The holy relic will be brought by the Abbot of the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi, Archimandrite Ephraim, on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at 17:00 PM, to the propylaea of the Holy Church.
Afterwards, a Doxology will be celebrated upon the arrival of the Holy Reed, officiated by His Eminence Metropolitans of Sisani and Siatis, Mr. Athanasios, and of Thessaloniki, Mr. Philotheos.
Immediately after the reception, a Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ will be held, while in the evening of the same day, from 20:00 to 00:30, an Archbishop's Vigil will be held, with Vespers, Matins and Divine Liturgy, presided over by Metropolitan Sisani and Siatisti, Mr. Athanasios.
Throughout the stay of the Holy Reed, daily holy services, Divine Liturgies, Prayers and Greetings, as well as prayers for health, will be held. The program also includes holy vigils, while on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at 18:30, the Abbot of the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi, Archimandrite Ephraim, will give a speech at the spiritual center of the Holy Church of Saint Spyridon of Triandria.
A special place in the program is the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy officiated by His Holiness Metropolitan of Thessaloniki, Mr. Philotheos, on Sunday, November 15, 2026.
The pilgrimage will conclude on Monday, November 16, 2026, when, after the performance of the prescribed services and prayers, the holy relic will depart from the Holy Temple.
The Holy Reed
In the Vatopedi Monastery there is another Serbian reliquary that has a hollow in the middle with a patriarchal cross. The Cross bears a strip of implanted Holy Reed along its entire length and width. Around the Cross there are in panels the relics of eponymous saints of our Church. This reliquary must have been donated to the Monastery by Serbian nobles.
The date of construction of the reliquary is attributed by researchers to the 16th century -17th century. However, it is very likely to be from the same era as the reliquary of the Holy Cross. No inscription or date has survived.
As is known, the Holy Reed is the reed that the Jews gave to the right hand of Christ, instead of a royal scepter, after they clothed him with a red cloak, instead of royal purple, wanting to mock him for supposedly being a king; because His life-giving and saving word did not fit into their doomed souls. With this reed they then struck him on the head, as the Evangelist Matthew Bookshops (chap. 27).
