First blessing of water in decades held at Romanian Skete on Jordan River

The first Lesser Blessing of Water in decades was officiated last Friday at the Romanian Skete on the Jordan River following decades of abandonment, Archimandrite Ioan Meiu, representative of the Romanian Patriarchate in the Holy Land and superior of the Romanian Settlements in Jerusalem, Jericho and Jordan, announced.

With the support of the Israeli authorities, the archimandrite visited the skete on Friday, 4 September, together with two priests from the Romanian Settlements in Jerusalem and Jericho and several Romanian faithful.

Archimandrite Ioan Meiu and members of the Romanian community in Jerusalem went to the Romanian Skete at the Jordan on Friday, September 4, 2026. Photo: Representation of the Romanian Patriarchate at the Holy Places They removed the remaining liturgical objects from inside the church, including fragments of the iconostasis and the cross that had fallen from the dome and the entrance door, and cleaned the interior, which had been left in ruins by war.

The Romanians sanitised the interior, recovered several historical objects, and officiated the first Small Blessing of Water after decades of desolation of the holy place in an area of former…