GREETING
By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew At the Consecration of the Sacred Aedicule of the Holy Sepulcher (March 22, 2017)
Your
Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of the Sacred City of Jerusalem, with
Your venerable surrounding Hierarchy and the entire Brotherhood of the
Holy Sepulcher that guards the most holy sites of this ancient
Patriarchate of Mount Zion, together with His Beatitude the Armenian
Patriarch and the Most Reverend Latin Custodian in attendance to share
in this celebration, and all the pious pilgrims present at this historic
moment,
Your Excellency the Prime Minister of Greece,
Your Excellencies the representatives of the Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority,
Precious people of God and all who dwell here in Jerusalem,
If at a certain moment of human
history, “the hosts of angels were amazed when they beheld” their Lord
and creator, the sustainer and governor of creation “who was thought to
be among the dead,” then all of us today – and along with us the whole
world – also stand in awe before the mystery and witness of the
Resurrection, namely the newly restored and reconstructed Sacred
Aedicule of the Holy Sepulcher. We stand in amazement as “with one voice
and soul” we articulate a song of glory and gratitude to the Savior
Christ, who was crucified and buried here in the flesh on this place of
the skull, Golgotha. We stand in amazement before the Holy Sepulcher
that “emanates life” and “we are astonished by the miracle” just like
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other
Myrrhbearing women, as well as Peter, the chief of the apostles.
We too “have hastened” from the City
of Constantine, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which always supports the
Church of Zion in safeguarding these venerable Holy Sites, the all-holy
pilgrimages; and we “have hastened” to the tomb of the life-giving Lord –
albeit surely not “in mourning” but rejoicing with Your illustrious
Beatitude and all those who “lovingly mingle with their tears” the myrrh
of prayer and fervent supplication, congratulating one another on this
historic occasion experienced by our militant church over more than two
millennia, proclaiming: “Let everyone behold the tomb and know that the
Lord is risen from the dead.”
Having responded to Your fraternal and
loving invitation with special delight, sentiment and spiritual
elation, Your Beatitude and dear brother, Patriarch Theophilos of
Jerusalem, we are today attending this present ceremony. And we rejoice
with Your Beatitude and the other venerable representatives of the
Christian Churches and presences here, on the completion of this
monumental project, through the diverse contribution of the Hellenic
Republic, represented here by His Excellency its Prime Minister, the
honorable scholars of the National Technical University of Athens headed
by the distinguished Prof. Antonia Moropoulou, and the countless pious
pilgrims to these sacred sites of our Faith. We express to all of you
the wholehearted gratitude of the Holy and Great Church of Christ and
the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the restoration of the Holy Sepulcher in
a manner worthy of the sacredness and importance of this extremely
invaluable and unique monument of life rather than, of course, death for
the sake of “evangelizing to those in Zion” and to every disciple
throughout the world, saying: “O life of all, you have risen and
shattered the restraints of death. O Lord, glory to you.”
In our contemporary, ever troubled and
divided world, the Holy Sepulcher before which we stand constitutes the
sole source of genuine, substantial and sacred unity among Christians
that is not established upon human interests and ambitions, but only
upon the Cross that is able to unite what was previously divided, the
protection of the universe, the beauty of the Church, the foundation of
authority in this world, the support of the faithful, the glory of the
angels, and the elimination of the forces of darkness, injustice and
turmoil in human affairs.
Dear brothers and sisters,
This moment is the liturgical time of
the endless Divine Liturgy always revealed “in the breaking of the
bread” by Jesus Christ. It is a doxology of thanksgiving “for everything
that we do and do not know.” It is a ladder that leads from earth to
heaven, the union of mortal voices and angelic voices “for the sake of
all that we do and do not know” through the Passion, Cross and
Resurrection of Christ. This is a time of absolute silence, a
recollection of things gone by and still to come, an experience of the
divine gift of freedom.
On and through this Tomb – this
“minuscule monument” that is so vast as “to contain the entire universe”
inasmuch as it is depicted on the Holy Altar of every Orthodox Church –
life continues to this day and the ephemeral present becomes the
eternal future. Therefore, on the unique occasion of the revelation of
the Sacred Aedicule of the Holy Sepulcher, “let all mortal flesh be
silent, standing with fear and trembling, without considering anything
earthly at all” (Hymn of Holy Saturday). Let every mortal word be silent
in prayer before this moment of historic symphony among the three
Christian communities of this Holy City, which fraternally agreed and
collaborated in this hallowed project.
Those sharing our elation include
first and foremost our blessed Nation, the Greek Orthodox people through
the presence and prayer of its Prime Minister, Your beloved Excellency
Alexis Tsipras, who recently celebrated your name-day on the feast day
of Alexios the Man of God, for which we congratulate you, praying for
your support and strength to lead the vessel of Orthodox Greece toward
calm waters, like the “Good Harbors” of the great Island of Crete, to
the safe haven of godly welfare for our people.
Your Beatitude, our Greek Orthodox
Nation and the Fathers of the Holy Sepulcher have through the ages
vigilantly guarded and continue to guard these Holy Sites with sacrifice
in order to transmit them to us breathing life, peace and resurrection.
We honor and thank those who heroically and nobly preserved the Deposit
of our Fathers, the Holy Lands of our faith. For all these things, we
respectfully stand before this splendid Aedicule of the Holy Sepulcher,
offering thanks and glory with one mind and one voice to our crucified,
buried and risen Lord, as we say: “We praise You, we bless You, we give
thanks to You, O Lord; and we pray to You, our God.” We offer You thanks
with all our soul and all our heart, “for You have bestowed everything
upon us.” Glory to you, Lord, glory to You.