The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher
The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher, or
The Holy Community of the All-Holy Sepulcher, is the
Orthodox Monastic Fraternity that for centuries has
guarded and protected the Christian shrines in the Holy
Land, places that were sanctified by the life, teaching,
and Passion of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Brotherhood
of the Holy Sepulcher also administers the Roum Orthodox
Church of Jerusalem (See note below). The
Patriarch of Jerusalem himself is the Chief, President,
Governor, and Hegumen of the Brotherhood of the Holy
Sepulcher and is commemorated as “Our Father and Lord,
the Most Holy Beatitude, Patriarch of the Holy City of
Jerusalem and of all Palestine.” Members of the
Brotherhood are the administrative Officers of the
Patriarchate; and the Metropolitans, Archbishops,
Bishops, Archimandrites, Hieromonks, Hierodeacons, and
Monks of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem are members of
the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher. Consequently, the
Brotherhood is truly the flesh of the flesh of the
“Mother of the Churches;” and in that capacity, the
Brotherhood, by the grace and power of our Lord Jesus
Christ, has, for centuries, ministered, guarded, and
protected the Holy Sepulchre and all the shrines in the
Holy Land.
The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher
emerges after the triumph of Christianity in 313 and the
foundation of the Churches in the Holy Land by Saints
Constantine and Helen (326). At first, it bore the name
"Order of the Spoudaeoi (studious, zealous, industrious,
serious)," or "The Spoudaeoi of the Holy Resurrection of
Christ." Its members were totally dedicated to the
Services of the Church of the Resurrection. Along with
the ordained clergy, the Brotherhood was charged with
the care and preservation of the Holy Sepulcher and
other holy places in Jerusalem. They were distinguished
primarily for their observance of uninterrupted mental
prayer and heartfelt supplication. At the same time, the
Members of the Brotherhood were renowned for their
virtuous and diligent ascetic life. According to
findings of contemporary researchers, they were living
ascetic lives before 326 and were organized as an Order
during the visit of Saint Helen to the Holy City. They
cultivated a fervent love for Jesus Christ and they
nourished a special respect, honor, and affection for
those places made holy by Christ’s presence, thinking of
them as Holy Residences in the "Courtyard of the Lord."
For their work, achievement, and virtue, Saint Cyril of
Jerusalem makes mention of them in his Catechism,
saying: "Those cantors, the Spoudaeoi of the Church,
known to emulate the angelic armies and always praising
God, the most worthy ones, chant in Golgotha.”
Over the centuries, the Reverend
Fathers of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher have
faithfully executed their charge and responsibility,
suffering indescribable persecutions and martyrdom,
struggling with heroic courage "in the face of the
powers and authorities of this world." And they
continue to this day, with self-sacrificing struggle, to
maintain inextinguishable the torch of the Orthodox
Faith while, at the same time, remaining the repository
of the privileges and rights of the Orthodox Church in
the Holy Land. They have experienced “trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder,
were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute,
afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not
worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and
in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:36-38)
The many shrines that the Brotherhood of the Holy
Sepulchre has preserved, with unshakeable faith through
the centuries, are priceless to the faithful. The better
known include: the Holy Sepulcher; the Dreadful
Golgotha; the site where Saint Helen discovered the
Precious Cross (These first three are all under the roof
of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.); the Cave in
Bethlehem, where the Lord was born; the Tomb of the
Mother of God in Gethsemane; the Pool at Siloam, where
the blind man washed his eyes; Mount Tabor, where the
Lord’s Transfiguration occurred; the site of the Lord’s
Baptism in the River Jordan; Nazareth, the city of the
Annunciation, where also the Lord grew to manhood; the
Sea of Tiberius (also known as the Lake of Gennesaret,
and the Sea of Galilee); the Mount of Olives, the site
of the Lord’s Ascension; Cana, where the Lord’s first
miracle occurred; Bethesda, where the paralytic was
healed by the Sheep Pool; Capernaum, a city of Galilee,
where the Lord healed the centurion’s servant; the Tomb
of Lazarus in Bethany; and the well in Sychar, a city of
Samaria, where the Lord confronted Photini, the
Samaritan woman.
The history of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher,
covering eighteen centuries, is closely linked with the
history of the Christian Church from the very beginning.
The first Christian Community was established in
Jerusalem and had as its chief and first bishop, James,
from among the Seventy, called the Brother of God,
because he was a son of Joseph the Betrothed by his
first wife.
During Titus’ terrible destruction of the
Holy City in A.D. 70, predicted by Christ, Christians
fled to Pella in Decapolis where they remained until
134. After the return of Christians to Jerusalem
(renamed Aelia during Hadrian’s reign), the first bishop
to be elected to the See of Jerusalem was Mark I in 134.
The Church of Jerusalem was reorganized at the beginning
of the fourth century during the episcopate of Bishop
Makarios I. At the same time, monastic life was
organized and acquired the identity that today is
characteristic of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher,
remaining unshakeable and immovable during its long
journey through the centuries, in spite of the
incursions of foreigners and infidels, destruction,
slaughters, terrible persecutions, and indescribable
hardships and privations.
Historians divide the history of the Brotherhood of the
Holy Sepulcher into three periods:
1. from 327 to 638, the year in which the Holy City was
seized by the Caliph of the Moslem Arabs, Omar Hatap;
2. from 638 to 1517, at which time Jerusalem was
conquered by the Ottoman Turks under the Sultan Selim;
and,
3. from 1517 to the present.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was
founded under the patronage of Saint Helen, during this
first period, at the time of Bishop Makarios. At about
the same time, Saint Hilarion introduced monasticism in
Palestine, erected the first monastery, ordered and
regulated monastic life, and formed the Brotherhood of
the Holy Sepulcher. The purpose of the Brotherhood is
evidenced by its name, it is for the support and
protection of the Holy Sepulcher, Golgotha, and all of
the holy sites. In addition, the Brotherhood is
responsible for the Divine Services, Vigils,
Pilgrimages, and unceasing prayer. The churches at the
holy places in Palestine are not parochial, nor are they
only for the Christians of Jerusalem or Bethlehem. They
are for all Christians, as they are universal Christian
shrines. It is in these places that the Divine Liturgy
and the various Christian Services assumed their
perfected form and were distributed to the rest of the
Christian world; the Typikon and almost all the Feasts
of the Church originated in Jerusalem. The work of the
Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher began in 326 with the
setting up of the holy shrines. The mission of the
Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher under the precepts of
Saint Hilarion is a positive, living, and dynamic
contribution of monasticism. It not only brought the
monks to a communal life, but it also brought them into
a beneficial communion with the world. It is known that
not only Saint Hilarion but also Saint Chariton, another
of the great monks of the Church of Jerusalem and
founder of the first Lavra, worked tirelessly for the
spread of Christianity to the Gentiles, Jews, and
Saracens alike.
After the foundation of the Brotherhood of the Holy
Sepulcher, Members lived around the so-called Tower of
David. Once settled in their own monastery near the
Church of the Resurrection, some lived inside the Church
itself, as is still done today on a rotation schedule.
By a Decree of the Fourth Ecumenical
Council (451), the Bishop of the Holy City was elevated
to the rank of Patriarch. Since then, the Throne of
Jerusalem has remained an autocephalous Church and has
been governed by an uninterrupted line of Greek
Patriarchs. Jerusalem was established as a patriarchate
as a result of the special significance acquired between
the First and Fourth Ecumenical Councils; the erection
of magnificent Churches; the conversion of Palestine to
Christianity; the coming together of pilgrims from
around the world; the importance of outstanding bishops,
monks, and teachers of the Church of Jerusalem; the
struggles of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher in
behalf of Orthodoxy; and the support of various Emperors
of Byzantium.
The incursions of foreigners into
Palestine, resulting in the Brotherhood’s having to
struggle in order to preserve the holy places began
during the second period. The Persians occupied
Jerusalem in 614 and took Patriarch Zachariah prisoner,
along with the palladium of Christianity, the Precious
Cross. Patriarch Sophronios lamented Patriarch
Zachariah’s indescribable suffering in an elegy.
Chrysostomos Papadopoulos writes in his history of the
Patriarchate: "The Churches and the monasteries, inside
and outside Jerusalem, were destroyed; the Christians
were brutally slaughtered … thousands of prisoners
purchased by Jews were slaughtered. Anything good that
existed was destroyed or was plundered by the invaders.
The monks were slaughtered mercilessly, especially those
of Saint Savvas Monastery."
In 638, the Caliph, Omar Hatap, laid
siege to Jerusalem, and Patriarch Sophronios surrendered
the Holy City. However, in a treaty with the Caliph, the
Patriarch managed to save the shrines from destruction
and, at the same time, to secure the ownership of the
holy sites as well as the privileges of the Brotherhood
of the Holy Sepulcher. This accorded safety and free
exercise of religion to the "Nation of the Roum," as
well as the ownership of the holy places.
During this second period, the Church of Jerusalem and
the Brotherhood suffered many persecutions and trials.
The shrines were repeatedly ransacked and defaced by the
successors of Omar Hatap, and there was great
persecution all around. The most deadly persecution
occurred during the time of the Fatimid Al Hakim
(1007-1009), a schizophrenic, named the "Nero of Egypt"
for his merciless acts. He persecuted ferociously both
Christians and Jews. He ordered that in public Jews were
to wear masks representing the head of an ox and bells
around their necks; Christians were to wear mourning
apparel and Crosses one yard in length. Also, Al Hakim
ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher. In the eleventh century, the Caliph Al
Zachir, under a treaty with Byzantium, permitted the
reconstruction of the shrines.
During the Crusades, the Brotherhood
of the Holy Sepulcher confronted new persecutions. Being
expelled by the Latin clergy from the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher and other holy places, the Brotherhood
regrouped in the Metochion of the Lavra of Saint Savvas
and eventually regained possession of the holy places in
1185. With the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in
1453, Patriarch Athanasios went to Constantinople and
there received from Mohammed II the document that
confirmed the ownership of the holy places by the
Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher.
During the third period, the struggles of the Members of
the Brotherhood continued against the Latins and the
Armenians who were attempting to usurp the rights of the
Brotherhood and its authority over the shrines, both of
which had been confirmed by the Byzantine Emperors as
well as by the Moslem conquerors. The Brotherhood was
reconstituted during the period of the British mandate
in Palestine before and after World War II. Jordanian
Law No. 27, dated 16 January, 1958, regulates the
details of the Brotherhood’s government.
Notable constructions in the life of the Brotherhood of
the Holy Sepulcher are:
1. rebuilding the Church of the Sepulcher in 617-626 by
Patriarch Modesto;
2. repairing the canopy of the Holy Sepulcher in 1545 by
Patriarch Germanos;
3. rebuilding the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 1808
after it was burnt by the Armenians;
4. rebuilding the small dome over the Holy Sepulcher in
1927;
5. rebuilding the ædicule surrounding the Holy Sepulcher
in 1931-1933; and,
6. repairing and refurbishing the Church of the Nativity
of Christ in Bethlehem in 1842.
And so the list continues on until this day with a
series of works under the loving care and protection of
the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher, initiated by
various Members of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher
who maintain the daily cycle of Services in the shrines
and holy places of Palestine.
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Note : Roum, i.e., East Roman or Byzantine. All Orthodox
peoples in the Near East, regardless of language or
ethnicity, are referred to as Roum; however in English,
they are generally referred to as “Greek Orthodox’’.
