On Wednesday, on the 6th of May 2026, coinciding with the feast of Mid-Pentecost in the Pentecostarion, the Patriarchate celebrated the commemoration of the martyrdom of the Holy Great Martyr George the Trophy-Bearer.
On this feast, the Church commemorates that Saint George, being of Cappadocian father and Palestinian mother—of Lydda—had enlisted and distinguished himself in the Roman army and departed for Rome in order to obtain higher military honours.
While in Rome, he came to perceive the persecutions being wrought against the Christians; whereupon he revealed himself, confessed Christ, and endured the death of martyrdom under Diocletian in the year 303.
According to his testament to one of his servants, his precious relic was conveyed to Lydda, the city of his mother’s origin, where it was buried and preserved until such time as Saint Helen erected a magnificent church over his tomb.
The Church celebrates the memory of his martyrdom on the 23rd of April, and that of the translation of his relic on the 3rd of November.
The Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the feast of his martyrdom at his Holy Monastery in the Old City, wherein the ever-memorable Patriarch of Jerusalem Chrysanthos also established a hospital, from which the Monastery derives its name, namely, “Saint George of the Hospital.”
The Vespers on the eve and the Divine Liturgy in the morning were presided over by the Elder Chief Secretary, Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, concelebrating with the Archimandrites Philoumenos and Makarios, and Hierodeacon Cornelius, with the nuns of the Patriarchate chanting, and with the preparation, hospitality, and care of the nun Pansemni, and the participation of monks, nuns, and devout pilgrims.
During the Divine Liturgy, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, came for veneration, accompanied by Holy Sepulchre Fathers.
The commemoration of the martyrdom of Saint George was also celebrated at his Holy Monastery situated at the southernmost end of the Old City before the Zion Gate, with Vespers on the eve and the Divine Liturgy in the morning, at which Archbishop Theophanes of Gerrash presided, along with the Elder Dragoman Archimandrite Matthaios, the Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod Archimandrite Christodoulos, Archimandrite Claudius, the Priest George Baramki, and the Archdeacon Mark, with Archimandrite Dositheos chanting together with the students of the Patriarchal School of Zion, and with the participation of devout faithful honouring the Saint, through the preparation, hospitality, and reception of the Supervisor, the Hierodeacon Prodromos.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
