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→Martyrdom
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 centuries old way of life.<ref name="NOCTOC"/>
The week before his martyrdom, a group of fanatical Zionists came had come 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 [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/antiochus_strategos_capture.htm 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"/>
After a few days, on November 16/29, 1979, during a torrential downpour, a group broke into the [[Monasticism|monastery]]. The saint had already put on his [[epitrachelion]] for [[Vespers]].
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 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).
==Glorification==
