On Thursday, June 6, the great feast of the Ascension of the Lord, His Eminence Mark, Archbishop of Berlin & Germany, led the patronal celebrations at the Convent of the Ascension of the Lord on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Before the All-Night Vigil on Wednesday evening, Archbishop Mark was ceremoniously greeted by Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and Abbess Varvara (Novikova) and her nuns, along with a large contingent of pilgrims from Germany, England, the United States, Brazil, Switzerland, Australia, Russia, and Ukraine, who scheduled their trip to coincide with the feast of the Lord’s Ascension.

Concelebrating with Archbishop Mark at Liturgy were Bishop Arseny of Arseniev & Dalnegorsk and Eastern American Diocesan vicar Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan. Also serving were 22 priests and two deacons.

At the Little Entrance, in accordance with the resolution of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops, Hieromonk Iona (Galishnikov; cleric of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission) was elevated to the rank of abbot.

At the end of Liturgy, His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem & All Palestine, arrived to deliver a sermon, during which he congratulated the clergy and nuns of the convent, as well as the worshippers present, with the feast.