The Sunday after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the Monastery of the Cross, Jerusalem

On Sunday, September 16/29, 2024, the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, this feast was celebrated in the Holy Monastery of the Holy Cross, located in West Jerusalem near the Jewish Parliament.

The feast is celebrated again in this Holy Historical Monastery, in which the historical Theological School of the Patriarchate functioned from the year 1845 to the year 1909, due to the tradition that the three-composite wood of pine, cypress, and cedar was planted in this area under the order of the Patriarch Abraham. On this wood, the immaculate Body of our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for our salvation.

The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the morning of the feast, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, with con-celebrants the Archimandrites Meletios, Stephanos, Klaudios, Seraphim, the visiting from Greece Archimandrite Stephanos and Hierodeacon Simeon. The chanting was delivered by the Byzantine choir leader of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Mr Eustathios Tsoumanis with the Patriarchal School of Sion students. The Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Dimitrios Angelosopoulos, attended the service as well as local believers from Jerusalem and other cities.

Before the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre Fathers visited the Monastery for veneration and blessed the people.

After the Divine Liturgy, the Hegoumen Archimandrite Christodoulos, who with zeal and dedication takes care of the matters of the Holy Church and the Monastery, hosted a meal for His Beatitude and His entourage and some members of the congregation, among whom, the Consul General, and the conservator of icons and books Mr Stavros Andreou, who prepares the space to host the Institute of Biblical and Theological Studies of the Patriarchate.

From the General Secretariat

Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem