The feast of the Holy Great Martyr Procopius at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem

On Friday, July 21, 2023, the memory of the Holy Great Martyr Procopius was celebrated at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

On this feast, the Church commemorates from the Synaxarion that Saint Procopius came from the city of Aelia Capitolina, which is the later Jerusalem, and martyred during the reign of Diocletian around 290 in Caesarea in Palestine. He used to be a persecutor of Christians but was called by the Lord through a vision, a crystal cross and a voice saying to him “I am the crucified Jesus, the Son of God”.

Motivated by the vision, he came to Palestine and brought to the faith his mother Theodosia and others who had previously delivered him to Diocletian, he was beheaded and thus found the way to the heavenly kingdom.

In honour of Saint Procopius, Vespers was held on Thursday afternoon, which was presided over by Archimandrite Claudius and the Divine Liturgy in the morning in his chapel in Abou-Tor opposite the hill of Holy Zion, inside the Holy Monastery of Saint Modestos.

The Liturgy was led by the Spiritual Father of the Holy Monastery of Saint Savvas the Sanctified, Archimandrite Eudokimos, along with the Holy Sepulchre Hieromonks Claudius, Amfilochios and Bartholomew. The chanting was delivered by the Byzantine chanter of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Mr Angelos, and the service was attended by a congregation from Jerusalem, monks and nuns, praying in reverence and contrition.

During the Divine Liturgy His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem visited the Monastery for veneration accompanied by His Eminence Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina and Archdeacon Mark.

After the Divine Liturgy, a litany took place in the surrounding outdoor space of the Holy Church.

The Patriarch, the entourage and the congregation were offered a reception by the hardworking Caretaker of the Monastery monk Antiochos at the forecourt of the Church.

Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem

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