A Taybeh Day for Saint George

By Dr. Maria C. Khoury

Today was a wonderful celebration for our Patron Saint George with Archimandrite Fr. Jack-Nobel, our Taybeh parish priest of St. George Great Martyr Church of the Greek Melkite Catholic Patriarchate celebrating the feast of St. George in our village with His Excellency the new General Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem, Archbishop Yasser Ayyash and

many members of the Greek Catholic community who traveled from various locations in the Holy Land to attend today’s beautiful liturgy with over ten priests including our own local priests, Fr. Daoud and Fr. Johnny with the entire Taybeh community.

Jack Rabah with his glorious voice continued the annual tradition to chant in Arabic and Greek. Truly it felt like heaven on earth with the most amazing chanting.

R-L : Mayor of Taybeh, Mr. Nadim Barakat, former Mayor of Taybeh, David Khoury, and representatives of Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem standing with the magnificent chanter Jack Rabah!

“Since thou art a liberator and deliverer of captives, a help and succour of the poor and needy, a healing physician of the sick, a contender and fighter for kings, O great among Martyrs, the victory-clad George; intercede with Christ God for the salvation of our souls.”

(A special chant in honor of St. George, our Patron Saint of Taybeh and Patron Saint of Palestine)

St. George was known to be a commander in the Roman Army but he refused to help Emperor Diocletian persecute the Christians.

The courage of St. George to stand up against the Emperor actually reminds me of the very few but brave Israeli soldiers who love their country but refuse to serve in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Actually, every Christian now in the Middle East has to have this brave stance for Christ as did St. George around the year 296 when he was beheaded because he announced his genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and God.

It is known in Church tradition that the sacred remains of St. George were taken from Nicomedia (Asia Minor) where he was martyred to Palestine where his mother lived in the ancient town called Lydda (currently the Tel Aviv Airport is next to St. George Church in Israel).

We celebrate the translation of the holy relics to the church in Lydda every year on November 16 (which is actually only November 3rd on the Old Julian calendar when the official Greek Orthodox Patriarchate celebration occurs).

The November event is a bigger celebration with parades and scouts and people from all over the Holy Land traveling to ancient Lydda (now Lod) to honor the Great Martyr George. Here in Taybeh, the Greek Orthodox Church will celebrate the feast of Saint George on the Old Julian calendar which falls on May 6th.

A small side note about St. George is worth mentioning that the reason he might be the most beloved saint in the whole Middle East is not only for his courage and being brave to express his faith but churches who had the image of St. Church throughout the centuries were not destroyed during invasions.

We think of St. George like insurance for buildings based on this oral tradition. It is very common to see the image of St. George carved in stone in many of the houses today in Bethlehem. So, our small town, with less than 2,000 people and three magnificent churches named after the Great Martyr George expresses in itself our love for this illustrious brave Church hero.

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Maria Khoury

Palestine Christian Writer, Blogger at St. George Greek Orthodox Church

Maria C. Khoury

Palestine Christian Writer, Blogger at St. George Greek Orthodox Church
Maria (Kouremenou) Khoury is the author of Orthodox Christian children's books including Christina Goes to the Holy Land, walking the footsteps of Christ. She is a graduate of Hellenic College (1982), Harvard University (1985) and Boston University (1992) with a doctor of education degree. Born in Tripoli, Greece, she was raised in Denver, Colorado. On Dec 31, 2009 she was included on the top 4 Human Rights Champions list by DC Human Rights Examiner including the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Hilary Clinton.

Maria is the author of Witness in the Holy Land (distributed by www.HolyCrossBookstore.com), a publication reflecting personal experiences living under military occupation with her husband the former Mayor of Taybeh, David Canaan Khoury and three children Elena, Canaan, and Constantine. Her articles have been published world-wide in numerous newspapers and magazines and have been translated to various languages bringing awareness of the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

Maria Khoury has been the Taybeh Oktoberfest organizer since 2005.She divides her time between her homes in Boston and Taybeh, travels throughout the world promoting the Christina Books and making presentations about the dwindling Christian community in Palestine.She encourages people to stay at the new Taybeh Golden Hotel and experience rural life in Palestine.