His father was a stock breeder, and his maternal uncle was the village priest.[lower-alpha 1] From 1889 to 1891, Emmanuel studied at the Patriarchal School of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1891, he became the hegumen of the Monastery of Bethlehem, and the Archbishop of Mount Tabor, Spyridon, ordained him a deacon with the name of Meletius. He resumed his studies at the Theological School of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross at Jerusalem, when the school opened in 1893.