His Beatitude Patriarch Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III celebrates the feast saint Nicholas at the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem
This news is shared from the website of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
On Thursday, December 6/19, 2024, the feast of our Holy Father Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia the Wonderworker, was celebrated by the Patriarchate Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
On this feast day, the Church remembers that Saint Nicholas lived during the time of Emperor Constantine the Great, participated in the First Ecumenical Council in 325, defended the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father, and reposed around 330 A.D.
As the Church sings in his Apolytikion: The truth of things revealed him as a rule of faith and an image of gentleness, and he acquired the high through humility and the rich through poverty. By his miraculous power, he saved “the innocent from death” and many others, who were in great danger at sea, which is why he is honoured as the protector of sailors.
His feast was celebrated:
In the Holy Church dedicated to him in Beit Jala, with many events of blessing and reverence, especially through the Divine Liturgy, which was presided over by His Beatitude Patriarch Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine and Jordan, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), with the co-celebration of the Elder Chief Secretary, His Eminence Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, as well as the parish priests Father Joseph, Father Elias, and Father Paul, and Archimandrite Silouanos, and the representative of the Russian MISSIA, Archimandrite Vassianos, with the pious participation of a large congregation, and in the presence of the General Consul of Greece in Jerusalem, Mr Dimitrios Angelopoulos.
Before the Holy Communion, His Beatitude delivered the following Sermon:
“The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance; for this cause, thou hast achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty. O Father and Hierarch Nicholas, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved” (Apolytikion), thus the hymnographer of the Church exclaims.
Beloved in Christ brothers and sisters,
Devout Christians and pilgrims,
The grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us all together in this renowned sacred Church of Saint Nicholas, so that we may honour with festivity his holy and venerable memory.
Our Father, the Hierarch Nicholas, who flourished during the reign of the pious Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, and was one of the 318 Holy Fathers at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in the year 325, stands out among the Fathers of the Church not for his written works, but for his miracles, which he performed by the power of the Holy Spirit, as Saint Paul proclaims, saying: “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:5, KJV). Moreover, he became a great Hierarch, that is, a true shepherd, following the Chief Shepherd Christ, who said: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11, KJV).
According to the hymnographer of the Church, our Father Nicholas had the distinct qualities that define the good Shepherd. He was revealed as a “rule of faith,” an “image of gentleness,” and a “teacher of self-control.”
Saint Nicholas was revealed as a “rule of faith” because he preserved the consignment, that is, the truth of the Gospel, which the esteemed and holy 318 Fathers of the Church carefully formulated and firmly established by the illuminating power and work of the Holy Spirit at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea.
The blessed Nicholas was distinguished as an “image of gentleness,” hearing the command of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29, KJV). In other words, our holy Father became a disciple of Christ by obeying His words: “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29, KJV)…
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This news was originally published on the website of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Please click here to read the full text.