On Thursday, May 21, 2026, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of the Ascension in accordance with the Pentecostarion.
On this feast, the Church commemorates with joy and gladness, according to the accounts of the Holy Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, that the Lord, while His disciples looked on, was taken up from them into Heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father, bearing the human nature which He had assumed in the Incarnation (Acts, chapter 1).
This event was celebrated at the very place where it occurred, namely, on the Mount of Olives. At this holy shrine of the Ascension, Vespers were celebrated on the eve of the feast, presided over by Metropolitan Joachim of Helenopolis. Thereafter, the Small Compline was read, and a procession with the holy icon took place as far as the shrine of the Galili Viri, where His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, was awaiting them. The procession there paid its respects to His Beatitude, together with the Elder Chief Secretary, His Eminence Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina.
On the morning of the feast, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the shrine by Metropolitan Joachim of Helenopolis, concelebrating with the Archimandrites Nektarios and Claudius, the Priests Farah and Elias, clergy from the Orthodox Patriarchates of Moscow and Romania, and Hierodeacon Prodromos. The chanting was offered by the chief cantor of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Deacon Efstathios, together with the students of the Patriarchal School of Zion, in the presence of many local pilgrims.
During this Divine Liturgy, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem attended for veneration together with members of the Holy and Sacred Synod. Thereafter, His Beatitude visited the Sheikh residing at the neighbouring mosque, as a gesture of good neighbourly relations. He then visited the Holy Monastery of the Ascension opposite the shrine, where he was warmly received by the monk Achillios, who has excellently restored the monastery.
Subsequently, the Patriarch visited the Russian Monastery of the Ascension belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), where Metropolitan Mark of Berlin was celebrating the Divine Liturgy. Finally, he visited the Monastery of the Galili Viri, where the reverend Nun Danielia, who diligently oversees the preservation, maintenance, and dignity of the shrine, warmly welcomed and offered refreshments to His Beatitude and his entourage.
The Episcopal entourage was likewise offered festive hospitality by the monk Achillios and by Nun Danielia.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
