The Temple is called "My Soul Magnifies the Lord," or the Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, and is dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos. It is located in what is called Small Galilee on the Mount of Olives. The feast day is celebrated on August 12th.
The very place where this church stands was said to be the place of prayer of the Most Holy Theotokos in the years she lived after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Lord. And three days before her Dormition and Metastasis the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her here to announce her repose in three days and she was given a palm branch as a sign of her imminent repose.
At present the place belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In 1880 Patriarch Hierotheos of Jerusalem purchased the land of Small Galilee from Muslim owners, and it quickly became a monastic community. The current church of "My Soul Magnifies the Lord", a small cubical chapel crowned with a dome, was built on the foundation of a Byzantine church of the 4th-5th centuries by Archbishop Epiphanios of Jordan and consecrated in 1889.
Some lamentations from the funerary hymns to the Theotokos are written on the north wall of the church, while on the south-west side of it, we find the location where Saint Pelagia led a strict ascetic life and was buried.
Inside the church there is an altar, closely adjacent to the wall, and a carved wooden two-tiered iconostasis. Above the altar are three icons with scenes from the Annunciation and the Dormition of the Theotokos, made by Russian artists in the style of Italian painting.
Under the altar is a revered place with a symbolic stone accessible for pilgrims to venerate, where, according to legend, the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to the Most Holy Theotokos occurred.
The ancient mosaic floor of the temple is covered with carpets. The Holy Myrrhbearer Susanna is buried in the temple.
On the southern wall hangs an icon of the Virgin Mary of the Hodegetria type, called the Galilean icon. It was painted in 1960 by the Russian nun and icon painter Sergiya (Trofimova) in memory of her spiritual father, Abbot Seraphim, as evidenced by the inscription left on the icon: “Russian Hiero-Abbot Seraphim. Died in Galilee. 1875–1959, February 22.” The icon contains particles of the relics of the Apostle Luke and the Holy Martyr Haralambos of Magnesia. The nun-icon painter Sergiya created many icons and wall paintings in the church.
The very place where this church stands was said to be the place of prayer of the Most Holy Theotokos in the years she lived after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Lord. And three days before her Dormition and Metastasis the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her here to announce her repose in three days and she was given a palm branch as a sign of her imminent repose.
At present the place belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In 1880 Patriarch Hierotheos of Jerusalem purchased the land of Small Galilee from Muslim owners, and it quickly became a monastic community. The current church of "My Soul Magnifies the Lord", a small cubical chapel crowned with a dome, was built on the foundation of a Byzantine church of the 4th-5th centuries by Archbishop Epiphanios of Jordan and consecrated in 1889.
Some lamentations from the funerary hymns to the Theotokos are written on the north wall of the church, while on the south-west side of it, we find the location where Saint Pelagia led a strict ascetic life and was buried.
Inside the church there is an altar, closely adjacent to the wall, and a carved wooden two-tiered iconostasis. Above the altar are three icons with scenes from the Annunciation and the Dormition of the Theotokos, made by Russian artists in the style of Italian painting.
Under the altar is a revered place with a symbolic stone accessible for pilgrims to venerate, where, according to legend, the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to the Most Holy Theotokos occurred.
The ancient mosaic floor of the temple is covered with carpets. The Holy Myrrhbearer Susanna is buried in the temple.
On the southern wall hangs an icon of the Virgin Mary of the Hodegetria type, called the Galilean icon. It was painted in 1960 by the Russian nun and icon painter Sergiya (Trofimova) in memory of her spiritual father, Abbot Seraphim, as evidenced by the inscription left on the icon: “Russian Hiero-Abbot Seraphim. Died in Galilee. 1875–1959, February 22.” The icon contains particles of the relics of the Apostle Luke and the Holy Martyr Haralambos of Magnesia. The nun-icon painter Sergiya created many icons and wall paintings in the church.
The same Russian nun Sergiya, who painted this church, painted two more miraculous icons. One is in the Cave Church of the Mother of God in Gethsemane - the "Jerusalem" icon of the Mother of God. The other is the "Kazan" icon in the Gornensky Monastery in Jerusalem in the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Nun Sergiya also helped restore the icons after heavy rains that flooded the Cave Church of the Mother of God in Gethsemane. She did not ask for money for her work.
In the churchyard there are burials from the Byzantine period of the 5th century: Bishop Theogenes and Deacon Hilarion. There is also the grave of Eugenia, the sister of Patriarch Timothy of Jerusalem (1935-1955), as well as the Greek Archimandrite Kyriakos, a great friend of Abbot Seraphim (Kuznetsov).
In the southern corner, as a continuation of this small cemetery, between the fence and the outer altar wall of the church is the burial place of Abbot Seraphim (Kuznetsov). It was he who brought from Alapaevsk via China the sacred relics of the Holy Martyrs Elizabeth (Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna) and her cell attendant Barbara, who now rest in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Gethsemane.
A small building made of boards by Father Seraphim himself and covered with metal, with modest, almost wretched cells, where he lived for almost 35 years with his spiritual daughters, was then located not far from the church, in the depths of an olive grove near the monastery fence. In its first half, located closer to the temple, there was a cell of the sisters and the workshop of nuns Sergiya and Anastasia, in the second section lived Father Seraphim. Now in the olive grove only barely noticeable traces of their humble and quiet life are preserved.
In the southern corner, as a continuation of this small cemetery, between the fence and the outer altar wall of the church is the burial place of Abbot Seraphim (Kuznetsov). It was he who brought from Alapaevsk via China the sacred relics of the Holy Martyrs Elizabeth (Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna) and her cell attendant Barbara, who now rest in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Gethsemane.
A small building made of boards by Father Seraphim himself and covered with metal, with modest, almost wretched cells, where he lived for almost 35 years with his spiritual daughters, was then located not far from the church, in the depths of an olive grove near the monastery fence. In its first half, located closer to the temple, there was a cell of the sisters and the workshop of nuns Sergiya and Anastasia, in the second section lived Father Seraphim. Now in the olive grove only barely noticeable traces of their humble and quiet life are preserved.
According to ecclesiastical tradition, the mother of Jesus Christ, Mary (the Theotokos and Panagia), was informed of her impending repose by the Archangel Gabriel three days before it occurred and she began to prepare appropriately.
She prayed on the Mount of Olives and gave her belongings to two widowed neighbors. Because on the day of her Dormition not all the Apostles were in Jerusalem, as they were preaching “everywhere,” a cloud snatched them up and brought them to her. The only one absent was the Apostle Thomas.
The Dormition of the Theotokos occurred in the house of the Evangelist John, where the mother of the God-man resided. After closing her eyes, the Apostles carried her deathbed to the Garden of Gethsemane, where they buried her.
During the transfer of her relics, fanatical Jews attempted to overturn her coffin, but were blinded. Only one of them managed to touch it, but an invisible sword cut off his hands.
The only one absent from her funeral was, as we mentioned above, the Apostle Thomas. When he went to her tomb three days later, he found only the burial shrouds. Apparently, the Panagia had risen. A magnificent temple was built over her tomb, attributed to Saint Helen.
After its destruction, the Roman emperor Marcian (450-457) and his second wife Pulcheria built a new temple, which exists to this day. The Dormition of the Virgin Mary was initially celebrated on August 13th, and from 460 onward August 15th.
She prayed on the Mount of Olives and gave her belongings to two widowed neighbors. Because on the day of her Dormition not all the Apostles were in Jerusalem, as they were preaching “everywhere,” a cloud snatched them up and brought them to her. The only one absent was the Apostle Thomas.
The Dormition of the Theotokos occurred in the house of the Evangelist John, where the mother of the God-man resided. After closing her eyes, the Apostles carried her deathbed to the Garden of Gethsemane, where they buried her.
During the transfer of her relics, fanatical Jews attempted to overturn her coffin, but were blinded. Only one of them managed to touch it, but an invisible sword cut off his hands.
The only one absent from her funeral was, as we mentioned above, the Apostle Thomas. When he went to her tomb three days later, he found only the burial shrouds. Apparently, the Panagia had risen. A magnificent temple was built over her tomb, attributed to Saint Helen.
After its destruction, the Roman emperor Marcian (450-457) and his second wife Pulcheria built a new temple, which exists to this day. The Dormition of the Virgin Mary was initially celebrated on August 13th, and from 460 onward August 15th.
