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[[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>

Saint Philoumenos came from the village of [[w:Orounta|Orounta]] in the province of [[w:Morphou|Morphou]], [[Church of Cyprus|Cyprus]]. The neomartyr was born in 1913 to George and Magdalene Hasapis, along with his twin brother Archimandrite Elpidios. Even though his parents came from the village of Orounta, they lived at the [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agios_Savvas_Church,_Nicosia.jpg parish of St. Savvas in Nicosia], since his father had his own inn and bakery there.<ref name="NOCTOC">[http://noctoc-noctoc.blogspot.com/2008/11/1979-cypriot-saint-philoumenos-who-was.html NOCTOC: Ο Κύπριος Άγιος Φιλούμενος που κατακρεούργησαν οι σιωνιστές Εβραίοι το 1979-The Cypriot Saint Philoumenos who was massacred by Zionist Jews in 1979]. Saturday, November 29, 2008.</ref>

From a young age, he and his brother Elpidios showed a special zeal for the sacred letters Scriptures of Christ, being inspired in particular by their grandmother Loxantra, who aside from their mother, influenced them in learning the ways of the Church and developing a truly Orthodox conscience.<ref name="NOCTOC"/>

The crowning moment of Father Philoumenos’ earthly pilgrimage came on November 16/29, 1979 at the shrine built on the site of [[Jacob’s 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 of the centuries.<ref name="NOCTOC"/>

The week beforehis 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"/>