Descent of the Holy Fire. Miracles of the descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem When they distribute fire in the church

The Holy Fire is an insoluble and mysterious mystery for scientists all over the world. But not for Christians! We know that the Holy Fire is an Easter symbol, which is given to us by the Lord himself from heaven! And the descent of this great and wonderful gift from God has been happening since ancient times.

The Holy Fire has been appearing in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem for more than the first millennium. The earliest mentions of the descent of the Holy Fire on the eve of the Resurrection of Christ are found in Gregory of Nyssa, Eusebius and Silvia of Aquitaine and date back to the 4th century. They also contain descriptions of earlier convergences.

The day before, all candles, lamps, and chandeliers in the church are extinguished. Back at the beginning of the 20th century. This was carefully monitored: the Turkish authorities carried out a strict search inside the chapel; According to the slander of Catholics, they even went so far as to inspect the pockets of the officiating metropolitan, the vicar of the patriarch... because of suspicion, the patriarch was forced to undress down to his cassock, so that it would be clear that he was not carrying matches or anything else capable of lighting a fire into the cave. During the reign of the Turks, close “Control” of the patriarch was carried out by Turkish Janissaries, who searched him before entering the Edicule, but currently the Patriarch is examined by Jewish police.

Shortly before the arrival of the patriarch, the sacristan brings a large lamp into the cave, in which the main fire and 33 candles should flare up - according to the number of years of the savior's earthly life. Then the Orthodox and Armenian patriarchs (the latter is also unmasked before entering the cave) go inside. They are sealed with a large piece of wax and a red tape is placed on the door; Orthodox ministers put their seals. At this time, the lights in the temple turn off.

After sealing the edicule, Orthodox Arab youth run into the temple, whose presence is also an obligatory element of Easter celebrations. Young people sit on each other’s shoulders like riders. They ask the Mother of God and the Lord to grant the Orthodox the Holy Fire. “There is no Faith Except the Orthodox Faith, Christ is the True God,” they chant. For European parishioners, accustomed to other forms of expression of feelings and calm worship services, it can be very unusual to see such behavior of local youth. However, the Lord reminded us that he accepted such childishly naive, but sincere appeal to him. During the time when Jerusalem was under the British Mandate, the English governor once tried to ban these “Savage” dances. The Patriarch prayed in the Edicule for two hours: the fire did not go down. Then the patriarch, by his own will, ordered the Arabs to be allowed in... And the fire descended." The Arabs seem to be addressing all nations: the Lord confirms the correctness of our faith by bringing down the Holy Fire on the eve of Orthodox Easter. What do you believe in?

All the people in the temple are patiently waiting for the patriarch to come out with fire in his hands. However, in the hearts of many people there is not only patience, but also a thrill of expectation: in accordance with the tradition of the Jerusalem church, it is believed that the day when the Holy Fire does not descend will be the last for the people in the temple, and the temple itself will be destroyed. Therefore, pilgrims usually take communion before coming to Holy place. Over the years, the agonizing wait lasts from five minutes to several hours.

Before the descent, the temple begins to be illuminated with bright flashes of blessed light, small lightning flashes here and there. When filming in slow motion, it is clearly visible that they come from different places in the temple - from the icon hanging above the edicule, from the dome of the temple, from the windows and from other places, and fill everything around with bright light. In addition, here and there, between the columns and walls of the temple, quite visible lightning flashes, which often pass through standing people without any harm.

A moment later, the entire temple turns out to be surrounded by lightning and glare, which snake down its walls and columns, as if flowing down to the foot of the temple and spreading across the square among the pilgrims. At the same time, the candles of those standing in the temple and in the square light up, the lamps on the sides of the edicule light up themselves (with the exception of 13 Catholic ones), like some others within the temple. "And suddenly a drop falls on the face, and then a cry of delight and shock is heard in the crowd. The fire in the altar of the catholicon is blazing! The flash and flame are like a huge flower. And the edicule is still dark. Slowly, slowly, along the candles, the fire from the altar begins to descend towards us ". And then a thunderous cry makes you look back at the Edicule. It shines, the entire wall shimmers with silver, white lightning streams along it. The fire pulsates and breathes, and from the hole in the dome of the temple a wide vertical column of light descended from the sky onto the coffin." The temple or its individual places are filled with an unparalleled radiance, which is believed to have first appeared during the resurrection of Christ. At the same time, the doors of the tomb open and the Orthodox patriarch comes out, blesses those gathered and distributes the Holy Fire.

However, not everyone lights the fire from the patriarchal candle; for some, it lights up on its own. "The flashes of heavenly light became brighter and stronger. Now the blessed fire began to fly throughout the entire temple. It scattered in bright blue beads over the edicule around the icon of the "Resurrection of the Lord", and after that one of the lamps flared up, burst into the temple chapels, onto Calvary (lit on also one of the lamps), sparkled over the stone of anointing (here a lamp was also lit. For some, the wicks of candles were charred, for others, lamps and bunches of candles flared up on their own. The flashes became more and more intensified, sparks spread here and there through the bunches of candles One of the witnesses notes how the candles of the woman standing next to him lit up on their own three times, which she twice tried to extinguish.

The first time - 3-10 minutes, the ignited fire has amazing properties - it does not burn at all, regardless of what candle and where it is lit. You can see how parishioners literally wash themselves with this fire - they rub it over their faces, over their hands, scoop up handfuls of it, and it does not cause any harm, at first it does not even singe their hair.

Indeed, this is one of the greatest miracles of both past centuries and the modern 21st century! The Lord shows all his followers, all Christians, that he is with us!

In Russia, the Holy Fire is delivered to many, many cities for the Easter service, and the joyful holiday of Easter intensifies and ascends to heaven, to the birthplace of the Holy Fire!

The descent of fire can be seen only once a year and in the only place on the planet - the Jerusalem Temple of the Resurrection. Its huge complex includes: Golgotha, a cave with the Cross of the Lord, a garden where Christ was seen after the resurrection. It was built in the 4th century by Emperor Constantine and the Holy Fire was seen there during the first service on Easter. Around the place where this happened, they built a chapel with the Holy Sepulcher - it is called Edicule.

At ten o'clock on the morning of Holy Saturday, all candles, lamps and other light sources in the temple are extinguished every year. The highest church dignitaries personally monitor this: the last test is the Edicule, after which it is sealed with a large wax seal. From this moment on, the protection of holy places falls on the shoulders of the Israeli police (in ancient times, the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire handled their duties). They also put an additional seal on top of the seal of the Patriarch. What is not proof of the miraculous origin of the Holy Fire?

Edicule

At twelve o'clock in the afternoon, a procession of the cross begins to stretch from the courtyard of the Jerusalem Patriarchate to the Holy Sepulcher. It is led by the patriarch: having walked around the Edicule three times, he stops in front of its doors.

“The Patriarch dresses in white robes. With him, 12 archimandrites and four deacons put on white vestments at the same time. Then clerics in white surplices with 12 banners depicting the passion of Christ and His glorious resurrection come out of the altar in pairs, followed by clerics with ripids and a life-giving cross, then 12 priests in pairs, then four deacons, also in pairs, with the last two of them in front of the patriarch they hold bunches of candles in their hands in a silver stand for the most convenient transmission of the holy fire to the people, and, finally, the patriarch with a staff in his right hand. With the blessing of the patriarch, the singers and all the clergy, singing: “Thy Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and grant us on earth to glorify You with a pure heart,” go from the Church of the Resurrection to the edicule and circle it three times. After the third circumambulation, the patriarch, clergy and singers stop with the banner bearers and the crusader in front of the holy life-giving tomb and sing the evening hymn: “Quiet Light,” recalling that this litany was once part of the rite of the evening service.”

The Holy Fire is one of the most powerful and significant symbols of faith among Orthodox Christians and the manifestation of its truth by higher powers to all believers. Once again he will descend from heaven this year on Saturday, April 7, on the eve of Holy Easter in Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where the earthly journey of Jesus Christ was completed. We will talk to you today about the natural essence of the phenomenon, how the Holy Fire descends, how science is trying to explain it.

Holy Fire: mystery and essence of the phenomenon

Scientists and atheists have been trying to explain the nature of the Holy Fire for a long time, but so far to no avail. True believers do not need to explain anything; they accept Fire as God's grace. Skeptics, atheists, scientists with available data, scientific methods through experiments also want to reveal the nature of the phenomenon from a scientific point of view, perhaps they will one day succeed... But for now it’s just a mystery, hidden from explanation.

On the eve of Orthodox Easter, we will also touch on this phenomenon.

Where and when does the Holy Fire descend?

The Holy Fire descends in one place, only in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Israel, in Jerusalem, and only on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

This phenomenon has been observed year after year for more than a millennium. The first mentions date back to church historians in the 4th century.

I will give a description full of the feelings experienced by Archimandrite Savva Achilleos in the book “I Saw the Holy Fire.” For more than 50 years he was the chief novice at the Holy Sepulcher. Here are his impressions:

“….the patriarch bowed low to approach the Life-Giving Tomb. And suddenly, in the midst of the dead silence, I heard some kind of tremulous, subtle rustling. It was like a subtle breath of wind. And immediately after that I saw a blue light that filled the entire internal space of the Life-Giving Tomb.
Oh, what an unforgettable sight it was! I saw how this light was spinning, like a strong whirlwind or storm. And in this Blessed light I clearly saw the face of the Patriarch. Large tears flowed down his cheeks...
... the blue light again came into a state of movement. Then it suddenly became white... Soon the light acquired a rounded shape and stood motionless in the form of a halo above the Patriarch’s head. I saw how His Beatitude the Patriarch took bundles of 33 candles into his hands, raised them high above him and began to pray to God to send the Holy Fire, slowly extending his hands to the sky. He barely had time to raise them to the level of his head when suddenly all four bundles lit up in his hands, as if they were brought closer to a blazing furnace. At that same second, the halo of light above his head disappeared. From the joy that overwhelmed me, tears flowed from my eyes...”

Holy Fire in Jerusalem. Story

The Holy Fire has been appearing in the temple for more than a millennium. The earliest mentions of the descent of the Holy Fire on the eve of the Resurrection of Christ are found in Gregory of Nyssa, Eusebius and Silvia of Aquitaine and date back to the 4th century. They also contain descriptions of earlier convergences. According to the testimony of the Apostles and Holy Fathers, the uncreated Light illuminated the Holy Sepulcher soon after the Resurrection of Christ, which one of the Apostles saw: “Peter believed, he saw not only with his sensual eyes, but also with the lofty Apostolic mind - the Sepulcher was filled with light, so that, although and the night was, however, two images I saw internally - sensually and spiritually,” we read from the church historian Gregory of Nyssa. “Peter presented himself to the Sepulcher and was terrified of the light in vain,” writes St. John of Damascus. Eusebius Pamphilus narrates in his “Church History” that when one day there was not enough lamp oil, Patriarch Narcissus (2nd century) blessed to pour water from the Pool of Siloam into the lamps, and the fire that came down from heaven lit the lamps, which then burned throughout the entire Easter service . Among the earliest mentions are the testimonies of Muslims and Catholics. The Latin monk Bernard, (865) writes in his itinerary: “On Holy Saturday, which is the eve of Easter, the service begins early and after the service, Lord have mercy is sung until, with the coming of the Angel, the light is lit in the lamps hanging over the Tomb."

Video IS THIS TRUE? Holy Fire

Holy fire fact or fiction. Is the Holy Fire a hoax or true?

This obvious miracle has been repeated for many centuries, since ancient times.”
What kind of “obvious miracle” is this? On the eve of Orthodox Easter, in the Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulcher, God creates an amazing miracle, accessible to any child - he lights a fire. This fire, however, does not “spontaneously combust” in public view! The principle here is the same as for all other tricks: the disappearance or appearance of an object is not carried out directly in front of the amazed public, but under the cover of a handkerchief or in a dark box, that is, hidden from the audience.
Two high-ranking priests enter a small stone chamber called an edicule. This is a special room inside the temple, like a chapel, where supposedly there is a stone bed on which the body of the crucified Christ lay. Having gone inside, the two priests close the door behind them, and after a while they take out fire from the edicule - a burning lamp and bunches of flaming candles. Crowds of fanatics immediately rush to them to light the candles they brought with them from the blessed fire. It is believed that this fire does not burn in the first minutes, so pilgrims, who had previously languished in anticipation for many hours, “wash” their faces and hands with it.
“Firstly, this fire does not burn, which is proof of a miracle,” hundreds of believers write on dozens of forums. “And secondly, how, if not God’s miracle, can explain that with such crowded people and so much fire there were never fires in the Temple?”
Doesn’t it burn?.. There were no fires?.. The temple has already burned several times, which is not surprising given such an old building. During one of the fires in the temple, 300 people were burned alive. And another time, due to a fire, the dome of the temple even collapsed, seriously damaging the edicule with the “grave” of Christ.
Nevertheless, the tale that the “miraculous” fire does not burn continues to circulate among believers.

Descent of the Holy Fire.

Every year, a colorful church ritual of the descent of the Holy Fire takes place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. This event occurs on the Saturday before Easter.

It is believed that the first witness to the descent of the fire was the Apostle Peter. Having learned about the resurrection of Christ, he went to the tomb of Jesus and saw light in the place where the body of the Savior had previously lay. In 1810, the chapel Edicule was erected over the Holy Sepulcher. It is here that the Patriarch of Jerusalem, accompanied by an Armenian archimandrite, enters on Holy Saturday on the eve of Easter. Before entering the Edicule, the patriarch undresses to his cassock. Before this, the room is inspected by other church workers - they check that there are no matches or lighters in the chapel. The patriarch takes with him a bunch of unlit candles.

After some time, he appears before the believers with already burning candles. By lighting their lamps and candles from them, believers pass the Holy Fire to each other. In a matter of seconds, the fire spreads throughout the temple. It is believed that in the first minutes this fire does not burn, so those gathered in the temple “wash themselves” with it. Lamps are immediately lit from the Holy Fire and taken to different parts of the world.

The Holy Fire is delivered to Moscow from Jerusalem on Saturday evening on a special flight. The lamp is brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for the main Easter service in Russia.

According to legend, if the fire does not go away, it will mean the imminent end of the world.

Scientists have tried to dispute the “divine” nature of the Holy Fire many times. They put forward many versions, from an electrical impulse to a chemical reaction that causes combustion. About a month ago, the representative of the Armenian Patriarchate in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Samuil Agoyan, added fuel to the fire, declaring that there was no mysticism in the “descent”. The priest said that he personally saw candles being lit from an ordinary oil lamp. “God works miracles, but not for the amusement of people,” added Agoyan.

The Holy Fire, or Holy Light (Greek: Ἅγιο Φῶς), is the fire taken out of the Holy Sepulcher at a special service held annually on Holy Saturday, on the eve of Orthodox Easter in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem. The removal of the Holy Light symbolizes the exit from the Tomb of the True Light, that is, the risen Jesus Christ.

Many Orthodox believers believe that the Holy Fire appears supernaturally. The first written eyewitness accounts of the appearance of the Holy Light in the Tomb miraculously date back to the 9th century...

And now the revelation...

Learn chemistry... :)

Initially, the ceremony dedicated to the so-called. The Holy Fire was celebrated at night from Saturday to Sunday. Constant fights between believers forced the Muslim authorities in Jerusalem to move divine miracle from night time to day time. Prof. AA Dmitrievsky, referring to prof. AA Olesnitsky writes: “Once upon a time, the festival of fire at the Holy Sepulcher was connected directly with Easter Matins, but due to some disturbances that occurred during this celebration, at the request of the local authorities, it was moved to the previous day” (*_*).
In ancient times, the first whistleblowers (devout Muslims) did not particularly bother themselves with serious research work. They believed that fire appears with the help of a special device filled with compounds for spontaneous combustion.
This is how the 12th century historian Ibn al-Kalanisi described this technology: “When they are there on Easter... they hang lamps in the altar and arrange a trick so that the fire reaches them through the oil of balsam wood and devices made from it, and its property is the appearance of fire when combined with jasmine oil. It has a bright light and brilliant shine. They manage to pass a stretched iron wire like a thread between neighboring lamps, running continuously from one to another, and rub it with balsam oil, hiding it from view, until the thread passes to all the lamps” (*_*).

According to Islamic writers, there is an agreement between Muslim authorities and priests on mutually beneficial cooperation and fair distribution of funds received from donations from pilgrims. So al-Jaubari (d. 1242) writes: “Al-Melik al-Mu'azzam, the son of al-Melik al-Adil entered the Church of the Resurrection on the day of the Sabbath of Light and said to the monk (attached) to it: “I will not leave until I see this light go away." The monk said to him: “Which is more pleasing to the king: this wealth that flows to you in this way, or familiarity with this (business)? If I reveal its secret to you, then the government will lose this money; leave it hidden and receive this great wealth.” . When the ruler heard this, he understood the hidden essence of the matter and left him in his previous position” (*_*).

The income from the miracle is really big, prof. Dmitrievsky writes: “...Palestine feeds almost exclusively on the gifts that are brought to it by the admirers of the holy tomb from Europe. Thus, the Feast of the Holy Sepulcher is a holiday of happiness and prosperity of the country” (*_*). Muslims even thought of charging an entrance fee to an Orthodox church, a truly unique case. By the way, tickets are still being sold, only the profit goes to the Israeli treasury (*_*).
Around the 13th century, the ceremony of finding BO underwent an important change; if earlier fire was expected outside the Edicule and its appearance was judged by the white flash of light coming out from there, then after the 13th century they began to enter inside the Edicule to find fire. All past revelations talking about a special mechanism have lost their relevance. However, after such a change, the priests were very quickly caught in the act by a meticulous Muslim researcher (Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1256)), who decided to independently find out how fire appears: “I lived in Jerusalem for ten years and went to the Temple of the Resurrection on their Easter and other days. I researched how the lamp is lit on Sunday - the festival of light. (...) When the sun sets and it becomes dark, one of the priests takes advantage of his inattention, opens a niche in the corner of the chapel, where no one can see him, lights his candle from one of the lamps and exclaims: “The light has come and Christ has had mercy.”. ." (*_*).

In other words, the fire is lit from a lamp hidden in a niche behind the icon. Naturally, such a trifle did not touch the greedy hearts of the local rulers, and this revelation was simply forgotten. The presence of niches behind icons is no longer a secret; they can even be seen in photographs of pilgrims posing against the backdrop of the slab of the Holy Sepulcher.

In principle, with some exceptions, Muslims did not doubt the fraud in connection with BO; only greed and other vices, the required funding, allowed them to calmly coexist with their religious competitors. In rare cases, when fanaticism and pure faith prevailed, the Muslims did not bother themselves with revelations, but simply destroyed the temple on the basis of suspicion alone, which, as we know among fanatics, is the queen of evidence (*_*).

The next exposer of the BO fraud was Polotsk Archbishop Melety Smotrytsky. His tossing soul tried to try on Catholics and Orthodox, which led him to the union. The devil pulled him to visit Jerusalem and join in the sacrament of the appearance of the Holy Fire to strengthen the Orthodox faith. To his former teacher, the Patriarch of Constantinople Cyril Lucaris in 1627, he writes: “Your Eminence, probably remember that I once asked you why your predecessor Meletius wrote against the new Roman calendar and tried to prove the superiority of the old before a new one, cites various miracles to confirm his opinion, not excluding those that are no longer repeated, but does not mention at all about this famous, annual miracle in Jerusalem? Your Eminence answered this question to me in the presence of two of your household dignitaries, protosyncellus Hieromonk Leontius and archdeacon Patriarch of Alexandria, that if this miracle had really happened in our time, then all the Turks would have believed in Jesus Christ long ago.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem, the same one who takes this fire, takes it out and distributes it to the people, spoke even more harshly about this. Thus, it is sad to say that our Orthodox co-religionists, regarding this miraculous fire, which once really appeared, but now, for our sins, has ceased to appear, prefer to be at one with the heretics, such as the Eutychians, Dioscorites and Jacobites, rather than with the Catholics, who are the miracle of this They are not allowed for very respectful reasons, especially when they see what the Abyssinian heretics are doing at the tomb at that time. This is what worries me, these are the four worms that, having sunk into my soul during my stay in the East, still do not stop sharpening and gnawing at it"(*_*).
Throughout all the centuries of the existence of the miracle of BO, Christians could not calmly perform this ritual without hurting each other’s faces. This shame is even recorded in Mark Twain’s book, “Innocents Abroad”: “Every Christian sect (with the exception of Protestants) under the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has its own special chapels, and no one dares to cross the boundaries of other people’s possessions. It has long been and definitively proven that Christians are not able to pray peacefully all together at the tomb of the Savior" (*_*).

Not only ordinary priests fight, but also the Greek patriarch and the Armenian archimandrite who entered the Edicule to wait for the fire (). Because of this, the Israeli authorities decided that at the moment of the fire, an Israeli policeman must be present in the Edicule to maintain order; in one of the videos, it is seen how a policeman first enters the Edicule, then the Greek patriarch, and then the Armenian archimandrite ( Video, 1.20-1.28). In a word, they were outrageous.

It was the outrages in the temple that caused the loudest revelation of the Holy Fire.
In 1834, a fight in the temple escalated into a brutal massacre, in which the Turkish army had to intervene. About 300 pilgrims died (*_*). The English traveler left memories of a conversation with the local chief Ibrahim Pasha, which describes the ruler’s determination to publicly expose this deception, but also his fear that this action could be perceived as oppression of Christians in the holy land (*_*)
We learn about the actions taken by Ibrahim Pasha after 15 years from the diaries of a prominent scientist and activist Orthodox Church, founder of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Jerusalem, Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky). Porfiry kept a diary, where he recorded his impressions of events of historical scale, thoughts on abstract topics, descriptions of monuments and various little things. They were published in 8 volumes by the Imperial Academy of Sciences at the expense of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society under the editorship of P. A. Syrku after the death of Uspensky, the third volume was published in 1896. Here's the exact quote:

“In that year, when the famous lord of Syria and Palestine Ibrahim, Pasha of Egypt, was in Jerusalem, it turned out that the fire received from the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday is not a blessed fire, but a kindled one, just as any fire is kindled. This Pasha decided to make sure whether the fire really suddenly and miraculously appeared on the lid of the Tomb of Christ or was lit by a sulfur match. What did he do? He announced to the patriarch’s governors that he wanted to sit in the edicule itself while receiving the fire and vigilantly watch how he appears, and added that in the case of the truth they would be given 5,000 pungs (2,500,000 piastres), and in the case of a lie, let them give him everything money collected from deceived fans, and that he will publish in all the newspapers of Europe about the vile forgery. The governors of Petro-Arabia, Misail, and Metropolitan Daniel of Nazareth, and Bishop Dionysius of Philadelphia (currently of Bethlehem) came together to consult what to do. During the minutes of deliberation, Misail admitted that he was lighting a fire in a cuvuklia from a lamp hidden behind a moving marble icon of the Resurrection of Christ, which is near the Holy Sepulcher. After this confession, it was decided to humbly ask Ibrahim not to interfere in religious affairs and a dragoman of the Holy Sepulcher monastery was sent to him, who pointed out to him that there was no benefit for his lordship to reveal the secrets of Christian worship and that the Russian Emperor Nicholas would be very dissatisfied with the discovery of these secrets. Ibrahim Pasha, having heard this, waved his hand and fell silent. But from that time on, the Holy Sepulcher clergy no longer believed in the miraculous appearance of fire. Having told all this, the Metropolitan said that God alone is expected to stop (our) pious lies. As he knows and can, he will calm the peoples who now believe in the fiery miracle of the Great Saturday. But we cannot even begin this revolution in minds; we will be torn to pieces right at the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. “We,” he continued, “notified Patriarch Athanasius, who was then living in Constantinople, about Ibrahim Pasha’s harassment, but in our message to him we wrote instead of “holy light,” “sanctified fire.” Surprised by this change, the most blessed elder asked us: “Why did you start calling the holy fire differently?” We revealed to him the real truth, but added that the fire lit on the Holy Sepulcher from a hidden lamp is still sacred fire, received from a sacred place” (*_*).

In this post, it is important to pay attention to the following points:
1. The recognition was made in a close circle of the highest hierarchs of the Orthodox Church.
2. A direct participant in the events told Uspensky what happened. An eyewitness to the confession of forgery.
3. Ibrahim was threatened with aggravation of relations with Russia. Let me note that the Crimean War showed how dangerous it is for the authorities to interfere in the religious life of the Orthodox Church in the Holy Land.
4. “But from that time on, the Holy Sepulcher clergy no longer believed in the miraculous appearance of fire.” This means that the result of the recognition was the loss of faith in the miracle of the Holy Sepulcher clergy. Bishop Porfiry himself has already witnessed this.
After 500 years, nothing has changed. The same lamp behind the icon.
Several decades later, doubt spread beyond Palestine, as the famous orientalist I. Yu. Krachkovsky writes in 1914:
“The best representatives of theological thought in the East also notice the interpretation of the miracle that Prof. allows. A. Olesnitsky and A. Dmitrievsky talk about “the triumph of the consecration of fire at the Holy Sepulcher”” (*_*).

The most complete Orthodox criticism of BO was revealed by an outstanding figure of the Orthodox Church, professor of the Leningrad Theological Academy ND Uspensky (a student of Dmitrievsky AA) and reported at a church meeting in an assembly speech on October 9, 1949. Having analyzed ancient evidence, Uspensky comes to the following conclusion:
“Your Eminence, Your Eminence, dear colleagues and dear guests! (...) We can agree with the explanation of Metropolitan Dionysius of Bethlehem, “that the fire lit on the Holy Sepulcher from a hidden lamp is still sacred fire, received from a sacred place,” and add our own to these words of the Vicar of the Patriarch of Jerusalem “that for us this fire is, was and will be sacred also because it preserves the ancient Christian and universal tradition” ().
A former professor at the Leningrad Theological Academy, who broke with religion and became one of the most prominent atheists and critics of religion, A. A. Osipov, left notes on the reaction to this report by the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Having studied ancient manuscripts and texts, books and testimonies of pilgrims,” A. A. Osipov writes about Uspensky, “he proved with exhaustive accuracy that there was never any “miracle”, but there was and is an ancient symbolic rite of burning over the coffin by the clergy themselves Lamps. (...) And as a result of this whole matter, the now deceased Metropolitan of Leningrad Gregory, also a man with a theological degree, gathered a number of theologians of Leningrad and told them (many of my former colleagues probably remember): “I also know that this is only a legend ! What... (here he named the author of the speech and research by name and patronymic) is absolutely right! But don’t touch the pious legends, otherwise faith itself will fall! ”(*_*).

Before continuing with further revelations, I want to describe the sequence of actions during the ceremony.

They examine the Edicule (two priests and a representative of the authorities).

The entrance doors of Edicule are sealed with a large wax seal.

The keeper of the coffin appears and brings a large, capped lamp inside the coffin. The seal is removed in front of him and he goes inside Kuklii, and after a few minutes he comes out.

A solemn procession appears, led by the Greek patriarch, and circles the Edicule three times. The patriarch is stripped of his robes of patriarchal dignity and he, together with the Armenian archimandrite (and the Israeli policeman) enters the Edicule.

After 5-10 minutes, the Greek patriarch and the Armenian archimandrite come out with fire (before this they managed to distribute fire through the windows of the Edicule).

So, after the search and before entering the Edicule of the Patriarch, a priest enters there with a lamp (perhaps the same one that is unquenchable) and places it on the coffin (or in a niche behind the icon), which is uncertain.

As I already noted, the Armenian archimandrite enters the Edicule. Although in his recent interview this Armenian church leader did not directly talk about the forgery, he noted an important fact.
“Tell me, how do you pray? Is this a special prayer according to a prayer book, or an impromptu prayer, the one that comes from the soul? How does the Greek Patriarch pray?
- Yes, the prayer is read according to the prayer book. But, in addition to the prayers from the prayer book, I also offer my heartfelt prayer. At the same time, we have a special prayer for this day, which I recite by heart. The Greek patriarch reads his prayer from a book, this is also a special prayer for the Ceremony of Light.
- But how do you read prayers from a prayer book if it’s dark there?
- Yes. It’s not easy to read because of the darkness” ().
Indeed, it is impossible to read without light; there must be a source.
To correctly understand this hint, you can turn to the information disseminated by another priest of the Armenian Church, the abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Archangels (AAC) Hieromonk Ghevond Hovhannisyan, who was present at the ceremony of consecrating the fire for 12 years, and is personally acquainted with the priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church entering inside the Edicule for consecration of the fire together with the Greek patriarch. He's writing:
“By one o’clock in the afternoon the doors of the Coffin are sealed with wax. Where there are 2 clergymen: an Armenian and a Greek. By two o'clock, the doors are torn off and the Greeks bring in a closed (lit) Lamp and place it on the Tomb. After which the procession of the Greeks around the Tomb begins, on the 3rd circle the Armenian archimandrite joins them and together they move towards the doors. The Greek patriarch enters first, followed by the Armenian. And both enter the Tomb, where both kneel down and pray together. After the first, the Greek lights the candle from the lit lamp, and then the Armenian. Both go and serve candles to the people through the holes, the first to emerge from the coffin is the Greek, followed by the Armenian, who is carried in his arms to our abbot’s room” (). You can chat with Ghevond in his LiveJournal.
It remains to be stated that the Armenian church, although a direct participant in the ceremony, does not support the belief in the miraculous appearance of fire.
The words of Patriarch Theophilus about the Holy Fire are interesting:
“Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem: This is a very ancient, very special and unique ceremony Jerusalem Church. This ceremony of the Holy Fire takes place only here in Jerusalem. And this happens thanks to the very Tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ. As you know, this Holy Fire ceremony is, so to speak, an enactment that represents the first good news, the first resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This representation- like all sacred ceremonies. It's like our burial ceremony on Good Friday, isn't it? How we bury the Lord, etc.
So, this ceremony is taking place in a holy place, and all the other Eastern Churches that share the Holy Sepulcher would like to take part in this. People like Armenians, Copts, Syrians come to us and receive our blessing, because they want to receive the Fire from the Patriarch.
Now, the second part of your question is actually about us. This is an experience, which, if you like, is similar to the experience that a person experiences when he receives Holy Communion. What happens there also applies to the Holy Fire ceremony. This means that a certain experience cannot be explained or expressed in words. Therefore, everyone who takes part in this ceremony - priests or laymen, or laywomen - each has their own indescribable experience.”
Protodeacon A. Kuraev commented on his words:
“His answer about the Holy Fire was no less frank: “This is a ceremony that is a representation, like all other ceremonies.” Holy Week. Just as the Easter message from the Tomb once shone and illuminated the whole world, so now in this ceremony we perform a representation of how the news of the Resurrection from Kuvukpia spread throughout the world.” There was neither the word “miracle”, nor the word “convergence”, nor the words “Holy Fire” in his speech. He probably couldn’t have said more frankly about the lighter in his pocket” (). A real political struggle unfolded around these words of the patriarch, including a new “interview” with Theophilus, where he, using quotes from articles by Russian apologists of the Holy Fire, confirms the miraculous nature of fire. Kuraev declared this material to be fake. Details of this story have been collected.

By the way, during the gift between the Armenian priest and the Greek patriarch, the Armenian’s candles were extinguished inside the Edicule and he had to light them with a lighter (*_*). So rumors that the Armenians will not be able to get fire on their own are baseless.

Indirect evidence of the kindling of fire from the already burning lamp is the text of the patriarch’s prayer, which he reads inside the Edicule. This text is discussed in the article “The Myth and Reality of the Holy Fire” by Protopresbyter George Tsetsis:
“..The prayer that the patriarch offers before lighting the holy Edicule is completely clear and does not allow for any misinterpretation.
The Patriarch does not pray for a miracle to happen.
He only “remembers” the sacrifice and three-day resurrection of Christ and, turning to Him, says: “Having reverently accepted this kindled (*******) fire on Your luminous Tomb, we distribute the true light to those who believe, and we pray to You, You showed him the gift of sanctification."
The following happens: the patriarch lights his candle from the unquenchable lamp, which is located on the Holy Sepulchre. Just like every patriarch and every cleric on the day of Easter, when he receives the light of Christ from the unquenchable lamp, which is on the holy throne, symbolizing the Holy Sepulcher” (*_*).

Wonderful flashes, non-burning fire, spontaneous combustion of candles.
Thanks to cinema, we can see everything that happens with our own eyes. Unlike pilgrims, who are in a crowd and find it difficult to distinguish anything, we will be shown everything from the most advantageous positions, we can re-watch interesting moments, and even in slow motion. I have at my disposal 7 recordings of video broadcasts, two Orthodox films of not very good quality and a high-quality secular film about the Holy Fire. That is, 10 films about 9 ceremonies. At various forums where I participated in discussions about the Holy Fire, I asked to see video materials proving the miraculous spontaneous combustion of candles or the non-burning properties of fire. No one has ever managed to do this.

Unburning Fire.

Pilgrims write in their testimonies that the fire does not burn for a period of time, which lasts from 5 minutes to several months. You can find evidence in which pilgrims tell how the Holy Fire brought to Moscow (their temple) still did not burn, or how they washed themselves with the Holy Fire when visiting Jerusalem in winter. Mostly they write about not burning the Holy Fire during the first 5 – 10 minutes. A huge number of videos watched of pilgrims washing themselves with fire show that they simply move their hands through the fire, scoop fire with their hands, or move fire in front of their face and beard. The same thing is easy to repeat using a burning bunch of candles with regular fire (as I do). By the way, the wicks of the Holy Fire candles are lit quite easily, which would be strange if the fire were warm.

About interesting experiment wrote by LJ user Andronic (andronic) @ 2007-04-08 07:40:00:
“Yesterday, on the daily news on NTV, a few minutes after the descent of the Holy Fire, Evgeniy Sandro, live, slowly moved his hand in the candle flame and confirmed that it practically does not burn. I became interested, and at midnight, when my wife, at the start of the procession of the Cross (where I went with her “for company”), lit a Jerusalem thirty-three candle bundle in front of the church, I also put my hand into the fire, and slowly stirred it there too. Although this flame was not lit from the Holy Fire, the hand did not immediately become hot. I repeated Sandro’s trick a couple more times, and was so carried away that I did not notice how my actions attracted the attention of those around me who came to the Easter procession. The believers ran up, began to light their candles from our thirty-three candlestick, joyfully thrust their hands into its flame and shouted “It doesn’t burn!” It doesn’t burn!” Some tried to “catch” the fire, like water, with their hands folded into a “ladle” and wash themselves with it. The influx of people wishing to take part in the miracle was so great that we could not move and the procession left without us. Thus, I unwittingly became the culprit of an outbreak of religious enthusiasm. It is curious that the “affection” of fire towards those who partake of it depended in a rather amusing way on the degree of faith. Those who doubted it cautiously brought their palms to the upper tip of the flame and fearfully pulled it back. The enthusiastic ones (like me before) boldly put their hands directly into the center of the flame, where the temperature of the fire is significantly lower, and did not get burned. As a result, everyone received it according to faith”().

Of all that I have seen, and this is about a hundred washings with the Holy Fire, I can repeat all the washings with fire, except one. In only one video, the pilgrim held his hand over the Holy Fire for a full 2.2 seconds, which is difficult to repeat without getting burned. My record is 1.6 seconds.
Two explanations for this case can be put forward: firstly, religious ecstasy allows one to reduce pain sensitivity. Many have seen how people in a state of religious stupefaction beat themselves with iron-tipped whips, crucify their bodies and commit many other disgusting acts, while their faces are illuminated by grace. Hence the pilgrims do not feel the burning properties of the fire. The second explanation is a draft in the temple. Thanks to the wind, the flame is deflected and an air cushion is created between the hand and the fire; if you “catch the wind,” you can simulate holding your hand over the fire for 3 seconds.
I spoke with many pilgrims who attended the ceremony and not all of them testify to the burning flame:

Hieromonk Flavian (Matveev):
“Unfortunately, it sets fire. In 2004, an acquaintance of mine, literally five minutes after receiving the fire of the flame (we didn’t even leave the temple), tried to “wash ourselves with fire.” The beard seemed to be small, but it began to flare up noticeably. I had to shout at him to put it out. I had a video camera in my hands, so this sad incident remained documented. (...) He himself took an example from others, held his hand over the fire. Fire like fire. It burns!” (The post was deleted from the forum).

Solovyov Igor, Orthodox Christian (novice):
“I don’t know how much time passed since the Holy Fire descended, but when the fire reached me and I tried whether it burned or not, I singed the hair on my arm and felt a burning sensation. (...) In my opinion, the burning sensation was normal. From our group, some people were quite close to the Holy Sepulcher, but none of them said that fire does not burn” ().

Alexander Gagin, Orthodox Christian:
“When the fire went down and it was handed over to us (a few minutes later), it burned as usual, I didn’t notice anything special, I didn’t see any men putting their beards into the fire for a long time” ().

In the article “In Defense of the Holy Fire,” Y. Maksimov writes:
“If we look at least at the video footage posted online, we will see, for example, that in one case a pilgrim holds his hand in the flame from a whole bunch of candles for three seconds, in the second case another pilgrim holds his hand over the flame for five seconds, but the third shot where another elderly pilgrim holds his hand in the flame for five seconds" ().

However, in the video offered in the text of the article, people just pass their hands through the fire, but do not hold parts of their body over the fire for 2 or 3 or 5 seconds. At the Orthodox forum of A. Kuraev, this point was raised in a topic with the same article title, and an Orthodox Christian was the first to draw attention to this discrepancy when he bothered to check Maksimov’s words (). It’s amazing how an Orthodox apologist can present video fragments that do not correspond to the caption in the article, and this can be easily found out by just watching the video. Why do people so easily accept words without checking?

Wonderful flashes.
There are dozens of journalists with special equipment for taking photographs in darkened rooms and hundreds of amateur photographers in the temple. That's why there are a lot of flashbulbs there. Typically, on a high-quality video, the flash trail is 1–2 frames long and has a white or slightly bluish color. In 5 well-made live broadcasts, and in a secular film, all the flashes of light are exactly like that. On video of poorer quality, color may vary depending on defects in video setup, development quality and video processing features. As a result, flashes in different videos will appear different colors. The worse the quality of the video, the more varied in time and color the flash can be displayed on it. It is interesting that the criteria put forward by apologists for distinguishing a flash from a photographic flash fit into the possibilities of the “trace” of a regular photographic flash on videos of different quality. Hence the impossibility, using the criteria of apologists, to distinguish a miraculous flash from a flash trace by color, especially after video processing. Thus, it is difficult to refute or prove the presence of flashes based on video.

What do the evidence left behind in the years when there were no cameras give?
It is especially interesting to compare the testimonies of modern pilgrims and the testimonies of pilgrims of 1800 - 1900, written down in a language understandable to contemporaries and quite detailed. There is nothing in these testimonies about flashes of light in the temple during the ceremony. And for some reason the whistleblowers don’t try to explain them at all, as if they don’t know about them, but only talk about the deception of lighting the fire in the Edicule. Although such flashes would be an even greater miracle.
Apologists for the miracle were able to find evidence that seemed to confirm the flashes, for example, pilgrims until the 13th century said that the ignition of a fire was accompanied by a bright white flash. The single flash at the moment the fire appeared is explained by the peculiarity of the ceremony of that time - they did not enter the Edicule and the ignition of the fire inside was accompanied by a bright flash. This is how the 12th century Islamic historian Ibn al-Qalanisi, already quoted here, describes the spontaneous combustion substances used in the ceremony:
“...so that fire can reach them through the oil of balsam tree and devices made from it, and its property is the emergence of fire when combined with jasmine oil, it has a bright light and brilliant radiance.”

"Holy" fire in hands

Cold Fire - Salicylic Acid.

Potatoes + fluoride toothpaste + salt = Holy Fire

Who needs deception with the so-called and why? Holy Fire in Jerusalem

P.S.
The Holy Fire descended on earth in Jerusalem
The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire took place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Russian delegation with a part of him is preparing to fly to Moscow.
The Russian delegation is already heading to the airport in order to bring the Holy Fire to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow before the procession...

...And so every year

By tradition, the mission is headed by the Chairman of the Trusteeship Fund of St. Andrew the First-Called, President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin. Together with him, pilgrims will fly to the capital on a special flight to distribute the Holy Fire to all believers.

This year, the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, as part of the “Ask Peace for Jerusalem” program, will bring the Holy Fire to Russia for the tenth anniversary time.

Every year, Russians fly to Israel on Friday afternoon, and immediately after the fire subsides they go back to Russia.

On Saturday, early in the morning, members of the delegation go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, so as not to be late for the morning service. During the day, all traffic in the city center is blocked, the entrance to the temple is also closed, since the premises cannot accommodate everyone. 10 thousand pilgrims are waiting for the descent of the fire in the temple itself and hundreds of thousands outside it.

As soon as the fire subsides, the delegates of the Russian mission take a particle of it, place it in a special lamp and practically run to the bus so that they can go to the airport without wasting a minute...

Ostap leaned towards the keyhole, put his hand to his mouth with a pipe and said clearly:- How much is opium for the people?There was silence behind the door.- Dad, you are a vulgar man! - shouted Ostap.

It is generally accepted that only people who adhere to the relevant beliefs believe in the existence of religious miracles. Moreover, the phenomenon of such a miracle as the Holy Fire cannot be explained by any skeptic, no matter what arguments he tries.

What is the Holy Fire?

This amazing phenomenon has been studied more than once by scientific and religious leaders, who could not find at least evidence of the natural origin of the phenomenon called “the descent of the Holy Fire.” It includes:

Ceremony of preparation for the appearance of the flame. There is a special ritual, without which the main event of Holy Saturday will not take place and the celebration will be ruined.
Checking the Patriarch and his entry into the temple. From this moment on, the international broadcast of the ceremony by television channels begins.
The appearance of the Holy Fire and its transfer to other clergy.
The beginning of the first celebrations in honor.

How does the Holy Fire appear?

The process of the appearance of flames itself deserves special attention. At approximately 10 o'clock in the morning, a religious procession headed by the Patriarch and the highest ranks of the clergy begins to move towards the Jerusalem Orthodox Church. After they come close to the Edicule (Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher), events begin to develop as follows:

So that believers do not have doubts about where the Holy Fire comes from, the Patriarch undresses and remains in only a white cassock, under which nothing can be carried.
He is examined by representatives of the Turkish and Israeli police, according to a tradition that has existed since the 14th century.
The Patriarch approaches the entrance to the Edicule along with similar ranks from the Armenian, Coptic and Syrian Apostolic Churches. They will be the first to see the Holy Fire after the Patriarch.
The doors of the chapel are closed, and the believers are left waiting for a miracle outside the doors.

How does the Holy Fire descend?

After the Patriarch and priests remain behind the first doors of the Edicule, they appear in front of the room with the Tomb of Christ. The Metropolitan of Jerusalem will enter it alone, but a representative of the Armenian Church will stand a few steps away from him. The descent of the Holy Fire occurs in several stages:

The Patriarch begins prayers praising Jesus Christ.
Turning to God can take several hours or several minutes.
Lights flash on the stone slab, flowing down like drops.
The Patriarch picks them up with a cotton ball and lights a bunch of candles.

Why doesn't the Holy Fire burn?

The sheaf of candles that the Patriarch holds in his hands consists of 33 pieces (according to the number of years Jesus spent on Earth). The only one who has personally seen the secret of the Holy Fire takes the bundle out of the Edicule and hands it over to the Armenian Metropolitan. He shows it to the believers, and they light their candles from it. The Patriarch, weakened after fervent prayer, as soon as he appears at the door, is lifted into his arms and carried to the exit with chants. Meanwhile, those who visited Jerusalem for the first time noted with surprise the special properties of the flame:

Knowing where the Holy Fire actually comes from, experienced tourists fearlessly wash themselves with it, apply candles to their faces and raise their fingers to it.
The color of the fire varies from light blue to blue, which cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.
5-10 minutes after the convergence, the flame on all sheaves acquires normal properties and heats up.

How to bring the Holy Fire home?

No less important for a believer is not only the opportunity to contemplate Fire, but also the desire to take a particle of it with him. The Holy Fire at home can be placed in front of the iconostasis or lamps can be lit from it and placed in rooms on the eve of Easter. To implement the plan, you will need:

a small candle, which in churches is allowed to touch the flame from the Holy Sepulcher;
a small lamp with a lid that protects the lamp from going out;
Vaseline oil, which is used to support combustion.

What should you do with the Holy Fire?

Most spiritual teachers do not recommend turning into idolaters and turning fire into a kind of cult. Believers must treat it accordingly: they can find the flame in the parishes to which it is brought by plane from Jerusalem. It is believed that the Holy Fire is what allows:

Orthodox Christians who were unable to come to church and see the miracle in person;
remind you of the bright holiday of Easter, which it marks;
gain spiritual strength for fasting on Holy Saturday.

Holy Fire - true or false?

If church officials consider it sinful to doubt the sacred nature of the phenomenon, then journalists and scientists do not hesitate to make the most daring assumptions that the descent of the Holy Fire has a completely earthly origin. Among supporters of different versions, the leading options are:

Concealing the fire from those inspecting the Patriarch. Since on the day of Holy Saturday he does not have the opportunity to carry the flame with him, it can be decided that the Fire is carried and hidden at the Tomb in advance.
A chemical reaction caused by the special composition of the slab on the tomb of Christ. Esters of organic acids can give a cold fire, but its color will not be blue, but green.
Spontaneous combustion. Some natural substances at certain temperatures environment and humidity may flare up. This property is possessed by: white phosphorus, boric acid, jasmine oil.

Holy Fire - scientific explanation

In 2008, skeptics had a chance to find out the nature of the Holy Fire. Before Holy Saturday, Russian physicist Andrei Volkov was allowed into Kuvuklia, who received approval from the Orthodox Church to install equipment with sensitive sensors. Before him, no one knew the answer to the slippery question of how scientists explain the descent of the Holy Fire; Andrei Volkov’s research gave ambiguous results:

A few seconds before the flame appeared at the Holy Sepulcher, the physicist recorded an unusual long-wave electrical impulse that arose spontaneously.
When the cotton wool placed on the lid of the tombstone caught fire, the pulse fluctuations increased many times over.
Power measurements showed that a flash of fire can be compared to the operation of a low-power welding machine.
Scientific diagnosis of a crack on a column at the entrance to the Edicule proved that such damage could have occurred solely under the influence of electricity.

Holy Fire - interesting facts

The mystical nature of Fire has been repeatedly associated with curious events throughout history. As soon as even one tradition of his appearance was broken, the course of the ceremony changed before the eyes of all witnesses. The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire underwent drastic interventions twice:

In 1101, the Latin Patriarch of Choquet decided to take the reins of the greatest Christian miracle into his own hands. The heretic was so possessed by the desire to unravel his secret that he tortured the monks and obtained from them all the details of the procedure for obtaining Fire. The flame did not appear after a day of futile attempts.
In 1578, a priest from Armenia decided that the secret of the Holy Fire would be revealed to him and obtained permission from the clergy to be the first to enter the Edicule. The Orthodox priests did not protest and remained at the door. The column in front of the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher cracked and flames began to come out of it.

For nearly two thousand years, Orthodox Christians have met their greatest holiday- The Resurrection of Christ (Easter) in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Every time, everyone who is inside and nearby the Temple witnesses the descent of the Holy Fire on Easter.

The litany (church ceremony) of the Holy Fire begins approximately one day before the start of Orthodox Easter. Pilgrims begin to gather in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, wanting to see with their own eyes the descent of the Holy Fire. Among those present there are always many heterodox Christians, Muslims, and atheists; the ceremony is monitored by the Jewish police. The temple itself can accommodate up to 10 thousand people, the entire area in front of it and the enfilade of surrounding buildings are also filled with people - the number of people willing is much greater than the capacity of the temple, so it can be difficult for pilgrims.

A lamp filled with oil, but without fire, is placed in the middle of the bed of the Life-Giving Sepulcher. Pieces of cotton wool are laid out throughout the bed, and tape is laid along the edges. Thus prepared, after inspection by the Turkish guards, and now by the Jewish police, the Edicule (Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher) is closed and sealed by the local Muslim key keeper.

Before the descent, the temple begins to be illuminated by bright flashes of the Holy Light, small lightning flashes here and there. In slow motion, it is clearly visible that they come from different places in the temple - from the icon hanging above the Edicule, from the dome of the Temple, from the windows and from other places, and flood everything around with bright light. In addition, here and there, between the columns and walls of the temple, quite visible lightning flashes, which often pass through standing people without any harm.

How does the Holy Fire light up in the Holy Sepulcher?

"...The most vivid description dates back to 1892, where a wonderful picture of the ignition of the Holy Fire is given from the words of the Patriarch. He said that sometimes, entering the Edicule, and not having time to read the prayer, he already saw how the marble coffin slab was covered with small multi-colored beads that looked like small pearls. And the stove itself began to emit an even light. The Patriarch swept away these pearls with a piece of cotton wool, which merged like drops of oil. He felt the warmth in the cotton wool, and touched the wick of the candle with it. The wick flared up, like gunpowder - the candle caught fire. On The slab is first covered with cotton wool.According to eyewitnesses, this is sometimes done by non-believers to eliminate doubts on this matter.

There is also other evidence. The Metropolitan of Trans-Jordan, who received the Holy Fire more than once, said that when he entered the Edicule, the lamp standing on the Tomb was burning. And sometimes - no, then he fell and with tears began to ask for mercy from God, and when he rose, the lamp was already burning. From it he lit two bunches of candles, carried them out and gave the fire to the people waiting for him. But he himself never saw the fire light up.

After the Patriarch leaves the Edicule, or rather he is taken to the Altar, the people rush inside the Tomb to venerate. The whole slab is wet, as if it had been wet by rain." Excerpt taken from the book: Holy Fire over the Holy Sepulcher, 1991.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire does not burn for the first minutes after the descent. Here's what they write:

“Yes, and I, a sinful slave from the Metropolitan’s hands, lit 20 candles in one place and burned my candles with all those candles, and not a single hair curled or burned; and having extinguished all the candles and then lit them from other people, I warmed those candles, so and on the third day I too lit those candles, and then without touching anything, not a single hair was scorched or writhed, and I am damned, not believing that the heavenly fire and the message of God, and so I lit my candles three times and extinguished, and before “The Metropolitan and before all the Greeks said goodbye to the fact that he blasphemed God’s power and called heavenly fire, that the Greeks are doing sorcery, not God’s creation; and the Metropolitan blessed me with all his forgiveness and blessings.” The life and journey to Jerusalem and Egypt of Kazan resident Vasily Yakovlevich Gagara (1634-1637).

"Father Georgy films everything with a video camera, takes photographs. I also take several pictures. We have ten packs of candles prepared with us. I extend my hand with candles to the burning bundles in people’s hands, light them. I scoop up this flame with my palm, it is large, warm, light - light yellow, I hold my hand on fire - it doesn’t burn! I bring it to my face, the flame licks my beard, nose, eyes, I feel only warmth and a gentle touch - it doesn’t burn!!!" Priest from Novosibirsk.

“It’s amazing... At first, the Fire doesn’t burn, it’s just warm. They wash themselves with it, rub it over the face, apply it to the chest - and nothing. There was a case when one nun’s apostolate caught fire, and there was no trace left. Another burned through her cassock. She carried it home with a hole, but when I came, there was no hole.” Archimandrite Bartholomew (Kalugin), monk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1983.

“I try to take Fire in my palm and find that it is material. You can touch it, in your palm it feels like a material substance, it is soft, neither hot nor cold.” Parishioner of the Church of St. Nicholas in Biryulyovo Natalia.

The people who are in the temple at this time are overwhelmed with an indescribable and incomparable in its depth feeling of joy and spiritual peace. According to those who visited the square and the temple itself when the fire descended, the depth of feelings overwhelming the people at that moment was fantastic - eyewitnesses left the temple as if born again, as they themselves say - spiritually cleansed and cleared of sight.

Many non-Orthodox people, when they first hear about the Holy Fire, try to reproach the Orthodox: how do you know that it was given to you? What if he was received by a representative of another Christian denomination? However, attempts to forcefully challenge the right to receive the Holy Fire from representatives of other faiths have happened more than once.

The most significant incident occurred in 1579. The owners of the Temple of the Lord are simultaneously representatives of several Christian Churches. The priests of the Armenian Church, contrary to tradition, managed to bribe Sultan Murat the Truthful and the local mayor to allow them to individually celebrate Easter and receive the Holy Fire. At the call of the Armenian clergy, many of their co-religionists came to Jerusalem from all over the Middle East to celebrate Easter alone. The Orthodox, together with Patriarch Sophrony IV, were removed not only from the edicule, but also from the Temple in general. There, at the entrance to the shrine, they remained to pray for the descent of the Fire, grieving over their separation from Grace. The Armenian Patriarch prayed for about a day, however, despite his prayer efforts, no miracle followed. At one moment, a ray struck from the sky, as usually happens during the descent of Fire, and hit the column at the entrance, next to which the Orthodox Patriarch was located. Splashes of fire splashed out from it in all directions and a candle was lit by the Orthodox Patriarch, who passed on the Holy Fire to his co-religionists. This was the only case in history when the descent took place outside the Temple, actually through the prayers of the Orthodox, and not the Armenian high priest. “Everyone rejoiced, and the Orthodox Arabs began to jump for joy and shout: “You are our one God, Jesus Christ, our one true faith is the faith of Orthodox Christians,” writes monk Parthenius. At the same time, in the enfilades of buildings adjacent to the temple square there were Turkish soldiers. One of them, named Omir (Anvar), seeing what was happening, exclaimed: “One Orthodox faith, I am a Christian" and jumped down onto the stone slabs from a height of about 10 meters. However, the young man did not crash - the slabs under his feet melted like wax, capturing his traces.For the adoption of Christianity, Muslims executed the brave Anwar and tried to scrape off the traces that so clearly testified to the triumph of Orthodoxy, but they failed, and those who come to the Temple can still see them, as well as the dissected column at the door of the temple. The body of the martyr was burned, but the Greeks collected the remains, which until the end of the 19th century were in the convent of Great Panagia, exuding fragrance.

The Turkish authorities were very angry with the arrogant Armenians, and at first they even wanted to execute the hierarch, but later they had mercy and decided to edify him about what happened at the Easter ceremony to always follow the Orthodox Patriarch and henceforth not take direct part in receiving the Holy Fire. Although the government has long since changed, the custom continues to this day.

The Holy Fire is the greatest miracle of God for all people. For believers - indescribable bliss and joy in Christ, for non-believers - the opportunity to see and believe!

God has given the whole world a great sign of the truth of the Orthodox faith - the Holy Fire in Jerusalem, which appears from heaven in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on the last day Holy Week, before Easter. A sign of God's grace to the Orthodox Church - the fire at Easter in Jerusalem - appeared during the lifetime of the first apostles.

Every year, thousands of people come to Jerusalem to witness the Descent of the bright Light, from which the candles themselves sometimes light up. Millions of television viewers around the world await God's miracle with bated breath.

What is the Holy Fire

The Holy Fire, translated from Greek, means the Holy Light, which appears over the Holy Sepulcher at different times, but its appearance is invariable on Holy Saturday before Easter.

Descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem

God's Light, carried out from the Edicule before the celebration of Easter, is a symbol of the risen Jesus Christ for all Christians.

The first to see the miraculous Light was the Apostle Peter when he ran into the empty tomb. It was night, but Peter was amazed by the bright light he saw emanating from the Tomb of Jesus Christ.

The uniqueness of the Holy Fire is that in the first minutes after its descent it does not burn.

Many people in Jerusalem at this time are truly washed by fire, receiving the grace of the risen Son of God.

About other miracles in Orthodoxy:

Descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem

Church of the Holy Sepulcher: history and modern style

The territory of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is represented by a whole complex of architectural buildings, which include:

Golgotha and the place of the Crucifixion;
Edicule;
Katholikon - a cathedral intended for the Jerusalem patriarchs;
the Temple of the Finding of the Life-Giving Cross, located underground;
St. Helen's Cathedral;
monasteries;
galleries.

God's love united different churches in one territory. The Jerusalem Orthodox Church presides over services at its shrines, Golgotha, Edicule and Katholikon. Order of St. Francis has a Franciscan church and an altar of nails. The Armenian Apostolic Church presides in the Cathedral of St. Helena, the chapel of the “Three Marys”.

The Ethiopian Church conducts services over the grave of St. Joseph and the altar located on the western side of the Edicule. The wall protecting the Temple from the entire city was built by Sultan Suleiman even before Orthodox Christians appeared there. Golgotha - a rock, the place of suffering and the Crucifixion of Jesus, in those ancient times was located outside the city walls.

The Holy Tomb - the cave in which the Savior was buried, is located a few meters from Golgotha. Initially, it had two chambers - the entrance and the burial room itself, in which there was a bed - arcosolium, a place of ritual burial.

In the fourth century, Equal-to-the-Apostles Helena ordered to cover two shrines with vaults of the Basilica, which now bears the name of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem

The Chapel of Edicule, or translated as the royal bedchamber, “covers” the burial cave of Jesus. Nowhere else in the world is there such a chapel. Edicule is a unique place on earth that preserves the memories of the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who was buried and resurrected in this place.

As in ancient times, there are two chambers in Edicule, in the first you can see a large bed - arcosolium, the entrance room is known in modern world, like the Angel's Chapel. In the Angel's Chapel there is kept a part of the stone block that the angel rolled away. It was from this stone that the Angel sitting on it addressed the wives who brought peace to the Teacher’s tomb.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher - a modern view of Golgotha

The history of the descent of the Holy Fire

The history of the Church stores all the information about the descent of the Holy Fire over several centuries.

The Jerusalem church, according to the evidence described in the Lectionary, as early as the fifth century, began its Sabbath services only after the Evening Light appeared.
In the ninth century, according to the testimony of the pilgrim Bernard Monk (867), the appearance of the Holy Light is perceived as God's miracle. According to the pilgrim’s description, during the morning church service, as soon as “Lord, have mercy” was said according to the church rules, the lamps located above the Tomb were lit by an angel, without outside help. The Holy Light was transmitted by Patriarch Theodosius, known for his piety, through the bishop to all the people, who spread the Fire to their homes.
From the tenth to twelfth centuries, many more memories have been preserved of the spontaneous combustion of candles and lamps over the Holy Sepulcher just at the time when the room was completely abandoned by people, all of them standing outside the Temple. The Emir of Jerusalem in the tenth century received the Holy Fire, which came down from lightning, while standing outside the temple, as reported by Metropolitan Caesar Harp.
According to the testimony of the Byzantine cleric Nikita, who visited Jerusalem in 947, the Divine Light appeared after lengthy prayers. During the service, the archbishop looked into the Holy Sepulcher several times, but did not find the Radiance there. After which he stood for several hours with his hands raised high, following the example of Moses in prayer to Jesus Christ, and only at six o’clock in the evening the Divine Light began to be visible through the Angel’s Chapel.
The first description of the Jerusalem miracle in Russian was made by Abbot Daniel in the twelfth century. According to the testimony of the Abbot, at that time there was still no roof over the Edicule. All the people present at the morning service stood in the open air, from where it suddenly began to rain, lightning flashed terribly, illuminating everything around, and the Holy Light descended, from which all the lamps lit up on their own.
In 1420, Hierodeacon Zosim, a representative of Sergievsky Posad, wrote about his presence at the invisible lighting of a lamp with many candles, standing in the center of the Temple.
During a trip to Jerusalem in 1708, Hieromonk Hippolytus was present at the descent of the Heavenly Light, but was outraged by the behavior, in his words, of the Urmen heretics. Most likely, these were Arabs, who are still very loud in the Temple of the Lord.
Minister of Education Abraham Norov was present in the chapel, standing in the Angel's Chapel awaiting a miracle. In 1835, according to his recollections, all the candles in the room were extinguished; only weak lighting came into the Chapel through cracks from the outside. The entrance to the Edicule had no doors, so the minister saw how the Armenian bishop, who was given the honor of receiving the miracle, stood in prayer in front of the absolutely clean surface of the Tomb. Everyone froze in anxious silence, both inside and outside the buildings. Literally a few minutes later, a bright light illuminated the chapel, the Metropolitan brought out a flaming bunch of candles, 33 of them.
Archbishop Gabriel, who worked in Jerusalem in 1967-1968 at the Russian Spiritual Mission, shared his impressions. Being directly near the entrance to the Angel's Chapel, after the Patriarch came out with the candles of the Holy Fire, the Russian Archbishop literally “drew” to the Tomb and saw the Tongues of Flame on the marble. Blue, heavenly fire literally spread over the entire surface of the Tomb, Gabriel began to wash himself with it.

Important! In the first minutes of Its appearance, the Holy Fire does not burn anyone.

Litany of the Holy Light

Every year, on Holy Saturday, the entire Christian world waits with bated breath for the miracle of the appearance of the Holy Fire. The temple ceremony or litany of the Holy Light begins on Saturday morning. Pilgrims, and among Orthodox Christians there are atheists, Muslims, believers of other faiths, line up from early morning.

In the Temple of the Lord, all candles are extinguished, this is strictly monitored by representatives of different churches. After verification, the Edicule is sealed with a large seal by the keeper of the keys, who is a Muslim.

There are three groups of people whose presence is mandatory in the process of preparing for the descent of the Holy Fire. The Lord chose the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem to attend the sacrament of the appearance of the Holy Fire.

Important! Only a representative of the Orthodox Church can receive the Holy Light, and this is not the choice of Orthodoxy itself. This is God's choice.

Representatives of the Armenian Church in 1579, by agreement with the mayor, entered the temple, leaving the Orthodox priesthood outside the doors of the temple. The Armenian representatives prayed for a long time, but the Light did not descend. We remained in reverent prayer and Orthodox priests. Suddenly, strong thunder sounded in the Temple, the column standing to the left of the door of the entrance to the Edicule cracked, and a Fire appeared from there, lighting the candles of the Orthodox Patriarch.

Traces of this miracle can be seen to this day.

Traces of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

From that time on, there was no one willing to challenge the right of the Orthodox Church to receive the Holy Fire. Representatives of various Christian denominations can be present at the appearance of the Grace of God - the descent of God's Fire. They receive the Holy Light from candles lit by the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.

The second group of people, without whose presence the miracle of the descent of Light does not occur, is monasticism, representing the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified. This tradition dates back to 614, when 14,000 monks died at the hands of the Persian conquerors. Currently, 14 monks constantly serve in the monastery.

Many pilgrims are surprised and even outraged by the loud behavior of Arab Christians. The guys sit on top of each other and loudly praise God and dance. The time when this tradition began is unknown, but when Arabs were banned from entering the Temple during English rule, the Fire did not appear until Arab youth were allowed in to perform their rituals.

Arab Christians Praise God

Despite the weather, even on sunny days, from 9 a.m. pilgrims can hear sounds reminiscent of thunder. In some years, around noon, the temple and courtyard begin to be illuminated by heavenly lightning, which are the harbingers of the descent of the Holy Light.

At this time, the prayers of Arab youth sound loudly. Around 13.00, the litany begins, during which the priesthood, led by His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem, walks around the Edicule three times in a procession of the cross, stopping in front of its entrance.

The Patriarch is stripped down to his vestment, and sometimes a demonstrative search takes place, showing that His Beatitude does not have the means to light a fire.

In great excitement, the Patriarch enters the Edicule, bows his knees and offers a prayer of petition to God, on which depends whether the Lord will have mercy on His people. The air is saturated with hope and anxiety, and when the excitement reaches its peak, frequent glares of heavenly color permeate the air, a bright Holy Light literally bursts out from the Edicule, from 33 candles lit by God himself, handed over by the Patriarch. The fire spreads like fiery streams throughout the Temple and beyond. People are happy, dancing, singing.

The second case of a temple miracle occurred with a man whose two eyesores disappeared after washing himself; because of them, the man was practically blind.

Bright lightning and the Holy Light did not harm a single person, did not singe a single hair. Only the dripping wax from the candles, which is called Dew drops, leaves a mark and cannot be washed off with any powders.

Representatives of various faiths, having received the Holy Fire, rush to deliver It to their countries.

Descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher