His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem officiated a vigil service on Monday in honour of St John Jacob of Neamț at Choziba Monastery in Palestine. His Beatitude described the saint as “an offspring of Romania”.
The service was celebrated by Patriarch Theophilos III together with His Eminence Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, Secretary-General of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the monastery’s clergy.
Wonderful in virtue
The Patriarch of Jerusalem spoke about the spiritual life of St John Jacob and the virtues for which he became renowned in the Holy Land.
“The Lord accomplished wondrous things in the Venerable John through His love, making him wonderful in virtue,” His Beatitude said, emphasising that the Romanian saint’s virtuous life “is manifested most clearly in his holy, fragrant and incorrupt relics, which lie before our eyes”.
“It is precisely this putting on of incorruption and immortality that our Venerable Father John Jacob proclaims and demonstrates through his body,” the Patriarch of Jerusalem stressed.
Let us imitate their faith
Patriarch Theophilos III highlighted St John Jacob’s connection with Romania and his place in the spiritual tradition of the Church of Jerusalem.
“Let us therefore contemplate the lives and conduct of all these saints and, as St John of Damascus exhorts us, let us imitate their faith, love, hope, zeal, life, steadfastness in suffering and endurance unto blood, so that we too may share with them in the crowns of glory,” His Beatitude said in conclusion.
This year marks a decade since the solemn proclamation of St John Jacob’s canonisation by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The synodal decision to include him among the saints was taken in December 2015, while the solemn proclamation took place at Choziba Monastery on 31 January 2016, during the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Patriarch Theophilos III.
St John Jacob reposed in the Lord on 5 August 1960, at the age of 47. His relics were discovered incorrupt in 1979 and, the following year, were placed in the church of Choziba Monastery, where they remain to this day.
Photo: Jerusalem Patriarchate
