On January 14, 2026, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the Dominical Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the commemoration of Saint Basil the Great with an All-night Vigil and the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, in the order of parrhesia, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
During this feast, hymns of the Menaion were chanted, among which foremost were the Apolytikia: “Thou didst assume human form unchangeably” and “Into all the earth hath gone forth the sound of thy voice…”.
The Divine Liturgy and the entire feast and solemn celebration were presided over by His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, with the co-celebration of their Eminences the Archbishops; Theophanes of Gerash; the Elder Chief Secretary, Aristarchos of Constantina; and the Exarch in Constantinople, Nektarios of Anthedon; together with Holy Sepulchre Hieromonks, among whom the Elder of Kamarasis, Archimandrite Nektarios; the Elder Dragouman and Master of Ceremonies, Archimandrite Mattheos; the Exarch in Athens, Archimandrite Hieronymos; the Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod, Archimandrite Christodoulos; the Archimandrites Claudius, Amphilochios, Dionysios, Raphael, and Callistos; priests of the Church; the Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem (MISSIA), Archimandrite Vassianos; the representative of the Patriarchate of Romania, Archimandrite Ioannis; the Archdeacon Markos and other Hierodeacons; with the honourable presence of the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem, Mr Dimitrios Angelosopoulos, Ms Anna Mantika, and other diplomatic representatives; and with the prayerful participation of many faithful.
After the Dismissal of the Divine Liturgy, the procession commenced with the relic of the right hand of Saint Basil the Great, making three circuits around the Holy Sepulchre and proceeding through the Holy Shrines, concluding in the Katholikon with the hymn “Who is a great God like unto our God.”
Finally, through the hospitality of the Elder Sacristan, Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis, in his office, the Vasilopita was cut by the Patriarch and distributed to the congregation.
The Patriarch also cut the Vasilopita in the morning at the Epitropikon after the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great in the monastic Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, and at midday in the monastic refectory of the Holy Sepulchre Fathers.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
