Ordinations

Deacons at the litany of saints

Today 5 of my students were ordained deacons. It was a great day. For 26 years I have never participated i any of my students' ordinations but this time I made an exception. Everyone is calling it my break from my status quo. Anyway it was a big rush as I had the armenian Mass at 9am then ran down the Valley to Gethsemani for the ordination Mass at 10am. Well I had to go because I was asked to vest a deacon. Several of them had no family members as it costs too much to fly into Israel. So I was surrogate ... and was asked to vest one in the diaconal dalmatic. It was something important for these guys who have studied 4 years in Israel, not seeing their families. I thought it was my duty ... and I was happy to make them happy.

Archbishop with new and old deacon

After the Mass I went home for lunch and tried to rest for a while but had to go to the New City to buy food for the 2 birds. The heat and humidity was unbearable. With my arhythmic heart and swollen ankle, I had to stop 3 or 4 times along the way before I reached the petshop 2 kms away. My friends Eran and Haim were there and because the place was air-conditioned, I stayed half an hour there to cool off. Then I slowly walked back 1km to my office at the New Gate. Did some work there but also rested for an hour before I went for dinner with another deacon and his family. They are a very nice family and I knew them from last year when they came for a visit. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant and the food was excellent. At 10pm we said goodbye and I walked 2km home. The weather was stifling hot.

Fun at Damascus Gate

It's the 3rd day of Eid el Fitri and Damascus Gate has been the centre of muslim festivities. Today costed characters danced around, face painting and balloon shaping were also offered. Kids enjoyed themselves and parents were relieved for half an hour from their kids. There were no tensions and people had free movement in and out of the City and Mosque.