13:3). Christ speaks of Himself to the saints through the Holy Spirit and reveals yet further mysteries to them.
For this very reason, the saints who know these things sometimes say, ‘But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 2:10), and at other times, ‘But we have the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16), by ‘mind’ meaning the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ.”
In this interpretative teaching of Saint Cyril, we understand with complete clarity and precision what is meant by the vision of God, that is, the deification and perfection in Christ of the saints of the Church, appealing to the unfailing and divinely revealed truth borne witness to by the Prophets and Apostles in the Holy Scriptures.
Such a blessed and zealous man, and indeed a worthy imitator of the holy Prophets Elijah and John the Forerunner, was revealed to be our Venerable Father Onuphrius through his ascetic and eremitical life. Therefore, Christ shone forth in him through His own Holy Spirit, as the hymnographer proclaims: “Having received within thy heart the spiritual and heavenly Light, thou wast shown forth, O Onuphrius, as a vessel of the Immaculate Trinity; and now thou hast been numbered with the Angels, crying aloud: Alleluia.”
It is noteworthy that the spiritual and heavenly Light which our Father Onuphrius received within his heart is Christ Himself, as the hymnographer expresses succinctly: “Having made thy dwelling wholly in Christ, O glorious one, and having cast aside the fleeting glory of the world, thou dost worthily enjoy His glory, O Onuphrius, ever-memorable one, rejoicing with everlasting joy.”
Indeed, my beloved brethren, the God-bearing Onuphrius received the whole Christ within his soul, renouncing the fleeting glory of this world. Therefore, like another Paul, he was “caught up into paradise” (2 Corinthians 12:4), and thus became a partaker and fellow-heir of the glory of God. And Paradise is the heavenly commonwealth of the saints of the Church, as the divine Paul proclaims: “For our conversation is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). The wise Paul says this so that we may reflect that: “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Hebrews 13:14).
The sacred celebration of the saints, venerable fathers, and righteous ones by the Church reminds us, according to Saint Basil the Great, of her true adornment, that is, the saints themselves, such as the Venerable Fathers whom we commemorate today, Onuphrius the Egyptian and Peter of Athos, who became companions of the Angels.
Therefore, beloved brethren, let us beseech our Venerable Father Onuphrius, who has clothed himself with Christ and made Him his dwelling-place, that he may intercede for the salvation of our souls. And to the Most Holy Theotokos and Mother of God let us say with the hymnographer: “As a radiant cloud, O Mother, thou bearest in thine arms Christ, the Sun beyond all understanding. Through Him illumine my soul, dispelling the darkness of the passions, and make it shine with the light of dispassion, O Birthgiver of God.”
Many blessed and peaceful returns!”
After the Divine Liturgy, a Memorial Service was chanted for the repose of the soul of the departed Nun Seraphima of the Monastery. Furthermore, since we have now entered the season of summer, His Beatitude read the Prayer for the Blessing of the Fruits.
Thereafter, refreshments of seasonal fruits were offered in the Abbess’s Residence by the Abbess, Nun Paisia, who maintains the Monastery in excellent order and continues the work of her blessed predecessors, the Holy Sepulchre Metropolitan Germanos of Petra and Archimandrite Kallistos, of blessed memory.
Source and photos: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
