Sts Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute
7 Mar 26: URGENT! Appeal from Fr. Roman in Jerusalem
Dear Brothers, Sisters, Benefactors,
With joy and humility, we greet you with the start of Great Lent.
As always at this holy time, the brothers and sisters of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem spent the first week of the Fast in church for services, spiritual lessons and prayer. Unfortunately, this time of heartfelt peace was broken by the aggressive sounds of war. On St. Theodore Saturday during Divine Liturgy, just before the time of Holy Communion, the prayerful silence of the moment was shattered by the piercing sound of air raid sirens. The faithful stayed in church as the unmistakable din of explosions was heard. Since then, this has been a daily occurrence. Day and night, in church or at our obedience, iPhone alarms and air raid sirens warn us of an impending attack by missiles and drones. We hear the Israeli interceptor rockets take off and destroy the majority of incoming missiles (see photo). The explosions are loud and shake the buildings.
We thank the Lord that, at this time, none of our monasteries or members of the Mission were harmed, even though we are saddened by the deaths of local citizens not far away. We are warned that, after an attack, we are to stay inside for at least 10 minutes, so that any falling shrapnel from the rockets can fall without harm. We found three fragments that fell on the territory of St. Mary Magdalene Convent, one just in front of the door to the church (see photo). It would be fatal if a piece would hit any individual.
We of course accept this dangerous situation as it is allowed by God for our sins and pray that hostilities will soon come to an end.
Once again, the airports are closed and all flights to and from Israel are cancelled. The last month before Great Lent, we saw a strong uptick in visits of pilgrim groups which gave us hope that, after the pandemic [and] military conflicts here in Gaza and in Ukraine, life was stabilizing and things were returning to normal. Alas, it is not to be, at least not for the foreseeable future. Even if peace is soon attained, pilgrims will stay away for some time.
For this we must ask for your continuing support of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission. We are grateful to the Fund for Assistance to ROCOR for making our plight public, and materially supporting the nuns and monastics, especially at this difficult time. The Church teaches that Great Lent is not only a time of prayer, but also for almsgiving, helping those that are in need.
The Lenten Triodion tells us: “Let us give bread to those in need, and let us draw near unto Christ, crying in penitence: O our God, have mercy on us”.
Thanking you for your holy prayers and help,
I prayerfully remain your servant,
Archimandrite Roman – Head
The Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem