Patriarch Ignatius of Antioch and All East laid to rest in Damascus

The memorial service for Patriarch Ignatius of Antioch served on Sunday, 9 December 2012, at Saint Nicholas Cathedral church in Beirut 

Officiating at the funeral service in the Cathedral of St Nicholas the Wonderworker in Beirut were His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus, and His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Albania. Taking part in the funeral service were also delegations of the Local Orthodox Churches, led by Metropolitan Nicholas of Hermopolis (Patriarchate of Alexandria), Metropolitan Benedict of Philadelphia (Patriarchate of Jerusalem), Metropolitan Stephan of Tsageri and Lentekhi (Patriarchate of Georgia), Bishop Antonije of Moravicí (Serbian Patriarchate), Archbishop Casian of Lower Danube (Romanian Patriarchate), Metropolitan Ioannis of Langadas (Greek Orthodox Church), and Bishop Irénée of Quebec (Orthodox Church in America).

The prayers included Paschal hymns, according to the tradition of the Antiochian Church, and were said in the Arabic, Greek, Church Slavonic, Serbian, Georgian, and Romanian languages.

Present in the Cathedral were also Mr. Michel Suleiman, President of the Republic of Lebanon; Mr. Najib Azmi Mikati, Prime Minister of Lebanon; heads and representatives of non-Orthodox confessions; H.E. Mr. Alexander Zasypkin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Lebanon; other members of the diplomatic corps, accredited to Beirut; numerous clerics and laymen of the Patriarchate of Antioch; and public figures of Lebanon and Syria.

After the funeral service, His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus, and His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania addressed the members of the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church with the words of condolences over the bereavement that has befallen the Church of Antioch.

Then the funeral procession with the coffin of the departed Primate of the Orthodox Church of Antioch left Beirut for Damascus. The procession included the members of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Antioch. On Monday, December 10, the ever memorable Patriarch Ignatius will be buried in the sepulchre of the Antiochian Patriarchs, located in the territory of the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Assumption, in the historical part of Damascus.

Source: mospat.ru