On Sunday, July 12, 2020, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the commemoration of the Holy Glorious and Chiefs of the Apostles Peter and Paul at the Monastery dedicated to them in the seaside deserted town of Capernaum at the north-west bank of the sea of Tiberias.
The Church of this Monastery was erected by the memorable Patriarch of Jerusalem Damianos in 1935, it was then maintained by the memorable Metropolitan Germanos of Petra and finally the Monastery was renovated and projected by the current caretaker Monk Eirinarchos, who also decorated it with Byzantine frescoes and icons.
On this feast the Church honours Apostle Peter, brother of Apostle Andrew, who was born in Bethesda of Galilee and followed the Lord from the beginning. Apostle Peter denied the Lord on the night of His Passion, but repented at the rooster’s crow and was again received by the Lord after the Resurrection with the words “Peter, lovest thou me?” He became an Apostle and witness and martyr of the Lord, preaching Him and His mission in places of Asia, Pontus, Cilicia and elsewhere.
The Church honours likewise Apostle Paul, as a former persecutor of the Church who was called by the Lord through a vision on his way to Damascus, and accepted the call, becoming a chosen vessel and preached Christ more than all other Apostles, in the Mediterranean, and as far as Rome, which is why he was distinguished as the Apostle of the nations.
In honour these Chiefs of the Apostles the Patriarch of Jerusalem officiated at the Divine Liturgy in the aforementioned Monastery with co-celebrants their Eminences Metropolitans Kyriakos of Nazareth and Joachim of Helenoupolis, and Archbishop Aristovoulos of Madaba, at the chanting of Monk Nickolaos, with the participation of only a few faithful due to the increase of the COVID-19 patients again.
After the Divine Liturgy the hardworking caretaker of the Monastery Monk Eirinarchos hosted a meal for Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem and His entourage.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
