Jerusalem, August 16, 2018
The Dormition Fast began on an especially high note for one graduate of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary this year.
Khader (George) Baramky, who studied at the seminary in northeastern Pennsylvania from 2012 to 2015, was ordained to the diaconate at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on the night of Monday to Tuesday, reports the site of the patriarchate.
Moreover, the ordination, celebrated by Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the Secretary General of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, was celebrated within the Lord’s Tomb itself, as can be seen in the video below. The ordination itself in the Tomb begins at 28:45:
In his words to the newly-ordained, Abp. Aristarchos emphasized the importance of such an event in such a place:
This hour is indeed great and sacred, because the Sacrament of the Ordination is being held simultaneously with the Sacrament of the Divine Liturgy, and more especially, as these are taking place at the horrendous Golgotha, where Christ shed His Blood for the remission of our sins, and at His Life-Giving Tomb, where He was buried and risen from the dead.
Deacon Khader was ordained by decision of the Holy Synod, chaired by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem. It is planned to then ordain Dcn. Khader to the priesthood to serve at the Cathedral of St. James the Brother of God, for which Abp. Aristarchos admonished him to “minister in a spirit of sacrifice and offering according to Orthodox teaching.”
Dcn. Khader hails from Jerusalem, where he has given many years in service to the Church. After studying at the University of Bethlehem, he traveled to far away St. Tikhon’s where he studied Scripture, Patristics, Church history, dogmatics, Church music, and liturgics towards the Master of Divinity degree, which he received in 2015.
Dcn. Khader loved to attend services at St. Tikhon’s Monastery, where he often served in the altar and was always willing to help however needed.
Following his time at St. Tikhon’s, Dcn. Khader then studied at the University of Thessaloniki, after which he returned to Jerusalem and began serving the Church as a teacher and head deputy for the Russian Orthodox School of Bethany.
Dcn. Khader’s knowledge of various languages and experience with various Orthodox liturgical traditions will certainly help him in his ministry in the Holy Land, where millions of people from throughout the world visit every year.
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