On Thursday, 29th May 2025, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of the Ascension into Heaven of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, when He, having deified the human nature He assumed, sat at the right hand of God the Father, and from there sent the Comforter—the Holy Spirit—to His disciples, and by extension, to all of us.
This great Feast of the Lord was celebrated at the very site of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives, following the accounts of the Evangelists (Acts, Chapter 1), with a Vespers service on the eve and a Divine Liturgy in the morning. His Eminence Metropolitan Hesychios of Capitolias presided, concelebrated by Hieromonks of the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, Arabic-speaking priests from the Cathedral of Saint James the Brother of the Lord, representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchates of Moscow, Romania, and Serbia. The chanting was led by the chief cantor Deacon Efstathios with students of the Patriarchal School of Zion in Greek and the choir of Saint James in Arabic, with the prayerful participation of a significant number of pilgrims.
Following Vespers, a procession took place to the Monastery of the Galilean Men, where His Beatitude, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, received His Eminence and his entourage. There, the Gospel of the Ascension was read.
On the main day of the feast, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem visited the Holy Site of the Ascension, accompanied by members of the Holy and Sacred Synod.
Subsequently, the Patriarch sat with the Imam of the adjacent mosque, under the customary practice aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence. He then visited the nearby Holy Monastery of the Ascension, where he was welcomed by the Supervisor and restorer of the monastery, Monk Achillios.
The Patriarch also visited the nearby Monastery of the Ascension of the Russian Church Abroad (ROCOR), where he was received by Metropolitan Mark, Metropolitan Nicholas, Archimandrite Romanos, and the newly appointed Abbess of the Mount of Olives Monastery, Judith. He bestowed his blessing upon her and the faithful congregation.
Finally, the Patriarch visited the Holy Monastery of the Galilean Men (Galilaioi Viri). There he was welcomed by the caretaker and renovator of the monastery, Nun Daniilia, who offered a festive treat to His Beatitude and his entourage, as well as to the Hierarchical Delegation, which visited the monastery after the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, accompanied by chanters and seminarians from the Patriarchal School of Zion.
This feast, encompassing the Holy Monasteries of the Jerusalem Patriarchate on the Mount of Olives and the surrounding Russian monasteries, bestows grace, strength, and blessings upon the faithful celebrating the Ascended Lord, our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who fulfilled the Divine Plan for our salvation and confirmed for us through His blessing that we shall see Him “as He is.”
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
