On Monday June 3, 2019, the Patriarchate and the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood celebrated the commemoration of the Holy Glorious Sovereigns and Equals to the Apostles Constantine and Helen.
Saints Constantine and Helen are celebrated by the Church as equals to the Apostles due the Mediolanon decree in 312 A.D., by Constantine the Great, which allowed the Christians to freely exercise their religious duties, it allowed the freedom to spread Christianity and construct churches. First among which was the Church of the Resurrection which was built by Saint Helen between the years 326-336 A.D. when she had visited the Holy Land.
The Hagiotaphite Brotherhood honours Saint Helen as its founder and for this reason the Monastic Church is dedicated to her and her son Saint Constantine.
In this Church, Vespers was held in the evening, led by Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos and the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the morning, officiated by the Patriarch, with co-celebrants Hagiotaphite Hieromonks, with first in rank Archimandrite Alexios the Typikon Keeper, and ministering Priests of the Church.
The chanting was delivered by the Choir Leader of the Church Archimandrite Eusevios on the right and the Choir Leader of the Church of the Resurrection Constantinos Spyropoulos on the left, with the participation in prayer of Hagiotaphite Archbishops and Priests, the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Christos Sophianopoulos and many faithful Christians.
In the evening after Vespers, there was a reception with the boiled wheat and dried bread, while in the morning there was the official return to the Patriarchate Headquarters, the distribution of small loaves of bread as a blessing, by the supervisor of the bakery Nun Seraphima, and finally the address of the Patriarch.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem