THE TOWN OF NISF JUBEIL By Heba Hrimat Within the chain of villages that surround the Governorate and city of Nablus, lies the village of Nisf Jubeil in the north- west part of Nablus City, just a few kilometers from the historic village of Sebastya. According to the testimonies of the villagers, as narrated to them by their forefathers, the current village of Nisf Jubeil was built on the ruins of an ancient village dating back hundreds of years ago. However, that village was completely destroyed, and vanished by a flood that ravaged the region at an indefinite time in the distant past. Therefore, due to nature factors, the landscape was changed and the current village of Nisf Jubeil has been formed in a way that does not suggest anything of the original village and its landmarks. Hence, there is no real tangible evidence to suggest the occurrence of the flood, except for some previously conducted excavations in the region, which traced the presence of some rooms and walls under the existing village houses. The village of Nisf Jubeil is known for the wide variety of its olive trees; villagers say that the annual harvest yields at least 30 tons of extra virgin olive oil, harvested from the trees which witnessed the good and bad times among the historic events that dominated the land. The history books make no mention of the first inhabitants of the village, nor of its age, so it might be assumed that the place was not of significant historic importance. Unfortunately the fate of the Christians in this village seems to be similar to the historic mentioning of Nisf Jubeil. The elderly villagers believe that the original population of the village was only Christians, who were mainly farmers and shepherds. But as time passed by, changes came, making the younger people interested in having a different kind of life and the unstable living conditions of the town must have led them to flee, resulting in the significant decrease of the overall numbers of Christians in Nisf Jubeil. For example, in 1838 there were more than 200 Christians, of whom the vast majority were Orthodox, alongside the appointed priest for the Church at that time. Later, during the British Mandate era, population statistics showed a decrease, with numbers to reach 105 Christians. The numbers kept dropping, till they reached their lowest count. Today, the town of Nisf Jubeil is left with only two Christian elderly women, in their eighties. One of them travels back and forth between her house in Nisf Jubeil and the houses of her sons in other cities, while the health condition of the second lady does not allow her to move as much, so she chose to stay in her house surrounded by her 500 Muslim neighbours. Currently the only reminder of the ancient existence of Christianity in Nisf Jubeil, besides the two elderly women, is the Orthodox Church of St. George, located in the eastern part near the entrance of the village. This Church was built in 1880, and went under restoration recently in 2014, when it was officially reopened with the attendance of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III (see photos 5,6,7), and Mr. Basem with his wife Muna Hishmeh, who financially supported the restoration project along with The Jerusalem Patriarchate. The Church of St. George had its own Priests until the year 1963, when the late reverend Father Nikola Khouri rested in the Lord, and was buried in the small cemetery inside the Church courtyard. Afterwards, it became a tradition that the Priest who was responsible for the Orthodox Church in Nablus City, would also be responsible and celebrate the weekly Divine Liturgy at the Church of Nisf Jubeil. ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] THE CHIEF SECRETARY OF THE GREEK MINISTRY OF EDUCATION VISITS THE PATRIARCHATE On Saturday 25th June/8th July 2017, the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Education of Greece Mr. George Kalantzis visited the Patriarchate, escorted by the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr. Christos Sophianopoulos and his associate Mrs. Keramida, his son Photios-Xenophon and Mr. Victor Isaac Eliezer, Secretary of the Israeli Central Council in Greece. Mr. Kalantzis was received by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos and Hagiotaphite Fathers, the Patriarchal Commissioner Most Reverend Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias, Geronda Secretary-General Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, Dragouman Archimandrite Mattheos and others. Within the agenda of the meeting there was an interesting conversation on the Patriarchal School of Priests as a nursery of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, cultivating the souls of the future Hagiotaphite Fathers, for their pilgrimage and pastoral mission. For the good operation of the School, the Patriarchate has recently appointed Mr. Tzanakos and his wife Mrs. Maltezopoulou with the mission of the choice of students and teachers. His Beatitude thanked the Ministry of Education for its response to matters related to the operation of the School and Mr. Kalantzis in person for his vivid interest. There was also a conversation on the completed restoration project of the Sacred Edicule, to which the Prime Minister of Greece Mr. Tsipras – whom His Beatitude visited only two days ago – has contributed significantly. Mr. Kalantzis thanked His Beatitude for His interest and the conversation he had with Him and wished the continuation of their good co-operation for the promotion of our Nation in the Holy Land. His Beatitude gave Mr. Kalantzis a hard pack copy of the History of the Church of Jerusalem by Chrysostom Papadopoulos and a copy of Kalfa Komnenos’ cross, while Mr. Eliezer gave His Beatitude the emblem of the Hebrew Council in Greece. From Secretariat-General httpv://youtu.be/UvSdhsnDXaE ngg_shortcode_1_placeholder” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] THE NATIVITY OF THE GLORIOUS FORERUNNER AT THE PATRIARCHATE On Friday, 24th June/7th July 2017, the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of the Nativity of the Glorious Forerunner at the Holy Monastery of the Patriarchate named after this Nativity in Oreini, west suburb of New Jerusalem, the place that is considered as his birthplace. On this feast, the Church celebrates the fact that from Prophet Zachariah and barren Elizabeth came the birth of the greatest among the Prophets and all who have been born from a woman, predestined by God, to prepare as a Prophet the Presence of His Son into the world and to be deemed worthy to become His Baptist (Luke 1:1-25). In the aforementioned Holy Monastery and Feast, Vespers was held in the evening and the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the morning, led by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, with co-celebrants Hagiotaphite Hieromonks, Hierodeacons and the participation in prayer of Arab-speaking local people and Greeks from the Community, monks and nuns and a group of pilgrims from Greece under the lead of the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joel of Edessa, at the singing of Archimandrite Demetrios in Greek. After the Divine Liturgy the Caretaker of the Monastery Monk Chariton offered the Episcopal Entourage and the congregation a reception at the courtyard of the Holy Monastery. There was also a Feast at the nearby Orthodox Holy Monastery of the Meeting of the Theotokos by Elizabeth of the Moscow Patriarchate. From Secretariat-General httpv://youtu.be/81afVPnSV0I ngg_shortcode_2_placeholder” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] HIS BEATITUDE THE PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM AWARDS METROPOLITAN JOEL OF EDESSA On Tuesday 21st June/4th July 2017, during the visit of a group of a hundred pilgrims at the Reception Hall, His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos awarded the leader of this pilgrims’ group Most Reverend Metropolitan Joel of Edessa with the medal of the Grand Commander of the Holy Sepulchre, in respect and recognition of his contribution to the Metropolis of his Hometown Edessa and Christ’s Congregation there, through his word and writings. Emotional, the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joel thanked His Beatitude saying that he came in order to receive the blessing from the Holy Shrines and His Beatitude and this honourary distinction came as a surprise to him. Having received His Beatitude’s blessing they continued their pilgrimage to the Most Holy Church of the Resurrection. From Secretariat-General httpv://youtu.be/bfWjq84Pffs ngg_shortcode_3_placeholder” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] HIS BEATITUDE THE PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM CELEBRATES THE DIVINE LITURGY IN ZABABDE OF SAMARIA On Sunday, 19th June/2nd July 2017, the day of the memory of St. Jude the Apostle, brother of the Lord and memory of our Father among the Saints Paissious, H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos led the Divine Liturgy at the old Holy Church of St. George in the town Zababde, in Samaria district past Jacob’s well. In this town of the State of Palestine there is a Greek- Orthodox Arab-speaking community of approximately 800 people. With His Beatitude, co-celebrants were the Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, the Archimandrites Meletios and Demetrios, the Head of the Parish Fr. Touma Dawoud and Archdeacon Marc; singing on the right was Archimandrite Demetrios and on the left the Choir of this Community, with the participation in prayer of many of the members of this Community. His Beatitude preached the Divine word to the congregation as follows: “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 1:20-21), is what the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of St.