« Bishop Elisey visited the Holy Land with diocesan pilgrimage »

From 21st to 24th of November, the Head of the Diocese of Sourozh, was visiting the Holy Land with pilgrimage. During the visit Vladyka Elisey celebrated the services together with priest Joseph Skinner, a cleric of the Diocese of Sourozh, and pilgrims from the Great Britain, who had arrived to the Holy Land a few days earlier.

On Saturday, upon arrival to Jerusalem, Vladyka celebrated all-night-vigil in the Holy Trinity cathedral of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission. The service was co-celebrated by archimandrite Isidor (Minayev), Head of the Mission, clergy of the Mission and pilgrims from various dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church.

After the all-night-vigil archimandrite Isidor invited Vladyka Elisey to his chamber for a cup of tea and told him about the Mission’s activities, which was headed by Vladyka for a number of years. Vladyka expressed deep personal interest in the current life of the Mission.

On the Saturday night Vladyka Elisey, together with mitropolitan Pavlos of Glyfada (the Church of Greece) and archbishop Damaskinos of Joppa (Patriarchate of Jerusalem), together with a large number of clergy and pilgrims served at the life-giving Holy Sepulchre.

On Sunday bishop Elisey visited Gorny convent of the Russian Ecclesiastic Mission in Jerusalem. After the Liturgy in the Kazan church of the convent the head of the diocese of Sourozh addressed hegumenia Georgiya, the abbess of the convent, its clergy and nuns. On behalf of the pilgrims from the Great Britain he donated to the convent an icon of St. Silouan of Athos painted by nuns of the John the Baptist monastery in Essex, England, which had been founded by Venerable Silouan’s apprentice schi-archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov).

On the same day Vladyka Elisey participated in a moleben celebrating the fourth anniversary of enthronement of the Holiest Patriarch Theofilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine, which took place in the Holy Sepulchre Cathedral. The festive moleben was presided by the Patriarch Theofilos. After the moleben a reception took place in the Grand Throne Room of the Jerusalem Patriarchate to celebrate the anniversary, where the Russian Orthodox Church was represented by His Grace Vladyka Elisey, archimandrite Isidor (Minaev), head of the Mission, hegumen Theophan (Lukianov), deputy head of the Mission who read out a letter of congratulation from His Holiness Kyrill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, as well as the abbess and nuns of the Gorny convent.

In his trip bishop Elisey was accompanied by protodeacon Dmitry Nedostupenko, cleric of the London Cathedral.