Palm Sunday is the patronal feast of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. The head of the REM, Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), served the divine services related to the feast at the Monastery of the Ascension of the Lord on Olivet.
During the all-night vigil, the annual procession of the Greek Patriarchate passed the monastery. The procession begins from Bethpage, where the Lord sat on a donkey, and goes along the path that the Lord took to his passion in Jerusalem. When the icon of the “Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem” passed by the convent, the bells of the “Russian Candle” (the bell tower of the convent) sounded, meeting the Savior Christ, saying with these peals “Hosanna in the highest”!
During the polyeleos, the Head of the Mission blessed palm branches that were distributed along with lighted candles to all the worshippers.
Father Roman celebrated the Divine Liturgy with the clergy of the monastery, during which the abbess of the monastery, Matushka Barbara (Novikova) and the sisters of the monastery took communion.
