Patriarchate of Jerusalem: The Feast of the Veneration of the Holy Cross at the Monastery of the Holy Cross
On Sunday, 17th/30th March, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, commemorating our venerable Father John Climacus of Sinai, Author of the Ladder, and one week after the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross, the feast of the veneration of the Holy Cross took place at the ancient Holy Monastery of the Holy Cross, located in Western Jerusalem, near the Jewish Knesset.
The feast was celebrated traditionally on this Sunday at the aforementioned Holy Monastery, as it was in this area that Lot, upon leaving Sodom, planted the threefold wood—a combination of cedar, cypress, and pine—during his time of repentance, from which the cross was made, the one upon which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified.
The feast and the Divine Liturgy were led by His Eminence Metropolitan Hesychios of Capitolias, with Archimandrites Nektarios, Ignatios, Amphilochios, Claudius, Hierodeacon Eulogios, and Deacon Eustathios concelebrating, along with the Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod, Hierodeacon Simeon, who chanted with the students of the Patriarchal School of Zion. The service was attended by the members of the Greek community of Western Jerusalem, in the presence of the General Consul of Greece in Jerusalem, Mr Dimitrios Angelosopoulos, and the consulate staff. Among the guests were the Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Nicosia, His Eminence Metropolitan Timotheos of Bostra, and Professor Spiridon Tsitsingos of the Theological School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
During the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem visited the Holy Monastery for veneration, accompanied by Archdeacon Mark and other Holy Sepulchre Fathers.
After the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Procession of the Veneration of the Cross took place, followed by a festive offering and a meal, provided by Archimandrite Christodoulos at the monastery’s rectory for the Patriarchal and Archiepiscopal entourages and in the monastery courtyard for all the faithful.
From the Secretariat-General
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
