On the day of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, May 19, a patronal celebration took place at the compound of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Magdala. With the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, Metropolitan Cyriacus of Nazareth, Exarch of all Galilee, led the divine service on the feast day.
The archpastor was co-served by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Vassian (Zmeev), the deputy head of the RDM, Abbot Nikon (Golovko), the cleric of the Mission, Deacon Makariy Petukhov, as well as the Russian-speaking and Arabic-speaking clergy of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
First Secretary of the Russian Embassy in Israel F.V. Georgi, Vice Consul of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Haifa N.S. Barsukov, sisters of the Gornensky Convent in Ein Karem and Russian-speaking believers of the biblical Galilee prayed at the service.
Russian Russian church services, located on the shore of Lake Galilee, were performed in Church Slavonic, Greek and Arabic languages, the website of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission reports. The hymns of the festive Divine Liturgy were performed by the choir of the sisters of the Gornensky Convent in Ein Karem under the direction of nun Sergia (Subbotina).
After the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy, a procession took place, during which the head of the Mission read the gospel conception of the feast at the source of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene and sprinkled with consecrated water.
Then Archimandrite Vassian and Metropolitan Kyriakos exchanged welcoming speeches, after which the guests of the compound were offered a festive meal, which was later joined by Archbishop Aristovul of Madaba, who feeds the Russian-speaking flock of the Jerusalem Patriarchate. Russian Russian Bishop Aristovul cordially welcomed the guests of the temple and expressed his deepest gratitude for the extensive Russian hospitality on the festive day.
During the meal, the First Secretary of the Russian Embassy, F.V. Georgi, addressed the audience, who emphasized the steady and consistent line of the Russian state aimed at supporting the efforts of Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem to strengthen the positions of Orthodox Christians both in Jerusalem and the Middle East region as a whole, and also assured of constant support for the interests of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.