From our priest, Fr. Daniel Lattier:
on the evening of Friday, March 27th, at 9pm (12pm PST), all of the Mt. Athos monasteries and their dependencies will begin an All-Night Vigil to the Most Holy Theotokos (the guardian of the Holy Mountain) and the Holy Martyr Haralambos (known as the healer of infectious diseases).
As one Orthodox site says:
"They will thus entreat God's mercy and grace, and especially the Most Holy Virgin's intercessions and protective veil, and St. Haralambos' prayers. The monasteries are also to hold cross processions with relics and wonderworking icons according to our Holy Tradition. The Sacred Community expresses the need to join them especially on that night in their prayers, expresses the need to strengthen prayers and the celebration of the Sacraments during Great Lent and calls on all to repent 'with all the power of the spirit of the Lord, the Lifegiving Source overcoming death.'"
According to Deacon Peter Simko:
"St.Haralambos has a special gift of healing pestilential diseases, and has often halted epidemics of typhus, cholera, and the plague. In 1908 a deadly epidemic reached Mount Athos, and the holy skull of the saint was taken from St. Stephen's on Meteora to the Protaton on Mt. Athos, where an all-night vigil was served. The epidemic halted immediately, and since then, each year, the monasteries celebrate an all-night vigil honoring St. Haralambos--the only saint besides the Holy Theotokos to be so honored by the entire population of the Holy Mountain."
If you can, please join the monks of Mt. Athos tomorrow in praying for an end to the Coronavirus, and a return of the freedom to hold services in our temple.
Here is a link to the version we used: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2020/01/akathist-to-st-charalampos-hieromartyr.html
Come pray with us as we join with love and faith our brethren on the holy mountain!
The Lewis Family