On the evening of the feast of the Ascension, June 6, 2019, at the ceremony held at Paradise Hotel by Rachel’s Tomb, which belongs to the Roum-Orthodox Christian Athanasios Abu-Aeta, Patriarch of Jerusalem gave medal awards to 7 choir members of the Community of Beit Sahour, who have been distinguished for a number of years for their keeping and cultivation of our traditional Byzantine Music.
The ceremony was attended by the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Christos Sophianopoulos, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patra, the Spiritual Father of St. Savvas the Sanctified Lavra, Archimandrite Eudokimos, the Hegoumen of the Monastery of the Shepherds and of Beit Jalla, Archimandrite Ignatios, Priest Issa Mousleh and Fr. Savvas Her, Priests of Beit Sahour Community and many members of the Beit Sahour Parish, and the relatives of the awarded with the distinction of the Order of the Cross Bearers of the Holy Sepulchre.
The awarded choir members, Mr. Hanna Judeh, Mr. Elias Andraos Banoura, Mr. Kareem Saliba Kokali, Mr. George Bassil Abu Etah, Mr. Raed Nasri Al Atrash, Mr. Khader Ibrahim Saeed, Mr. Zuneir Qumsieh, thanked Patriarch and expressed their willingness to always support the Patriarchate and promote the studying of the angelic and heavenly Byzantine Music.
Thanking the host of the ceremony and Hotel owner, Mr. Abu Aeta, Patriarch Theophilos offered him an icon of the Theotokos of Jerusalem.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem