The Feast of Saint Anthony the Great at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem

On Tuesday, January 17/30, 2024, the commemoration of Saint Anthony the Great was celebrated by the Patriarchate in his chapel, located in the Southern section of the Holy Altar of the Church of Saint Nicholas near the Patriarchate.

On this day, the Church remembers that Anthony the Great was born in Egypt in 251. After his parents died, he distributed his belongings and left for the desert. In it, he lived for forty years in extreme ascesis, prayer, fasting and silence, as the troparia of the day of his memory say, “imitating the manners of the zealous Elias” and “following the footsteps of John the Baptist”.

Through his manner of living, thousands of monks came to him, of whom he became a rule of solitary life, a legislator and a statesman. He reached extreme apathy and saw the souls of people when they departed from this world through heaven. He recognised and made known to the Church the great ascetic Paul of Thebes, but he also comforted the Christians who came to Alexandria, when persecution was declared against them by Maximinus in 312.

He also helped the Christians against the attacks of the Arians in 335. He proclaimed the Orthodox faith, in which he brought back many from those who had fallen into fallacy and slept in the Lord on the 17th of January 356 at the age of 105. His biography was written by Athanasios the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria, who was connected to him through a close spiritual friendship.

In the above-mentioned chapel, Vespers were celebrated on Monday afternoon and the Divine Liturgy on Tuesday morning by Archimandrite Claudius with the co-celebration of Archdeacon Mark, with the chanting of Fr Ioannis Aouad. The services were attended by monks, nuns, members of the Greek Consulate in Jerusalem and faithful Christians from Jerusalem, who received the warm hospitality of Archdeacon Mark who is responsible for the Monastery and also its renovator.

From Secretariat-General

Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem