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[[Image:Neomartyr Philoumenos.jpg|right|thumb|New Martyr Archimandrite Philoumenos (+1979), keeper of the Greek Orthodox monastery of [[Jacob's Well]] in Samaria (Nablus, West Bank).]]
[[Image:Hieromartyr of Jacob's Well Philoumenos.gif|right|thumb|Hieromartyr Saint Philoumenos of [[Jacob's Well]].]]
[[New Martyrs|New martyr]] Archimandrite '''Philoumenos (Hasapis)''' (Greek: Φιλουμενος ο Κυπριος), [[October 15]], 1913 - [[November 16]], 1979, was the [[Igumen]] of the [[Greek Orthodox]] [[Monasticism|monastery]] of [[Jacob's Well]] near the city of Samaria, now called Nablus (Neapolis), West Bank. He was glorified by the the [[Church of Jerusalem|Patriarchate of Jerusalem]] on [[August 17]]/30, 2008, and he is commemorated on [[November 16]]/29.
The life of Father Philoumenos is an example that martyrdom for Christ is not of the past from the Roman Empire or Communist times, but is a reality even in our own day.<ref name="ACROD">Very Rev. Fr. Edward Pehanich. ''[http://www.acrod.org/assets/files/PDFS/Messenger/CM%20-%201-08_Web.pdf Father Philoumenos of Jacobs Well 1913-1979].'' In: '''The Church Messenger''', American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A. Volume LXIV, Number 1, January 27, 2008. Page 7.</ref>
:Father Philoumenos used to tell me about his years in Bethlehem, where the bishop disapproved of education for monks lest they be tempted to the priesthood. But because of his zeal for the neglected souls of the Palestinian faithful, Father Philoumenos studied to become fluent in Arabic, both literary and conversational, chanting the Holy Gospel more easily than many Arabs, and preaching the Orthodox faith not only in their language but in his Orthodox manner of life. What a good shepherd he was, more worthy than some of the episcopate! Yet the policies and needs of the patriarchate saw Father Philoumenos assigned to other positions. Whenever Palestinian faithful were scandalized by some unworthy priest, whenever Orthodox neglect or European money drove the faithful to wonder whether they would not receive better pastoral care from Uniates, it was Father Philoumenos that the [[List of Patriarchs of Jerusalem|Patriarch of Jerusalem]] sent as the true defender of the Faith, a man of more than blameless life, a man from whom no one could even imagine any immodest or improper word, a man whose faith and integrity were a model for all.<ref name="Yeghia">Monk Yeghia Yenovkian [http://burningbushmonastery.org/ Paradise Palestinian Hermitage], Ellisville, Mississippi. [http://www.roca.org/OA/94/94k.htm Tribute to a New Martyr - Our Holy Father Philoumenos of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre ]. Martyred at Jacob's Well, 16/29 November, 1979. In: '''Orthodox America''', 1994.</ref>
:Three things were most remarkable about the blessed martyr. The first might have been partly from nature, but assuredly aided by Grace: this was his soft sweet voice, which I can still hear today. The second was a meticulous fidelity to small things, but specifically to the Divine Service. He never omitted one word of any day's service. When we were alone in some remote monastery, particularly for Matins, he slowly and carefully chanted each word of every psalm and canon. Not even at the Monastery of St. Sabba was the reading done so well. But when there were pilgrims for the Divine Liturgy and vespers, he made the usual abridgements lest the service be too long and some be tempted to leave. Later on, privately, he would read every word that had not been chanted in the church. Those who stayed with him for some time saw the copies of the menaion, horologion, synaxarion, etc. and noticed that the markers were always in place and the volumes never dusty, which earned the Divine Promise, ''Well done thou good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over little things, I will set thee over great things Enter thou into the joy of the Lord '' (Matt. 25:21). Third, and as unobtrusive, almost secret, was his humility.<ref name="Yeghia"/>
In 1979 Saint Philoumenos was appointed guardian of the Monastery of Saint [[Jacob's Well]].<ref name="NOCTOC"/>
===Martyrdom===
[[Image:29 nov philoumenos of jacobs well.jpg|right|thumb|St. Philoumenus, Newmartyr of Jacob's well, November 16/29.]]
The crowning moment of Father Philoumenos’ earthly pilgrimage came on [[November 16]]/29, 1979 at the shrine built on the site of [[Jacob's Well]]. The Saint experienced a martyric death at the hands of extremist Jewish Zionists who massacred him with an ax in the evening, while he was performing [[Vespers]] at the Well of Jacob where he lived as a loyal guardian of the Holy Places and of the centuries old way of life.<ref name="NOCTOC"/>
The week before his martyrdom, a group of fanatical Zionists came to the monastery at Jacob's Well, claiming it as a Jewish holy place and demanding that all crosses and icons be removed. Of course, the Saint pointed out that the floor upon which they were standing had been built by [[Constantine I|Emperor Constantine]] before 331 A.D. and had served as an Orthodox Christian holy place for sixteen centuries before the Israeli State was created, and had been in Samaritan hands eight centuries before that.<ref group="note">The rest of the original church had been destroyed by the invasion of Shah [[w:Khosrau II|Khosran Parvis]] in the early seventh century, at which time the Jews massacred all the Christians of Jerusalem.</ref> The group left with threats, insults and obscenities of the kind which local Christians suffer regularly.<ref name="NOCTOC"/>
:"They burst into the monastery and with a hatchet butchered Archimandrite Philoumenos in the form of a cross. With one vertical stroke they clove his face, with another horizontal stroke they cut his cheeks as far as his ears. His eyes were plucked out. The fingers of his right hand were cut into pieces and its thumb was hacked off. These were the fingers with which he made the sign of the Cross. The murderers were not content with the butchering of the innocent monk, but proceeded to desecrate the church as well. A crucifix was destroyed, the sacred vessels were scattered and defiled, and the church was in general subjected to sacrilege of the most appalling type."<ref name="ALL SAINTS">All Saints of North America Russian Orthodox Church. ''[http://www.allsaintsofamerica.org/martyrs/nmphilou.html Holy Hieromartyr Philoumenos].''</ref>
The piecemeal chopping of the three fingers with which he made the Sign of the Cross showed that he was tortured in an attempt to make him renounce his Orthodox Christian Faith.<ref group="note">It was later determined that the person that did the actual murder was an American Jew. Instead of being imprisioned for this criminal act by the Isreali Israeli government, he was merely deported back to the U.S. where he freely walks the streets. ([http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php/topic,322.msg2891.html#msg2891 OrthodoxChristianity.net]. December 04, 2002. ''(Online Forum)''.</ref><ref name="NOCTOC"/>
The body of the Saint was handed over to the Orthodox 6 days after his massacre, but retained its flexibility and was buried in the cemetery of Mount Zion.<ref name="NOCTOC"/> Saint Philoumenos served in the [[Holy Land]] for 46 years (1933-1979).