HOLY LAND: June 28, 2013
Divine Liturgy is Celebrated in the Russian Compound in Jericho on the Feast Day of Prophet Elisha

On June 27, 2013, the feast day of Holy Prophet Elisha, divine services were held in Jericho in accordance with custom. Prophet Elisha has for centuries been considered the heavenly intercessor of the ancient city. It is the feast day of the monastery of the Jerusalem Patriarchate named after the holy man, and it is also celebrated at the podvorie [representation] of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of St John the Forerunner located at the house of the Gospel’s Zacchaeus.

Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. He was joined by Hieromonk Aleksy (Eliseev), Senior Priest of the Church of the Holy Fathers in Hebron, the podvorie of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission (Moscow Patriarchate).

At the end of Liturgy, the first bunches of harvested grapes were blessed, which because of the hot climate, ripen in Jericho earlier than in other regions of the Holy Land.

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