Τήν Πέμπτην, 28ην Μαΐου /10ην Ἰουνίου 2021, ἑωρτάσθη ὑπό τοῦ Πατριαρχείου ἡ Δεσποτική ἑορτή τῆς Ἀναλήψεως.
Κατ’ αὐτήν ἡ Ἐκκλησία ἀναμιμνῄσκεται ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ καί χαρμολύπῃ, ὅτι ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός μετά τήν Ἀνάστασιν καί μετά πολλάς ἐμφανίσεις εἰς τούς μαθητάς καί Ἀποστόλους ἀνελήφθη ἐν δόξῃ εἰς τούς οὐρανούς καί ἐκάθισεν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Πατρός τήν προσληφθεῖσαν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν ἡμῶν θεώσας αὐτήν, καί μέλλων πάλιν ἔρχεσθαι κρῖναι ζῶντας καί νεκρούς.
Ὑπό τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἡ ἑορτή αὐτή ἑωρτάσθη ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τόπου τῆς Ἀναλήψεως, ἐπί τοῦ Ὄρους τῶν Ἐλαιῶν δι’ Ἑσπερινοῦ ἀφ’ ἑσπέρας προεξάρχοντος τοῦ Σεβασμιωτάτου Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Μαδάβων κ. Ἀριστοβούλου, συλλειτουργούντων Ἁγιοταφιτῶν Ἱερομονάχων καί Ἀραβόφωνων Πρεσβυτέρων, ψαλλόντων τῶν μαθητῶν τῆς Πατριαρχικῆς Σχολῆς Σιών ὑπό τον κ. Βασίλειον Γκοτσόπουλον ἀριστερά καί τῶν ψαλτῶν τοῦ Ἁγίου Ἰακώβου τοῦ Ἀδελφοθέου ὑπό τόν κ. Ριμόν Κάμαρ δεξιά καί μετεχόντων Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν πιστῶν.
Μετά τόν Ἑσπερινόν, ἔλαβε χώραν λιτανεία εἰς τήν Μονήν τῶν Γαλιλαίων Ἀνδρῶν, ἔνθα καί ηὐλόγησεν ὁ Μακαριώτατος, ὤν ἐκεῖ κατά τό ἔθος.
Μετά τοῦτο ἡ Λιτανεία ἐπέστρεψεν εἰς τό Προσκύνημα διά τήν ἀποτελείωσιν τῆς Ἀκολουθίας τοῦ Μεγάλου Ἀποδείπνου.
Τήν πρωΐαν τῆς κυριωνύμου ἡμέρας τῆς ἑορτῆς προσηνέχθη ἡ ἀναίμακτος Θυσία, προεξάρχοντος πάλιν τοῦ Σεβασμιωτάτου Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Μαδάβων κ. Ἀριστοβούλου, συλλειτουργούντων τῶν Ἀρχιμανδριτῶν π. Καλλίστου, π. Διονυσίου καί π. Στεφάνου, τῶν Ἱεροδιακόνων π. Εὐλογίου καί π. Συμεών, Ἀραβοφώνων καί Ρωσοφώνων Ἱερέων καί Ἱερομονάχων, ψαλλόντων τῶν ψαλτῶν τοῦ Ἑσπερινοῦ καί μετεχόντων ἱκανοῦ ἀριθμοῦ πιστῶν, παρουσίᾳ τοῦ Γενικοῦ Προξένου τῆς Ἑλλάδος εἰς τά Ἱεροσόλυμα κ. Εὐαγγέλου Βλιώρα.
Διαρκούσης τῆς θείας Λειτουργίας προσῆλθεν ἡ Α.Θ.Μ. ὁ Πατήρ ἡμῶν καί Πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων κ.κ. Θεόφιλος μετά τῶν Συνοδικῶν Πατέρων διά προσκύνησιν, μεθ’ ἥν ἐπεσκέφθη εἰς τό παρακείμενον τέμενος τόν Μουσουλμᾶνον Ἰμάμην διά λόγους καλῆς γειτνιάσεως καί ἔπειτα τόν Μοναχόν Ἀχίλλειον εἰς τόν ἔναντι τοῦ Προσκυνήματος Ἱερόν Ναόν τῆς Ἀναλήψεως καί τήν Ρωσικήν Μονήν Ἀναλήψεως, ἔνθα καί προσεφώνησε τόν Προϊστάμενον τῆς Μονῆς Ἀρχιμανδρίτην Ρωμανόν, διά τῆς κάτωθι προσφωνήσεως ἀγγλιστί:
“Your Eminences,
Your Graces,
Dear Father Romanos,
Respected Clergy,
Beloved Monastics,
Sisters and Brothers,
On this glorious Feast of the Ascension, which is the seal of the resurrection, we join in the words of the ancient hymn:
O Christ our God,
upon fulfilling your dispensation for our sake,
you ascended in glory, uniting the earthly with the heavenly.
You were never separate but remained inseparable,
and cried out to those who love you,
“I am with you and no one is against you.”
Here we understand the profound meaning of the Ascension, that, though our Lord Jesus Christ has gone to the Father to prepare a place for us, even so, we are still intimately connected with Him. As the hymn says so clearly, we are inseparable.
This unbreakable relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, which finds its greatest expression in this life in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, is the assurance of our final deification. This is the goal of every Christian, and this goal of complete union with God must be the daily focus of our spiritual lives. And this assurance is also our strength and consolation in times of suffering and difficulty.
Last year at this feast, we were not able to be with you. But this year our joy is full in our ability to be in this holy place on this day. And so we are reminded forcefully that the Holy Places, which the Divine Providence has placed under the guardianship and protection of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem are not just archaeological curiosities; on the contrary, they are living witnesses to our sacred history and are places of prayer, worship, and most especially places where were celebrate the Divine Eucharist.
It is in this action of the Divine Liturgy that the Mother Church of Jerusalem gathers all Orthodox faithful in the embrace of the true Orthodox ecumenical spirit. We are glad today to have with us the representatives from Orthodox national Churches, so that we may show to the world our united Orthodox faith and witness. This is a powerful visible sign of our unity, which is a precious gift that must be nurtured and sustained by all.
And yet, it is further the case that we have the responsibility to ensure that the Holy Places are open to all people of goodwill without distinction, for the true Orthodox ecumenical spirit welcomes all, so that all may know the spiritual refreshment of those places that are signs of the divine-human encounter. In this way, the Patriarchate guarantees the Christian character of Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
We rejoice, therefore, on this great feast, and we pray that our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus may enlighten our hearts and strengthen us in our mission.
Amen.”
Εἰς αὐτόν ἐπέδωσεν εἰκόνα-πίνακα τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ καί ἔλαβε παρ’ αὐτοῦ εἰκόνα τῆς Θεοτόκου, ἀκολούθως δέ ἐπεσκέφθη τήν Μονήν τῶν Γαλιλαίων Ἀνδρῶν, ἐν ᾗ ὁ ἡγούμενος γηραιός Ἀρχιμανδρίτης π. Ἄνθιμος παρέθεσε πρόγευμα μετά γάλακτος καί ᾠῶν.
