On the feast day of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene, on August 4, a solemn divine service on the occasion of the patronal feast was held in the church of the Gethsemane Convent of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia).
Russian Russian Orthodox Bishop Job of Stuttgart, Vicar of the German Diocese, Archimandrite Vassian (Zmeev), head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Roman (Krasovsky), head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in the Church Abroad, clergy of the Gethsemane Monastery of Mary Magdalene and pilgrims in holy orders also participated in the Divine Liturgy, which was led by Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany.
His Beatitude Theophilus, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, as well as Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth and clerics of the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood of the Jerusalem Patriarchate attended the celebration.
The church was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the State of Israel A.D. Viktorov, Abbess of the Gethsemane Monastery in the name of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene Abbess Elisaveta (Shmelts) and Abbess of the Spaso-Voznesensky Olivet Monastery Abbess Judith (Zastavskaya) with the sisters of the monasteries, sisters of the Gornensky Monastery, representatives of the Russian diplomatic corps, numerous pilgrims and worshippers.
The service was conducted in Church Slavonic, according to the website of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission. The hymns of the Divine Liturgy were performed by the choir of the Gethsemane Sisters.
After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the hierarchs, clergy and sisters of the monastery conducted a procession around the main church of the monastery with the reading of the festal Gospel conception and sprinkling of consecrated water on the worshippers.
At the end of the service, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus addressed the clergy, the sisters of the monastery, and the pilgrims.
Then, thanks to the zeal of the sisters of the Gethsemane Monastery, a festive meal was offered to the clergy and guests of the patronal celebration. After the monastic meal, Abbess Elizabeth invited His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus, the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, the heads of both Missions, and the Russian Ambassador to Israel, Alexander Viktorov, for a cup of coffee in the abbot's chambers, where His Beatitude congratulated Mother Elizabeth on the patronal feast of the monastery.