THE HOLY LIGHT
IN JERUSALEM
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Eirinaios, The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Palestine, Syria, beyond Jordan River, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion |
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Follow this link for the Holy Light Prayers Follow here for an Explanation of the Great Miracle of the Holy Light |
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The
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem
The history of the Patriarchate begins from the first Christian community in the years of the Apostles. The Church and the Episcopacy of Jerusalem was and is the "Mother of all Churches". The Patriarchate had an adventurous history and has known many conquerors and persecutions. But there were always clergymen and faithful people who with big sacrifices and sufferings established the vested rights of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
History
of the Patriarchate
In
52 AD takes place the first Apostolic Council in Jerusalem. In 70 AD
the Roman emperor Titus captures and destroys Jerusalem. The Romans
demolish the Jewish temple and under difficult conditions the Christians
emigrate in Pella in the east bank of Jordan river. In 135 AD the
Roman emperor Hadrian builds on the ruins of Jerusalem a new roman city
and names it Aelia Capitolina and permits the Christians to come back.
However the Jewish are not permitted to come in town. In the meantime
christianism spreads all over Palestine and a lot of communities and
episcopacies were created but the primacy had the Metropolis of Caesaria.
Thanks
to roman emperor Constantine the Great and his mother St. Helena who
builds churches all over Palestine, the Jerusalem Patriarchate gained its
previous glory. It is the time of the conflict between the Patriarchate of
Caesaria and Jerusalem for the primacies. Finally the fourth Ecumenical
Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD recognises the sublimity of Jerusalem and
is granted status of Patriarchate with jurisdiction over Palestine and the
east banks of Jordan river. During the Byzantine period (5th to 7th
century) the Patriarchate had five metropolies, 60 episcopacies and
hundreds of monasteries.
In 637 AD, the Arabs who had conquered Jerusalem, restrict the Patriarchate activities who although had authority over Christian affairs social or religious, and the Patriarch is recognised as the highest authority of all the Christians on earth. When the crusaders conquered the Holy Lands in 1099 AD, they appointed their own patriarch (the schism between the East Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches preceded in 1054 AD) but they weren’t able to abolish the Greek orthodox patriarch who stayed for safety reasons in Constantinople.
After the eviction of the crusaders in 1187 the orthodox Patriarch returns to his throne while the crusaders Patriarchate moves to Akko and remains there until 1230 AD when after the final eviction of the crusaders from Palestine, is abolished. The years that followed under the occupation of the Mamluks (13th-15th century) were the most cruel and tragic the Patriarchate ever encountered. The Mamluks who hated the Christians tried to destroy everything Christian.
In
the 13th century the Armenian Patriarchate is established. In the
14th century Franciscan monks arrive in the Holy Land and together with
monophysites of different nationalities like Copts, Ethiopians and Syrians
organise in ecclesiastical communities and claim rights over the
pilgrimages. In 1517 AD the Ottomans conquer Jerusalem and the
Patriarchate’s struggle to salvage the pilgrimages, not only against the
Turks but also against the demands of the other Christians, continues.
In 1856 AD the scene clears with the confirmation of the Status Quo of the Pilgrimages in the Paris council. Since then begins a new era of reformation of the Patriarchate. All the Christian world and in particular the - at last- unoccupied Greek state contributes with donations. Monks and contributors buy land, build churches and monasteries, reform the ruined pilgrimages establishing the necessary basis for the Patriarchate’s sustenance.
About Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the "Holy City". The city that experienced the divine revelation and the presence of God.
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