Jdeidat Artouz - Syria, March 30, 2024

Under the blessings and guidance of His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and President of the Middle East Counci of Churches for the Orthodox Family, and as part of the ongoing series of activities aimed at promoting the values of the Christian family, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, held the second workshop titled "The Family: Joy of Life" at the Church of Saint George in Jdeidat Artouz. This workshop was dedicated to the Parishioners of Churches in the Southern rural areas of Damascus. It included a series of seminars and activities focusing on the role of the family, the challenges it faces, and the principles and values upon which it is built. Special emphasis was placed on the importance of communal life within the family unit.

Thirty-four families from Jdeidat, Qatana, Sahnaya, Al-Zabadani, and Bloudan participated in this daylong event. The workshop concluded with a lecture delivered by Dr. Maher Ammari titled "The Family: Awareness, Joy, and Responsibility."

You can find in the video message to the Parishioners of Gaza. from His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Eminence Mgr William Shomali, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, Parish Priest Of Gaza, and Fr. Davide Meli, Chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

On the occasion of Easter 2024, His Eminence Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar, Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and The Holy Land (ELCJHL), delivered a message, which you can listen to it in the following video.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, delivered his weekly sermon at the Wednesday meeting on March 20th 2024, from the Church of St. Anba Anthony at the Papal Residence in Cairo, without a public presence. The sermon was broadcast on Christian satellite channels, the Official Website of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the COC channel of the Church’s Media Center on the Internet.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II began a new series of sermons under the title “Ways of Providing Love and Support” by linking them to the Sundays of Holy Lent. H.H. pointed out the characteristics of love as follows:1- It is the essence of God’s nature and being.

2- It is the highest human emotion.

3- It is the path of holiness and continues with man on earth and continues with him even when he is in heaven.“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”‭‭(I Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭13‬)

4- Acquiring it constitutes a person’s credit in heaven.“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”‭‭(I John‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬)

Damascus, March 24, 2024

With the blessing and presence of His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and President of the Middle East Counci of Churches for the Orthodox Family, His Eminence Bishop Moussa (Al-Khoury) officiated the Annunciation Divine Liturgy in Barzeh, attended by several Priests and with the presence of His Grace Bishop Romanos (Al-Hannat).

During the Sermon, His Beatitude Patriarch John X greeted everyone on the occasion of the Annunciation, which marks the beginning of the plan of salvation. His Beatitude also emphasized that the family is the nucleus of God's work and the cornerstone of society.

Damascus, March 24, 2024

His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and President of the Middle East Counci of Churches for the Orthodox Family, celebrated the Sunday of Orthodoxy Liturgy at the Mariamiyah Patriarchal Cathedral, with the participation of Bishops: Their Grace Bishop Romanos (Al-Hannat), Moussa (Al-Khoury), and Ioannis (Batach), along with many Priests and Deacons. During the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch John X ordained Deacon Kyrillos Qubbajeh as a Priest of the Lord, and Brother Fadi Abu Sbeiha as a Deacon, bearing the name Nektarios. At the end of the Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch John X congratulated the newly ordained, invoking holiness upon them and their families.

Damascus, March 23, 2024

His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and President of the Middle East Counci of Churches for the Orthodox Family, received His Beatitude Patriarch Youssef Al-Absi, Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholics, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches, accompanied by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolas Antiba. Also present at the meeting was His Eminence Bishop Moussa Al-Khoury, which was held at the Patriarchal Headquarters in Damascus.

On March 23, 2024, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches, received his brother in Christ His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches, at the Patriarchal Residence in Atchaneh, Lebanon.

His Holiness Catholicos Aram I was accompanied by His Eminence Nareg Alemezian, Ecumenical Officer at the Armenian Orthodox Catholicosate, and Rev. Fr. Sarkis Aprahamian.

From the Secretariat-General of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

The Sunday of the 11th / 24th of March 2024 was celebrated by the Patriarchate as the first Sunday of Lent and as the Sunday of Orthodoxy, that is, as a memory of the restoration of the holy icons after more than a hundred years of unholy and impious persecution against them.

This feast was celebrated as a triumph of the icons due to their return to the Holy Churches by the Patriarch of Constantinople Methodios and the Empress Theodora and her son Michael. Empress Theodora asked God for forgiveness for her husband, Emperor Theophilos the fighter of the icons, through a litany. Since then, the Church unwaveringly and undisturbedly honours the holy icons as a certification and confirmation of the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

From the Secretariat-General of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

The Sunday of the 11th / 24th of March 2024 was celebrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem as the first Sunday of Lent and as the Sunday of Orthodoxy, that is, as a memory of the restoration of the holy icons after more than a hundred years of unholy and impious persecution against them.

This feast was celebrated as a triumph of the icons due to their return to the Holy Churches by the Patriarch of Constantinople Methodios and the Empress Theodora and her son Michael. Empress Theodora asked God for forgiveness for her husband, Emperor Theophilos the fighter of the icons, through a litany. Since then, the Church unwaveringly and undisturbedly honours the holy icons as a certification and confirmation of the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

JERUSALEM - On Sunday, March 24th, 2024, His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, presided over the Palm Sunday celebrations, with the participation of Mgr. William Shomali, Patriarchal General Vicar, Fr. Francesco Patton, the Custos of the Holy Land, and many bishops, priests and faithful.

The celebrations began at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, where His Beatitude blessed the palm and olive branches and led a procession around the tomb, remembering Christ's royal entry into Jerusalem before the beginning of Holy Week, while the Gospel of the Passion according to the Evangelist Mark was read.

At noon, the faithful gathered at Betphage Monastery to start the traditional procession to the Monastery of St. Anne. Indeed, small in numbers compared to previous years, but with faith and unity, many people from Jerusalem and Galilee, different monastic orders and a few pilgrims who came to show solidarity and pray with the people of the Holy City, prayers were raised in the streets for peace and the cessation of war, while raising the voice of praise to Jesus Christ the true King and victor over the darkness.

At eleven o’clock this morning, in the Church of Virgin Mary and Saint Mark the Apostle in the Parkview area of ​​Johannesburg, Funeral Prayers were held for the three monks who were martyred following a criminal incident on Tuesday inside their Monastery, the Monastery of Saint Mark the Apostle and Saint Samuel the Confessor in South Africa. They are:

– The Monk Hegumen Takla El-Samuely

– The Monk Mina Ava Markos

– The Monk Yostos Ava Markos

The Funeral Prayers were prayed by His Eminence Metropolitan Antonious Markos, Metropolitan of South Africa and the delegation appointed by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, to attend the prayer: His Grace Bishop Boules, (General Bishop of Evangelism in Africa), His Grace Bishop Joseph (Bishop of Namibia and its affiliated regions), and Father Elisha Rezk, (priest of St. Mark’s Church in Washington).

“But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses” (2 Cor. 6:4)

Today, three monks were subjected to a criminal attack in our Coptic monastery of Saint Mark the Apostle and Saint Samuel the Confessor in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The attack resulted in the martyrdom of the three monks:-The Monk Hegumen Takla El-Samuely (deputy of the diocese of South Africa)-The Monk Yostos Ava Markos-The Monk Mina Ava Markos…

On Tuesday the 12th of March 2024, the prayers of the Liturgy for the Sanctification of the Holy Myron Oil were held, followed by the Liturgy of the Galileon Oil, and the prayers concluded with the Eucharist for the Day of the Sanctification of the Holy Myron and the Galileon, and the chapters of whose readings are for this event.His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, arrived at nine in the morning of March 12 at the Cathedral of the Monastery of Saint Bishoy in Wadi Natroun, accompanied by the Metropolitans and Bishops. His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, began the first step of the Holy Myron Ritual, which is the “Liturgy for the Sanctification of the Holy Myron Oil,” where the eight vessels containing the Holy Myron Oil were placed inside the altar, before beginning prayers in preparation for sanctification.

The Chrismation Liturgy, as well as the Galileon Sanctification Liturgy, is distinguished by the fact that they have a ritual arrangement that follows the same pattern as the usual Divine Liturgy, with some differences represented in the texts of the prayers and requests, which focus on requests for the sanctification of the oil. In the Chrismation Liturgy, the Book of Song of Solomon is read along with the readings of the Pauline Epistle, the Catholic Epistle, the Praxis, the Psalm, and the Gospel.Among the prayers, there is a unique ritual that is performed only during the consecration of the Chrism. It is the ritual of the session that took place inside the altar, during which His Holiness carried the book of Masagogy, meaning (the teaching of faith), and walked around with it three times, along with a number of the church’s bishops.

From the Secretariat-General of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

On Sunday, February 26/March 10, 2024, the commemoration of the Holy Martyr Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza, was celebrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the Holy Monastery named after him in the currently afflicted city of Gaza.

On this Feast, the whole Church, especially that of Jerusalem, remembers that Saint Porphyrios, originally from Thessalonica, came to the Holy Land and was ordained a Priest and then Bishop of Gaza. At the imperial command, he destroyed the last stronghold of the national idolatry in Gaza and consecrated a Holy Church along with the Christian presence in Gaza through the centuries.

Today's Gospel passage (Jn. 3:14-21) is a wonderful summary and gives us a deeper interpretation of the Lenten journey we have been on.

Two keys of analysis have accompanied us in the past Sundays.

The first is the one of revelation: During Easter, God fully reveals himself. It is right there, in his death and resurrection, that we find the ultimate revelation of his face. And we can finally fulfill our longing to have a relationship with Him.

The second, which we encountered last Sunday, is the one of reversal: the revelation of how God operates in a contradicting the human way and reason. We saw how God overturned the tables.

From the Secretariat-General of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Following the order of the Triodion, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem dedicated Saturday, February 25/March 9, 2024, as a day of prayer for the repose of souls.

To this end, on Friday afternoon, in the Monastic and Patriarchal Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, the Canon for the departed was chanted and a memorial prayer was recited, led by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, with the Prayer for the repose of the Holy Sepulchre Patriarchs of Jerusalem, High Priests, Priests, monks and nuns who have been sleeping in the Lord for centuries.