On the day of the celebration of the Cathedral of Archangel Michael and Other Celestial Disembodied Forces, on November 21, 2024, the deputy head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Abbot Nikon (Golovko), took part in the Divine Liturgy at the monastery of Archangel Michael in Jaffa (Tel Aviv), which was headed by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine.
His Beatitude was also served by the hierarchs of the Jerusalem Church, Arabic-speaking clerics of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, clergy of the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, pilgrims in holy orders from Romania, Deacon Makariy Petukhov, a resident of the Russian ecclesiastical mission.
The service was performed in Greek, Arabic, Church Slavonic and Romanian, the mission's website reports.
The Greek Orthodox monastery in honor of the Archangel Michael is located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Because of its location, the monastery has since ancient times provided hospitality to all pilgrims arriving at the port of Joppa to travel from there to the holy places of Palestine. Thousands of Russian pilgrims who arrived in Joppa by ship from Odessa found their first refuge in the Holy Land under the arches of this monastery.
The ancient monastery, which became dilapidated over time, was renovated and decorated by Patriarch Kirill II of Jerusalem in 1852. After a severe fire in 1961, the monastery was completely restored by the zeal and labors of Archimandrite Damaskin (now Archbishop of Joppa).