Patriarch Porfirije visited the monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem
On the second day of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije began his day with a visit to the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
Located about one kilometer west of the Old City of Jerusalem, the monastery stands on the site where the Righteous Lot is said to have planted a triune tree—pine, cypress, and cedar— from which the Holy Cross was later made, upon which the Most Pure Body of our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for our salvation. According to the wondrous tradition of the Holy Church, this tree was cut down during the construction of Solomon’s Temple but was deemed unusable and, as a cursed object, was cast into the Kidron Valley. It was this very tree that was later chosen, in an attempt to further disgrace our Lord, to be fashioned into the Holy Cross on which Jesus would be crucified. Only then did the wood become workable. Tradition dates the founding of the monastery to the time of Saint Emperor Constantine the Great and his holy mother, Helena, in the 4th century AD. Over the centuries, the monastery shared the dramatic fate of the Holy Land, enduring invasions by Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, and Turks. It remained in the possession of the Georgian community for seven centuries until the 17th century when the Jerusalem Patriarchate redeemed the monastery’s debts and restored it under its administration. Today, with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos, the monastery houses the Institute for Biblical and Theological Studies of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
During his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1229, Saint Sava also visited the monastery, richly endowed it, and built monastic lodgings. Historical records state that frescoes of the first Archbishop of Serbia and his father, Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming, were once painted in the catholicon – the main monastery church.
Accompanying the Head of the Serbian Patriarchate on his pilgrimage are His Grace Vicar Bishop of Toplica kyr Petar; Very Venerable Archimandrite Danilo, Director of the Patriarchal Administrative Office; Protodeacon Dr. Dragan Radić, Professor at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade; Deacon Vasilije Bursać, Director of the Pilgrimage Agency Dobročinstvo; and Subdeacon Dejan Nakić.
Located about one kilometer west of the Old City of Jerusalem, the monastery stands on the site where the Righteous Lot is said to have planted a triune tree—pine, cypress, and cedar— from which the Holy Cross was later made, upon which the Most Pure Body of our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for our salvation. According to the wondrous tradition of the Holy Church, this tree was cut down during the construction of Solomon’s Temple but was deemed unusable and, as a cursed object, was cast into the Kidron Valley. It was this very tree that was later chosen, in an attempt to further disgrace our Lord, to be fashioned into the Holy Cross on which Jesus would be crucified. Only then did the wood become workable. Tradition dates the founding of the monastery to the time of Saint Emperor Constantine the Great and his holy mother, Helena, in the 4th century AD. Over the centuries, the monastery shared the dramatic fate of the Holy Land, enduring invasions by Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, and Turks. It remained in the possession of the Georgian community for seven centuries until the 17th century when the Jerusalem Patriarchate redeemed the monastery’s debts and restored it under its administration. Today, with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos, the monastery houses the Institute for Biblical and Theological Studies of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
During his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1229, Saint Sava also visited the monastery, richly endowed it, and built monastic lodgings. Historical records state that frescoes of the first Archbishop of Serbia and his father, Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming, were once painted in the catholicon – the main monastery church.
Accompanying the Head of the Serbian Patriarchate on his pilgrimage are His Grace Vicar Bishop of Toplica kyr Petar; Very Venerable Archimandrite Danilo, Director of the Patriarchal Administrative Office; Protodeacon Dr. Dragan Radić, Professor at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade; Deacon Vasilije Bursać, Director of the Pilgrimage Agency Dobročinstvo; and Subdeacon Dejan Nakić.
