The Feast of the Dormition of Saint Anne was celebrated at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem

On Friday, August 7, 2026, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the feast of the Dormition of the God-bearing Saint Anne at her Holy Monastery, situated near the Gate of St Stephen, or the Lions’ Gate, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

On this feast, the Church commemorates that Saint Anne, who had previously been barren, conceived the Most Holy Theotokos and Mother of our God miraculously after prayer; that is, she was blessed by God, Who heard her prayer. As the mother of the source of life, together with her husband Joachim, they dedicated their child to God, and, having lived in holiness, they fell asleep peacefully in the Lord. Saint Anne was about sixty-eight years of age, while the Righteous Joachim was about eighty, according to the testimony of the Fathers of the Church.

At the aforementioned Holy Monastery, in honour of the Dormition of Saint Anne, Vespers was celebrated on the eve of the feast, followed by the Divine Liturgy on the morning of the feast itself, presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Theodosios of Sebasteia. Concelebrating were the Holy Sepulchre Hieromonks Ignatios and Philoumenos; the parish priests of the Church of St James the Brother of the…