Η ΠΑΡΑΜΟΝΗ ΤΩΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΩΝ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΕΙΟΝ - Πατριαρχείοv Ιεροσολύμων

Τήν Δευτέραν, 25ην Δεκεμβρίου 2018 / 7ην Ἰανουαρίου 2019, ἑωρτάσθη ὑπό τοῦ Πατριαρχείου ἡ ἑορτή τῆς κατά σάρκα ἐκ τῆς Παρθένου Γεννήσεως τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τόν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ αὕτη συνέβη, ἤτοι τήν Βηθλεέμ ἐπί Ρωμαίου αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Ὀκταβιανοῦ Αὐγούστου.

Α. Τήν Παραμονήν.

Κατά τήν τάξιν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Ἱεροσολύμων, ἡ ἑορτή ἤρξατο ἀπό τῆς Παραμονῆς, Κυριακῆς 24ης Δεκεμβρίου 2018 / 6ης Ἰανουαρίου 2019.

Τήν 11:15 πρό μεσημβρινήν ὥραν τῆς ἡμέρας αὐτῆς, συμφώνως πρός τό καθεστωτικόν πρόγραμμα, ἡ Συνοδεία τῶν Ὁρθοδόξων Ἁγιοταφιτῶν ὑπό τήν Α.Θ.Μ. τόν Πατέρα ἡμῶν καί Πατριάρχην Ἱεροσολύμων κ.κ. Θεόφιλον ἀνεχώρησεν ἀπό τοῦ Πατριαρχείου πρός τήν Πύλην τοῦ Δαυΐδ καί ἐκεῖθεν πρός τήν Ἱεράν Μονήν τοῦ Προφήτου Ἠλιοῦ. Μετά μικράν στάσιν ἐνταῦθα, ἡ Πατριαρχική Συνοδεία ἐξῆλθεν τῇ προπορεύσει Ἰσραηλινών ἱππέων καί διά τῆς διόδου τοῦ Τάφου τῆς Ραχήλ κατηυθύνθη πρός τήν Βηθλεέμ.

Φθάσασα εἰς τήν πλατεῖαν τῆς πόλεως Βηθλεέμ ἡ Α.Θ.Μ. μετά τῆς Συνοδείας Αὐτῆς ἐγένετο δεκτή ὑπό τοῦ Πατριαρχικοῦ Ἐπιτρόπου Βηθλεέμ Σεβασμιωτάτου Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Ἰορδάνου κ. Θεοφυλάκτου, ὑπό πλειάδος ἱερέων ἐνδεδυμένων καί ὑπό πανδήμου λαοῦ, ἐν ψαλμῳδίᾳ τῶν τροπαρίων τῆς ἑορτῆς τῆς Γεννήσεως ὑπό τῶν ἱεροψαλτών κ. Κωνσταντίνου Σπυρόπουλου καί τῆς χορῳδίας «Ὁ Τρόπος», ἐλθούσης ἐξ Ἑλλάδος τῇ συνοδείᾳ τοῦ Ἐξάρχου Ἀθηνῶν Ἀρχιμανδρίτου π. Δαμιανοῦ ὑπό τήν διεύθυνσιν τοῦ κ. Κωνσταντίνου Ἀγγελίδου ἑλληνιστί καί τοῦ κ. Λῶρενς Σαμούρ ἀραβιστί, ἡ Πατριαρχική Συνοδεία εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τήν Βασιλικήν καί κατηυθύνθη πρός τό λίαν καλαίσθητον ξυλόγλυπτον εἰκονοστάσιον, ἐκεῖθεν δέ διά τοῦ Παρεκκλησίου τοῦ Ἁγίου Νικολάου εἰς τό Σπήλαιον διά προσκύνησιν.

Μετά ταῦτα ἡ Πατριαρχική Συνοδεία ἐξῆλθε διά τῆς βορείου πύλης τοῦ Σπηλαίου καί ἀνῆλθε ἐπί τῆς τελευταίας βαθμίδος τοῦ παρεκκλησίου τοῦ χρησιμοποιουμένου ὑπό τῶν Ἀρμενίων καί στραφεῖσα ἀριστερά ἦλθεν εἰς τόν χῶρον πρό τοῦ εἰκονοστασίου.

Ἐνταῦθα ἐτελέσθη Ἑσπερινός κατά τήν τυπικήν καί καθεστωτικήν τάξιν μετά θυμιάματος καί Ἀρτοκλασίας.

Μετά τήν Ἀπόλυσιν, κατά τάς 3:30 μ.μ. ἠκολούθησε τράπεζα ὑπό τοῦ Πατριαρχικοῦ Ἐπιτρόπου Σεβασμιωτάτου Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Ἰορδάνου κ. Θεοφυλάκτου καί τό ἑσπέρας ὑποδοχή τοῦ ἀντιπροσώπου τοῦ ἐξοχωτάτου Προέδρου τοῦ Παλαιστινιακοῦ Κράτους κ. Μαχμοῦντ Ἀμπάς Ἀμποῦ-Μάζεν καί τοῦ ἀντιπροσώπου τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς Ἰορδανίας μεγαλειοτάτου Ἀμπντάλλα Ἴμπν Χουσεϊν ὑπό τοῦ Μακαριωτάτου, ὁ Ὁποῖος προσεφώνησε ὡς ἕπεται:

“His Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas “Abu Mazen”, President of the State of Palestine Represented by H.E. Dr. Rami Al-Hamdallah, Palestinian prime minister

His Excellency Samir Mbaidien, Jordanian Minister of Interior representative of His Majesty King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, we have the honour to celebrate the birth of our Lord Christ, in your presence, in the same city, the city of peace, where Jesus was born nearly two thousand years ago. This great event is a witness to the sanctity of this land.

The birth of Christ is not like any other birth, it is an eternal birth. It is the birth of love and peace, and the beginning of the Charter of Reconciliation between Heaven and Earth. To celebrate the birth of Christ is to emphasize the value of humanity, because there is no real worship of the Creator, if we don’t respect the Creature, and no sincere faith if we do not respect life.

Honourable present,

With the birth of Christ, humanity began a new journey embodied in happiness, love and respect between all of humanity. With that God set an example and showed us how he loved the world so that everyone loves his or her world and society, as God honoured the person over the rest of the creatures to declare the elevation of humans and the elevation of the humanitarian message.

In the Anthem of the Angels: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace” (Luke 2:14). The peace praised by the angels is not just a social peace, but it is also the embodiment of Christ and His presence. Thus, the angels celebrated the peace that came with the birth of Christ. Christ, by His incarnation, gave humanity peace with God and amongst the people and with oneself. What happened to Adam in Paradise when he sinned is that he and his descendants lost peace with God. When Cain killed his brother Abel, humanity lost peace amongst the people, this peace returned to humanity by the birth of our Lord Christ.

Honourable present,

Every year as we celebrate the Birth of Christ, people are attracted to the spirit of happiness, children are waiting for the holiday gifts and the world is full of joy, despite the hardships we face caused by instability. This feast comes to embody the happiness, joy and pleasure that the Palestinian people deserve and have been striving to attain to live in peace, dignity, stability, independence and happiness like the rest of the peoples of the world. Christmas is also a national holiday that adds a special joy to its religious holiness. A national holiday the joy of which is lived together by Muslims and Christians. This is because, the mutual flourishing of Muslims and Christians in this Holy Land has been a historical fact that has been experienced by citizens of our various lands ever since the treaty between the Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab and our predecessor Patriarch Sophronius and until our present day.

We have had a difficult year, with many challenges, many of which are the result of aspirations for political gains by politicians attempting to strengthen their political positions at the expense of our churches, in addition to attempts to undermine our churches and our inherent Christian presence in this holy land to which the birth of Christ is witness to our roots within. H.E. President Abbas and His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein, the custodian of the Christian and Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, stood by us and we all succeeded in confronting the attempts to undermine our rights with the blessing of our Lord Christ and our unity on the basis of truth and justice.

Your Excellency the Prime Minister,

We take the opportunity of Christmas to wish everyone a blessed and prosperous year, full of good and happiness and crowned with peace, tranquillity, stability and security.

We ask our Lord Christ, to bless everyone with a rich flood of grace, to bless everyone with his heavenly blessings and to cause everyone to enjoy health, well-being and to heal the sick, to comfort the needy, and to protect everyone from all harm.

We also ask our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to provide us the means to enjoy peace and security in the Holy Land and all over the world, and to guard our society from all evil. We also pray to the Lord to protect our leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas, The President of the State of Palestine.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests”

Merry Christmas and MAY you all enjoy Bliss, Love and Peace”.

Ἐκ τῆς Ἀρχιγραμματείας