Η ΕΟΡΤΗ ΤΗΣ ΑΓΙΑ ΜΑΡΙΑΣ ΤΗΣ ΜΑΓΔΑΛΗΝΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΜΥΡΟΦΟΡΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΡΚΕΛΛΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΧΙΟΠΟΛΙΤΙΔΟΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΕΙΟΝ
Τήν Πέμπτην, 22αν Ἰουλίου/ 4ην Αὐγούστου 2022, ἑωρτάσθη ἡ μνήμη τῆς Ἁγίας Μαρίας τῆς Μαγδαληνῆς εἰς τήν δικαιοδοσίαν τοῦ Πατριαρχείου. Ἡ ἑορτή αὕτη ἑωρτάσθη πανηγυρικῶς εἰς τήν ἐπ’ ὀνόματι τῆς Ἁγίας Μαρίας τῆς Μαγδαληνῆς Ἱεράν Μονήν τῆς Ρωσικῆς Ἀποστολῆς Ρώσσων τῆς Διασπορᾶς ROCOR εἰς Γεσθημανῆν.
Εἰς τήν ἑορτήν ταύτην ἀντεπροσώπευσε τό Πατριαρχεῖον ἡ Α.Θ.Μ. ὁ Πατήρ ἡμῶν καί Πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων κ.κ. Θεόφιλος, συνοδευόμενος ὑπό τοῦ Σεβασμιωτάτου Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντίνης κ. Ἀριστάρχου καί τοῦ Ἀρχιδιακόνου Μάρκου, Ὅστις καί ἀπηύθυνε τήν κάτωθι προσφώνησιν ἀγγλιστί:
“Dear Archimandrite Roman,
Dear Mother Abbess Elizabeth,
Your Eminences,
Your Graces,
Beloved Members of this Sisterhood,
Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
We greet you on this happy feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, your patron, and we recall the words of Saint John’s Gospel, where we read:
“Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’, and she told them that he had said these things to her”.
So, by God’s providence, Saint Mary Magdalene, the Holy Myrrh-bearer, being the first to see the risen Christ, became an evangelist of the passion and condescension of our Lord and so is celebrated as Equal-to-the-Apostles.
Saint Mary Magdalene obeyed the commandments of our Lord, and so it was granted to her, along with the Mother of God, to be the first witness of the resurrection. Saint Mary Magdalene was given the privilege to behold the risen Lord with her physical eyes; we, in turn, experience the risen Lord with the eyes of the heart and follow her example. We, to whom the Diakonia of the Holy Places has been entrusted, especially this place dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene and so is where we venerate her, are called to be a witness of the Light of the resurrection in our own way. So, we sing with the hymnographer:
With others standing at the Saviour’s Cross
weeping and suffering with the Mother of God,
glorious Mary Magdalene offered praises, saying:
what is this strange wonder?
He chooses to suffer who upholds the whole creation.
(Kontakion)
The celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene has brought us together today as a sign of our oneness and unity in Christ. This unity is precious, and we who are called to be the servants and guardians of the Holy Places have a special responsibility to preserve and deepen the unity of the Orthodox Church. Just as Saint Mary Magdalene brought the news of the resurrection to the disciples and so strengthened them in unity, so must we, to whom so much has been given, be those who witness the resurrection and build up the Church’s unity in love.
The One who upholds the whole creation has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9), and we pray to Almighty God, dear Father Roman and Dear Mother Elizabeth, for God’s blessing upon this place and this community, that you may be a dwelling place of the martyria of our Orthodox faith and a beacon of hot to a world that is hurting and in despair.
Thank you”
Ὁ Μακαριώτατος ἐπέδωσε σταυρόν εὐλογίας τῷ Ἀρχιμανδρίτῃ Ρωμανῷ καί εἰκόνα τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ εἰς τήν ἡγουμένην Γερόντισσαν Ἐλισάβετ.
Ἡ ἑορτή αὕτη ἑωρτάσθη καί εἰς τόν Πανίερον Ναόν τῆς Ἀναστάσεως τήν νύκτα ὡς μικρά ἐσωτερική Παρρησία τῆς Ἀδελφότητος τοῦ Ναοῦ μετά λιτανεύσεως τῆς χειρός τῆς Ἁγίας Μαρίας τῆς Μαγδαληνῆς τῆς Μυροφόρου.
Τήν ἡμέραν ταύτην ἑωρτάσθη καί ἡ ἑορτή τῆς Ἁγίας Παρθενομάρτυρος Μαρκέλλης τῆς Χιοπολίτιδος καί ἐτελέσθη θεία Λειτουργία εἰς τό Ἱερόν παρεκκλήσιον αὐτῆς, τό εὑρισκόμενον εἰς τήν Ἱεράν Μονήν τοῦ Ἁγίου Σπυρίδωνος εἰς τήν Παλαιάν Πόλιν τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ὑπό τοῦ Τελετάρχου Ἀρχιμανδρίτου π. Βαρθολομαίου, τῇ φιλοξενίᾳ τοῦ ἡγουμένου Ἀρχιμανδρίτου π. Σεργίου.
Ἐκ τῆς Ἀρχιγραμματείας