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Where the sacred fire lights up. How the fire is lit in Jerusalem

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 even proof natural origin phenomenon called "leniency" 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 a.m., a religious procession headed by the Patriarch and senior officials clergy. 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.
On stone slab Lights flash, 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 about happy holiday 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 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. Russian physicist Andrei Volkov was admitted to Edicule before Holy Saturday and received approval Orthodox Church for the installation of 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 in 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.

Miracle of the Descent of the Holy Fire

Holy Fire

The Resurrection of Christ - Easter, before which the described event occurs - the greatest event for Christians, which is a sign of the Savior’s victory over sin and death and the beginning of the existence of the world, redeemed and sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ.

For nearly two thousand years, Orthodox Christians and representatives of other Christian denominations have been celebrating their greatest holiday - the Resurrection of Christ (Easter) in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Resurrection) in Jerusalem. In this greatest shrine for Christians, there is the Tomb where Christ was buried and then resurrected; Holy Places where the Savior was condemned and executed for our sins.

Every time, everyone who is inside and near the Temple on Easter witnesses the descent of the Holy Fire (Light).

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 shortly 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."

Ceremony

The litany (church ceremony) of the Holy Fire begins approximately one day before the start of Orthodox Easter, which, as you know, is celebrated on a different day than other Christians. 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.

"The day before, all the candles, lamps, and chandeliers in the church had already been extinguished. Even in the recent past (at the beginning of the 20th century - editor's note), this was carefully observed: the Turkish authorities carried out a strict search inside the chapel; according to the slander of Catholics, they even went as far as to audit pockets of the officiating metropolitan, the vicar of the Patriarch..."

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.

“And so on the morning of Holy Saturday, at 9 o’clock local time, the first signs of Divine power began to appear: the first rumbles of thunder were heard, while it was clear and sunny outside. They continued for three hours (until 12). The temple began to be illuminated with bright flashes of light. In one place or another, lightning began to shine, foreshadowing the descent of the Heavenly Fire,” writes one of the eyewitnesses.

"At half past two o'clock, the bell rings in the Patriarchate and the procession begins from there. The Greek clergy enters the temple with a long black ribbon, preceding His Beatitude, the Patriarch. He is in full vestments, a shining miter and panagias. The clergy slowly walks past the "stone of anointing" goes to the platform connecting the edicule with the cathedral, and then between two rows of armed Turkish army, barely holding back the onslaught of the crowd, disappears into the large altar of the cathedral,” says the medieval pilgrim.

20-30 minutes after the sealing of the Edicule, Orthodox Arab youth run into the temple, whose presence is also an obligatory element of the Easter celebrations. Young people sit on each other's shoulders like riders. They ask Mother of God and the Lord, so that he would grant the Holy Fire to the Orthodox; “Ilya din, ilya vil el Messiah” (“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 is very unusual to see such behavior of local youth. However, the Lord reminded us that He accepts such a childishly naive, but sincere appeal to God.

“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 descend. Then the Patriarch, of 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?

“Suddenly, inside the temple above the Edicule, a small cloud appeared, from which a light rain began to drizzle. I was standing not far from the Edicule, and therefore small drops of dew fell on me, a sinner, several times. I thought, probably, there was a thunderstorm outside, rain, and the roof was in The temple is not tightly closed, so the water penetrates inside. But then the Greeks shouted: “Dew, dew...” The blessed dew descended on Edicule and moistened the cotton wool lying on the Holy Sepulcher. This was the second manifestation of God’s Power.” - writes the pilgrim.

A procession of hierarchs of Easter-celebrating denominations enters the Temple. At the end of the procession is the Orthodox Patriarch of one of the local Orthodox churches (Jerusalem or Constantinople), accompanied by the Armenian Patriarch and clergy. In his procession The procession passes all the memorable places in the temple: the sacred grove where Christ was betrayed, the place where he was beaten by Roman legionaries, Golgotha, where he was crucified, the Stone of Anointing - on which the body of Christ was prepared for burial.

The procession approaches the Edicule and circles it three times. After this, the Orthodox Patriarch stops opposite the entrance to the Edicule; he is stripped of his vestments and remains in only a linen cassock, so that it can be seen that he does not bring 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 the Turkish Janissaries, who searched him before entering the Edicule.

Hoping to catch the Orthodox in a fake, the city's Muslim authorities placed Turkish soldiers throughout the temple, and they drew scimitars, ready to cut off the head of anyone who was seen bringing or lighting a fire. However, in the entire history of Turkish rule, no one has ever been convicted of this. At the present time, the Patriarch is being examined by Jewish police investigators.

Shortly before 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 and a tense silence sets in - waiting. Those present pray and confess their sins, asking the Lord to grant the Holy Fire.

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 the holy place.

The prayer and ritual continue until the expected miracle occurs. Over the years, the agonizing wait lasts from five minutes to several hours.

Convergence

Before the descent, the temple begins to be illuminated with 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.

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, candles light up for those standing in the temple and in the square, The lamps located on the sides of the Edicule light 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 is burning in the altar of the Catholicon! 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 to us And then a thunderous cry makes you look back at Edicule. It shines, the whole wall shimmers with silver, white lightning streams along it, and from the hole in the dome of the Temple a wide vertical column of light descended from the sky. 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 emerges, blessing those gathered and distributing the Holy Fire.

The patriarchs themselves talk about how the Holy Fire ignites. “I saw how the Metropolitan bent over the low entrance, entered the den and knelt down before the Holy Sepulcher, on which nothing stood and which was completely naked. Not even a minute passed before the darkness was illuminated with light and the Metropolitan came out to us with a flaming bundle candles." Hieromonk Meletius quotes the words of Archbishop Misail: “When I entered inside the Holy Sepulcher, I saw light shining on the entire lid of the Tomb, like scattered small beads, in the form of white, blue, scarlet and other colors, which then copulated, turned red and turned into the substance of fire ... and from this fire the prepared kandil and candles are lit."

Messengers, even when the Patriarch is in Edicule, through special holes spread the Fire throughout the temple, the circle of fire gradually
spreads throughout the temple.

However, not everyone lights the fire from the patriarchal candle; for some, it lights the samtemple. It scattered with bright blue beads over the Edicule around the icon of the “Resurrection of the Lord,” and after that one of the lamps flared up. He burst into the temple chapels, onto Golgotha (he also lit one of the lamps on it), sparkled over the Stone of Confirmation (a lamp was also lit here). 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 woman standing next to him had her candles light up on their own three times, which she twice tried to extinguish.

The first time is 3-10 minutes, the ignited Fire has amazing properties- does not burn at all, regardless of which 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 scorch their hair. “I 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 lit those candles, and on the third day I lit those candles , and even then nothing touched my wife, not a single hair was singed, nor was it writhing..." - one of the pilgrims wrote four centuries ago. Parishioners call the droplets of wax that fall from the candles the Graceful Dew. As a reminder of the Miracle of the Lord, they will remain on the clothes of witnesses forever; no amount of powder or washing will remove them.

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 reborn, as they themselves say, spiritually cleansed and cleared of sight. What is especially remarkable is that even those who are uncomfortable with this God-given sign do not remain indifferent.

Rarer miracles also happen. One of the videotapes shows the healings taking place. Visually, the camera demonstrates two such cases - in a person with a disfigured rotting tskh, the wound, smeared with Fire, heals right before his eyes and the ear takes on a normal appearance, and also shows a case of a blind man’s epiphany (according to external observations, the person had cataracts on both eyes before “washing” "Fire).

In the future, lamps will be lit from the Holy Fire throughout Jerusalem, and the Fire will be delivered by special flights to Cyprus and Greece, from where it will be transported throughout the world. Recently, direct participants in the events began to bring it to our country. In areas of the city close to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, candles and lamps in churches light up on their own."

Holy Fire. Shattered Column

Is it only the Orthodox?

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 specifically to you? But 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 denominations have happened more than once.

Only for several centuries was Jerusalem under the control of Eastern Christians; most of the time, as now, the city was ruled by representatives of other teachings that were unfriendly or even hostile to Orthodoxy.

<В 1099 г. Иерусалим был завоеван крестоносцами, римская церковь и местные градоночальники почитая Православных за вероотступников, смело принялись попирать их права. Английский историк Стивен Рансимен приводит в своей книге повествование об этом летописца западной церкви: "Неудачно начал первый латинский патриарх Арнольд из Шоке: он приказал изгнать секты еретиков из принадлежавших им пределов в Храме Гроба Господня, затем он стал пытать православных монахов, добиваясь, где они хранят Крест и другие реликвии… Несколько месяцев спустя Арнольда сменил на престоле Даймберт из Пизы, который пошел еще дальше. Он попытался изгнать всех местных христиан, даже православных, из Храма Гроба Господня и допускать туда лишь латинян, вообще лишив остальных церковных зданий в Иерусалиме или около него… Скоро грянуло Божье возмездие: уже в 1101 г. в Великую Субботу не совершилось чуда сошествия Святого огня в Кувуклии, покуда не были приглашены для участия в этом обряде восточные христиане. Тогда король Балдуин I позаботился о возвращении местным христианам их прав…".

The chaplain of the Crusader kings of Jerusalem, Fulk, says that when Western admirers (from among the crusaders) visited St. city before the capture of Caesarea, for the celebration of St. Easter came to Jerusalem, the whole city was in confusion, because the holy fire did not appear and the faithful remained in vain expectations all day in the Church of the Resurrection. Then, as if by heavenly inspiration, the Latin clergy and the king with all their court went... to the Temple of Solomon, which they had recently converted into a church from the Omar Mosque, and meanwhile the Greeks and Syrians who remained with St. The coffins, tearing their clothes, called upon the grace of God with cries, and then, finally, St. descended. Fire."

But 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 melted under his feet. 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. However, this was not the only attempt by Muslims who deny the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord to prevent the descent of the Holy Fire. Here is what the famous Islamic historian al-Biruni (IX-X centuries) writes: “...once the governor ordered to replace the wicks with copper wire, hoping that the lamps would not light up and the miracle itself would not happen. But then, when the fire died down, the copper caught fire.” .

It is difficult to list all the numerous events that occur before and during the descent of the Holy Fire. However, one thing deserves special mention. Several times a day or immediately before the descent of the Holy Fire, icons or frescoes depicting the Savior began to stream myrrh in the Temple. This first happened on Good Friday in 1572. The first witnesses were two Frenchmen; a letter about this from one of them is kept in the Central Paris Library. Five months later, on August 24, Charles IX carried out the St. Bartholomew's Massacre in Paris. In two days, a third of the population of France was destroyed. In 1939, on the night from Good Friday to Holy Saturday, she again cast myrrh. Several monks living at the Jerusalem monastery became witnesses. Five months later, on September 1, 1939, World War II began. In 2001 it happened again. Christians did not see anything terrible in this... but the whole world knows about what happened on September 11 of this year - five months after the myrrh-streaming.

Concerned conversation. Holy Fire. Nikolay Kuzmich Simakov

Evidence of a burning flame

“From the king’s candle we lit our candles, and from our candles all the people lit their candles. The holy light is not the same as earthly fire, but wonderful, it glows differently, its flame is red, like cinnabar, glows unspeakably...” Abbot Daniel. "The Walking of Abbot Daniel", 12th century

“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 lit those candles, and then nothing touched my wife, not a single hair was scorched or writhed, and I am damned, not believing that heavenly fire and the message of God, and so I lit my candles three times and extinguished it, and before the metropolitan and before all the Greeks I said goodbye to the fact that I blasphemed God’s power and called heavenly fire, that the Greeks are doing sorcery, and not God’s creation, and the Metropolitan will shower me with all his forgiveness and blessings.” Vasily Yakovlevich Gagara . The life and journey to Jerusalem and Egypt of Kazan resident Vasily Yakovlevich Gagara (1634-1637). - Orthodox Palestinian collection, vol. 33. St. Petersburg, 1891. Pp. 11, 33-37.

“When I entered,” he said, “inside to the Holy Sepulcher, we saw on the entire roof of the tomb a shining light, like scattered small beads, in the form of white, blue, scarlet and other colors, which then, copulating, turned red and transformed over time into substance fire; but this fire, for as long as one can slowly read “Lord, have mercy!” fourty times, does not burn, and from this fire the prepared candles and candles are lit. But, however, he added, I can’t say how and where this phenomenon comes from.” Hieromonk Meletius, 1793-1794. F. M. Avdulovsky. The removed fire emanating from the Tomb of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, p. X., XII. pp. 46-47.

“Bedouins with shaved heads and women with money strung on their heads and noses and covered with white veils came running into the temple from the mountains.... Arabs singe their beards, Arab women bring fire to their bare necks. In this crowded space, fire pierces the crowds; but there was no example of a fire occurring in such a case." Barbara Brun de Saint-Hypolite, 1859 Archimandrite Naum. Holy Fire over the Holy Sepulcher. M., "Peresvet", 1991

“I quickly found myself on the platform near the temple, where many of our pilgrims surrounded me. All of them, in tears of complete tenderness, joy and happiness, pointed out to me that the Holy Fire does not burn. Many of them, even in my presence, circled my neck, arms and naked my chest with this fire, and it really didn’t burn, it begins to burn only when the bundle flares up with a bright flame, following the example and instructions of my familiar pilgrims, I personally experienced all this. Circulating my neck and arms with this blessed fire, I did not feel any pain. " Rostovtsev Konstantin, member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (1896). Spark of God // "Orthodox Life", No. 4, 1962

“This fire, for 10-15 minutes, does not burn at all. I personally moved it (the whole bunch lit) over the sore spots of my body and did not feel it at all. And the Olivet monk, Father Savva, (as he put it) washed himself, drove all over his face, overgrown with a beard and mustache - and not a single hair caught fire or flared up. Maria Pavlovna Khreshchatitskaya (pilgrim from the USA, 1958) Compiled by Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskaya. God's law for family and school. Fourth edition. Printing house of Job Pochaevsky (Jordanville) 1987

“I cover a large torch with my hand - the fire is warm, pleasant, alive, it does not burn at all; this is not earthly, not ordinary fire - this is Heavenly Fire! I begin to wash myself with it: I bring it to my chin, cheeks, forehead - the fire does not burn.” Nikolai Kokukhin, Moscow, newspaper "Sunday School". Nikolai Kokukhin. "Sunday School", supplement to the newspaper "First of September", 1999, No. 13.

Father Georgy films everything with a video camera and takes photographs. I also take some pictures. We have ten packs of candles with us. I extend my hand with candles to the burning bundles in people’s hands and light them. I scoop up this flame with my palm, it is large, warm, light-light yellow, I hold my hand in the 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!!!

"Father George!" - I shout. But he stands with his back to me, filming what is happening with a video camera; the noise prevents him from hearing me.

"Father George! Look!" He turns around. "Shoot!" In delight I move burning bunches of candles across my face.

Alexander Novopashin. Priest from Novosibirsk.

The Holy Fire has unique properties, and numerous documentary materials confirm this amazing fact - photographs, video recordings, observation reports of eyewitnesses (parishioners, tourists, scientists). New evidence regularly appears in the media.

There is a documentary filming: a bearded man holds a burning candle close to his face - his whole head glows! - but the hair doesn't burn. This is the Holy Fire, which is similar in appearance to ordinary fire, but does not burn. You can hold your hand in it: it's safe. After about 5-7 minutes, the wonderful flame becomes just a flame.

Surprisingly... At first the Fire does not burn, it is just warm. They wash their face with it, rub it over their face, apply it to their chest - and nothing. There was a case when one nun’s apostolic light caught fire, and there was no trace left. Another cassock was burned through. I took it home with a hole, but when I arrived there was no hole. Archimandrite Varvolomey (Kalugin), monk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1983. Sukhinina N. Fire burning doubt // “Family”, weekly non-political newspaper, No. 16 (April), 2001.

But there, in Jerusalem, I immediately passed a sheaf of flame across my eyes, across my forehead - it did not scorch. I lit the second bundle in my left hand and ran it over the right side of my face. I feel like my beard is singed. The Holy Fire does not burn for the first few minutes. Igor shows me his palm with a black trace of soot, pokes a burning candle into it, shouts: “Look, it doesn’t scorch.” The multitude of people filling the temple turned into a roaring sea of fire. Yuriev Yuri. Newspaper "Zavtra", September 4, 2001

I had 5 bunches of candles in my hands, and my novice Valentina had as many as 30. After all, it is necessary to bring memorable holy signs of God’s ineffable mercy to those who were left in distant Novgorod and Bronnitsy. The joy of the spirit leapt up so much in me, a sinner, that I was ready to swallow it: I alternately moved bunches of lighted candles one after another over my face, hair, beard, took them into my mouth, and hurried those around me to take advantage of the only, perhaps, blessed opportunity in their lives, happiness. ... but... stop... the fifth bundle managed to turn in my hands into a scorching natural fire, testifying in such an impressive way its Divine origin to me, a sinner. Archimandrite Hilarion is the rector of the Transfiguration Church in the village of Bronnitsa and the confessor of the Novgorod Diocese. A heartfelt story about a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Jerusalem and other holy places of the Promised Land by the rector of the Transfiguration Church of the village of Bronnitsa and the confessor of the Novgorod Diocese, Archimandrite Hilarion.

I try to take Fire in my palm and discover that it is real. 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.

Surprisingly, at first the fire does not burn at all. At this moment it is not fire at all, but a kind of light, similar to the Tabor light... Its bright flashes are transmitted through my hands, so I am holding the blessed light. Someone nearby begins to eat it like bread, swallow it inside themselves, pass it over the body, along the arms and legs - as if being imbued with grace... There are so many people that you can’t hear anything, people are rejoicing... Tatyana Shutova, journalist, Moscow, 1997. Recorded by M. Sizov. To the Holy Sepulcher. // Christian newspaper of the north of Russia "Vera" - "Eskom", April 2000, issue. 2.

I had seven bunches of candles. We lit them one after another, passed the fire over our hands, over our faces, and it didn’t burn, it just gave such a caressing warmth. This year, the blessed fire descended on the head of the Patriarch; many saw how those accompanying him removed this amazing fire from his head with their hands. Natalya O. is a journalist from Moscow. Trofimov A. On the events of Holy Saturday in Jerusalem. // magazine "Sovereign Rus'", No. 8(52) (continued No. 9(53)), 1998

A miracle happened in Jerusalem again - the Holy Fire descended to earth

In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, where about ten thousand believers gathered today, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire took place again. As the correspondent reports RIA Novosti, The Holy Fire kindled in the cave of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where there is a stone bed on which the body of the Savior, taken from the Cross, rested.

At the time of the miracle, only the Patriarch of Jerusalem was in the cave Irenaeus I(Skopelitis). During the prayer for the gift of a miraculous fire, flashes of light appeared in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

When Patriarch Irenaeus I came out of the cave of the Holy Sepulcher, carrying a lamp with the Holy Fire, many believers’ candles also began to miraculously light up. Those present in the temple gradually began to transfer the Holy Fire to each other. Members of the Russian delegation located in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher also received it. They will deliver the Holy Fire to the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior for the night patriarchal Easter service.

The Russian delegation is spiritually headed by Bishop Alexander of Dmitrov, vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexia II. It includes Russian political, religious and public figures who arrived in Jerusalem as part of the delegation of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation.

What is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the sacred center of Christianity, which today unites about a third of the world's population. It was built at the behest of Emperor Constantine the Great and his mother, Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Queen Helena, in the 4th century AD on the site where the earthly journey of Jesus Christ ended.

Over its centuries-old history, the temple was completely destroyed and rebuilt three times (the last time after the fire of 1808).

The huge structure includes about 40 different buildings. The complex includes the temple on Mount Golgotha, on which the Savior was crucified (18 marble steps lead to it), and the chapel over the Holy Sepulcher (Edicule). This is the most sacred place in the entire temple complex - here is the stone bed (lavica) where the body of Christ rested after the death of the Cross on Good Friday and before His Resurrection.

It is on this stone bed that the Holy Fire miraculously ignites.

What precedes a miracle?

The Holy Fire has been appearing in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for more than the first millennium. The earliest mention of a miracle on the eve of the Resurrection of Christ is found in the famous Church Father Gregory of Nyssa and dates back to the 4th century AD.

If we sequentially describe the events preceding the Jerusalem miracle, they develop as follows:

The church ceremony of the Holy Fire (litany) begins approximately one day before Easter, which this year is celebrated on the same day by Eastern and Western Christians - Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans.

On the morning of Holy Saturday, the procession of the Cross begins from the building of the Jerusalem Patriarchate. The procession goes around memorial places associated with gospel events: the Sacred Grove, where Jesus Christ was betrayed; the place where He was beaten by Roman legionaries; Golgotha, where Christ was crucified; the Stone of Anointing, on which his body taken from the cross was prepared for burial.

At the end of its journey, the procession approaches the chapel above the Cave of the Holy Sepulcher and circles around it three times. After this, the procession will stop opposite the entrance to the Edicule.

In accordance with tradition, from 10 to 11 a.m. Holy Saturday the sacristan brings into the “Edicule” a large lamp, in which the main fire should then flare up, and 33 candles (according to the number of years of the Savior’s winter life). Then the Edicule is sealed. It is noteworthy that half an hour later Orthodox Arab youth, whose presence is an obligatory element of the Easter celebrations, runs into the temple. Young people, sitting on each other’s shoulders and chanting “there is no faith except the Orthodox faith, Christ is the true God,” ask the Lord to grant the believers the Holy Fire. It is believed that the Savior accepts such childishly naive but sincere treatment.

After performing a number of rituals, the Orthodox patriarch (today, as already mentioned, it was the primate Jerusalem Orthodox Church Irenaeus) approaches the entrance to the chapel over the Holy Sepulcher. He is undressed from his robe to his linen cassock, so that it can be seen that he is not carrying matches or anything capable of lighting a fire into the cave. The Patriarch then goes inside and the entrance is sealed with a large piece of wax, placing a red ribbon on the door.

After this, the lights in the temple turn off and tense silence ensues. Those present pray, confess their sins and ask the Lord to grant the Holy Fire.

Typically, the wait lasts from several minutes to several hours. Some time later, the entire temple turns out to be surrounded by lightning, which seems to flow down the walls and columns. At the same time, candles begin to light up for those standing in the temple and in the square in front of the temple. Then the chapel over the Holy Sepulcher begins to shine, and from the hole in the dome of the temple a wide vertical column of light descends onto the Holy Sepulcher. Following this, the doors of the temple open and the Patriarch comes out, blesses those gathered and distributes the Holy Fire.

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.

According to eyewitnesses, the Holy Fire has an amazing property - it does not burn a person at all.

ANNUAL MIRACLE OF THE HOLY FIRE

(The Holy Fire descends only on Orthodox Easter, on Saturday of Holy Week)

Jerusalem is visited by believers from all over the world.

1988 At seven o'clock in the morning a thanksgiving prayer service was served. All the pilgrims thanked the Lord with tears for their safe arrival in the holy land. We headed through the narrow streets of Jerusalem to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. Here, on Great Saturday before Orthodox Easter (according to the old style), the Holy Fire descends. Greek pilgrims come here in the evening and stay in the temple all night so that in the morning they can see Edicule (the place of the Holy Sepulcher) and take a closer place.

They make special bundles of small candles, 33 of them - according to the number of years of the Savior. Anticipation. In the evening, all the lights, all the lamps are extinguished, the whole temple is dark.
Grace descends during the day, at approximately one o'clock in the afternoon. There is no specific time: sometimes they wait 10 minutes, sometimes 5 minutes, 20 minutes, there were cases when they waited for two hours (they were already crying and sobbing - feelings are so intense - after all, the whole year is blessed).

The celebration itself begins with a procession of the cross from the courtyard of the Jerusalem Patriarchate through the Church of St. James, and goes straight to the altar of the Church of the Resurrection. Then the patriarch in full vestments, the clergy, and the singers emerge from the royal doors. The troparion is sung slowly: “Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and grant us on earth to glorify Thee with a pure heart.”

12 banners are carried in front. The procession heads to the Edicule and circles it three times. The doors of Edicule were closed the day before and sealed. And now the patriarch is unmasked, remains in one vest, he bows to the people. To the singing of “Quiet light of the holy glory of the immortal Father in heaven, the blessed holy Jesus Christ, having come to the west of the sun, having seen the evening light, we sing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, God: you are worthy at all times to be the voice of the reverend, the Son of God “Give me your life, and the world will glorify You.”

Moreover, at all times they very strictly monitored, literally searched the patriarch and those around him.

The Orthodox Patriarch enters. And now the Armenian bishop is allowed to enter the Edicule, but only into the chapel of the Angel; he remains with candles at the door of the Cave of the Lord. The Orthodox Patriarch enters the Holy Sepulcher on his knees. What's there?

As the pilgrim reports, Bishop Meletius could not raise his head, but when he raised his head, he saw: it was like fiery dew - balls like water, bluish in color - this was not fire, but some kind of substance. Cotton wool is used, it ignites, burns, but does not burn. This fire is of a completely different nature. When the cotton wool is ignited by this fire, the patriarch lights the lamp and candles and distributes them to the people.

Everyone perceives this visible grace differently.

Some see something like a bluish stream coming from Golgotha, or like a cloud. The entire Edicule is shrouded in this cloud.

Sometimes the phenomenon is lightning-like - lightning strikes a wall and directly reflects, illuminating everything. And the glow is bluish.

Sometimes they see the northern lights playing over the dome of the Edicule.

This year we waited 8 minutes - it seems like an eternity. They stood there, exhausted.

And so, when grace is distributed, imagine: a sea of fire, and there is never a fire, never. There were cases when the apostle's vestments (the nun's vestments) caught fire, or the mother burned one of her cassocks, carried it in her hands with a hole, came home, looked for the hole, but the cassock was intact.

When grace is a sea of fire spills. Some cry, some scream with joy, some laugh. This feeling must be experienced; it cannot be described. For the sake of this miracle, for the sake of this grace, everything is insignificant.

On the street they pointed out to us a dissected column. At one time, the Armenians claimed priority, the primacy of receiving the Holy Fire. They bribed Turkish officials, came earlier and closed the doors. The Armenians locked themselves in the temple, and the Orthodox came and stood in front of the closed doors, and the bishops, and the clergy, and the people accompanying them. The time of the Holy Fire passed among the Orthodox in great sadness; they stood outside with mournful prayer. And the Armenians inside sang, prayed in their own way and waited for grace. The Holy Fire came out of this column, cut it, rolled and lit the candles of the Orthodox, and since then no one has claimed primacy in receiving the Holy Fire.

The power of God is great and immeasurable.

(From the book “The Holy Fire over the Holy Sepulcher”. Moscow, “Peresvet”, 1991)

Holy fire Eyewitness testimony

The Resurrection of Christ - Easter, before which the described descent of the Holy Fire takes place - the greatest event for Christians, which is a sign of the Savior’s victory over sin and death and the beginning of the existence of the world, redeemed and sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ.

For nearly two thousand years, Orthodox Christians and representatives of other Christian denominations have been celebrating their greatest holiday - the Resurrection of Christ (Easter) in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Resurrection) in Jerusalem. In this greatest shrine for Christians, there is the Tomb where Christ was buried and then resurrected; holy places where the Savior was condemned and executed for our sins.

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

They also contain descriptions of earlier convergences. According to the testimony of the apostles and holy fathers, the uncreated light illuminated the Holy Sepulcher shortly after the Resurrection of Christ, which one of the apostles saw:
“Peter believed, he saw not only with sensual eyes, but also with a high apostolic mind - the Sepulcher was filled with light, so that, although it was night, he saw two images internally - sensually and spiritually,” we read from the church historian Gregory Nyssa.

“Peter presented himself to the Sepulcher and was in vain afraid of the light in the Sepulchre,” 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 early mentions there are 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 in the lamps is lit, hanging over the Tomb."

We bring to your attention an eyewitness account of the descent of the Holy Fire in 2003, published on the Internet.

I tried to look inside through the window and bars. But it’s a strange thing when you look inside the temple from the outside, from the street - everything is covered in darkness, barred, as if covered with a veil, a veil of darkness and the vanity of the world: inside there was complete darkness, not a single lamp offered up its silent prayer, not a single candle was burning, and even the faces of saints on the icons could not be made out.

“And really, what is this? Everyone died, or what? Where are the people? Why aren't they in the temple that night?
Why are they all sleeping? And how can you sleep that night?”

That's how it always is. Human inertia and slowness, retardation in decision-making - dullness and slowness where it is necessary to act quickly and decisively - how many misfortunes and troubles could have been avoided if not for this inertia and retardation? “Oh, unfortunate and inert at heart? How long will I be with you, how long will I endure you? Bring him to Me..."
As I already said, in the dilapidated door where I was hiding from the cold wind, there were large cracks, through one of which I looked and suddenly saw either an icon or a painting, but rather it was a painting, in my opinion, it was It’s a very bad copy of Leonard’s “Madonna and Child,” but this painting made an amazing impression on me.

The Most Pure One looked at her Child with such love and tenderness, such grace emanated from Her face, which instantly dispelled all my fears...

There is no death, no decay and no fear, these are all just ghosts - if there is such Love!... “So, not everyone has died yet; it means there is life somewhere else; that means there is no death; it means that there is still a world where it is not brute force, the power of darkness and money that reigns, but a world where peace and love and faith and hope reign... it means that I am no longer alone here, although as a prisoner, through the bars of the lattice, so am I through this crack, but I still already see this other world, I already feel it, and yet there is already something and to whom to pray.

After some time, through this gap I suddenly clearly smelled the smell of incense, weak at first - then stronger and stronger, and then I heard, weak at first, and then louder and louder, the ringing of a censer...

Looking through the crack, I saw an Ethiopian priest performing incense. A little later, I heard faint echoes of prayers, although strange, unusual and mournful to the ear, but still - it was a prayer!

Hooray! Someone is already praying, someone is no longer sleeping! Prayer, like incense, rises to the sky. I am no longer alone in this desert. After some time, to my great joy, a key scraped in the keyhole and the ancient door opened halfway with a great grinding sound - it simply could not do more due to its extreme disrepair. After waiting for some time for the sake of decency, so as not to create the impression of a “burglar,” I squeezed inside.

The Ethiopian, black as pitch and wrapped in a shawl up to his nose, pretended to light a lamp or clean a candlestick behind an iron fence, but he did it so slowly and thoroughly that apparently he was just watching me, again as a precaution; I don’t know, but he seemed like a heavenly angel to me...

Inside, in this chapel, it was warmer, but not much, the walls and high vaulted ceiling (precisely from the 12th century) inside this Ethiopian chapel were so ancient, dilapidated and shabby, the plaster was literally falling off the walls in huge pieces, that I involuntarily thought that this was exactly what What a building should look like if it has not been repaired for a thousand years, since the time of construction, since the 12th century...

But here it had absolutely no meaning. Here the spiritual prevailed over the material, here everything was the other way around; here material disrepair emphasized spiritual strength, as opposed to a world where material well-being only emphasizes poverty of spirit; here matter is completely neglected, because the spirit reigns here, here the physical laws of the world and the flesh do not apply, here there was a chapel of an ancient church (with access to the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), although with a strange and unusual for our hearing worship, but still it was a church.
Here I felt at home.

Sitting down on a bench and finding a blanket in the corner - the same as the Ethiopian had behind the iron fence - I threw it over my shoulders, it became much warmer, but now fatigue, spiritual and physical, set in, the uncertainty was felt even more strongly.

It was already about 5 o'clock in the morning. It began to get light and with the first light all the night demons disappeared somewhere, only fatigue and tension remained in the idea of how many hours we still had to spend here and how painfully slowly time was passing.
The sun gilded the roof of the Jerusalem Patriarchate with its first rays, and only then for the first time did I see living, normal people on it, and not soldiers. These were women in black who stood and looked down, but who apparently were prevented by something from going down into the yard.

Then a bustling crowd of television crews and photo reporters appeared, hung with cameras from head to toe, with an entire arsenal of all kinds of equipment.

They had something in common with the cops who had dominated here until now - they, like them, fussily placed their cameras, pulled cables straight and everywhere they could and could not, smoked and casually chewed gum, just like as if they were preparing to broadcast a football match or a concert, and not for a miracle of the Lord.

The NTV people were the ones who were bustling about the most, constantly adjusting their cameras. But these were still living people, and not night soldiers.

Last year, it is said that television screens were installed in the courtyard so that people who could not go inside could watch the entire event on a television screen. This time, for a still unknown reason, nothing of the kind was observed. A group of 5 believers finally broke through the roof, through the very doors where I was sitting, one of them said that he simply asked the soldiers on the roof and they were let through. But why they let only five people through and no one else was completely unknown.

These five took a place to the left of the temple doors, humbly sitting on chairs, all in black, covering their faces with their palms, eyes downcast. They presented a sharp contrast with the bustling and restless journalistic and soldier brethren. They were the only real believers here so far. They personified the world of the spirit - others - the world of the flesh, doing PR even on a miracle. Guys, what are you going to film here? I assure you that you will not see anything here except the crowd. The power of God is made perfect in weakness. And a great miracle is not a Hollywood show with special effects, but a mystery of faith, which takes place in the depths of a believing heart and is hidden from idle eyes. This is how it has always been, and this is how it will be now. And so it happened.

It was already about 9 o'clock - quite late to begin crowd control; however, there was no one to control yet: no one was simply allowed in, which was very unusual compared to previous years.

Suddenly a heavy massive metal door opened, leading from the Church of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste from the Patriarchate and some woman ran out from behind it, an Israeli policeman was chasing her, trying to stop her, but she just waved him off like an annoying fly and calmly went into the yard. All this looked more than strange.

There were already quite a lot of people on the square, but there were no noticeable believers among them, again all the same policemen and television crews. The doors of the temple still remained closed, although it was already ten o'clock. Suddenly, two Greek priests in robes ran out from around the corner, looking rather confused and frightened. Seeing their brother, they rushed to me and began to explain that they needed to serve the liturgy in the church of St. Jacob and that they barely managed to break through the police cordons. I explained that someone had just passed through this iron door leading to the Patriarchate; We walked up together and started knocking loudly on it. Indeed, a minute later the lock rattled and the door opened, the priests thanked me and disappeared behind it, I remained in the yard.
After another 10 minutes, the same door opened again and from behind it, a large group of Greek clergy somehow timidly appeared - about 30 people. All of them, like a flock of frightened guinea fowl, timidly huddled at the door, as if afraid to take an extra step. At that moment, there was a loud knock of sticks on the stones of the pavement, announcing the arrival of a very important person. A long procession of Armenians appeared with their patriarch at the head, who importantly carried in front of him on outstretched arms the keys to the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The passing Armenians looked rather angrily at the Greek clergy who modestly stood aside. Obviously, they long and persistently sought this right to be the first to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the excessively huge presence of police and soldiers can be attributed to their “merits.” Approaching the doors, one of them put a ladder, climbed up it and took out the first seal, then the second, then they began to knock on the doors. The solid wooden door has round holes that open from the inside. So, before the arrival of the Armenian delegation, these holes opened and I looked inside and saw that the temple inside was far from empty, as I had previously been assured, and that it was full of people, but I didn’t see a single ordinary person - there were only government officials people are still the same policemen.

The doors opened and the Armenian delegation entered, followed by the Greek one. Suddenly there was a crush at the door, one of the main policemen created the most tension: he stood in the doorway and, shouting: “only priest, only priest..., “only priests...”, tried to push away these pitiful four old women who were sitting at the door and waited.

Everything in the temple was blocked off by police turnstiles. The Armenian delegation went to the left, the Greek - to the right of the stone of anointing. It was almost impossible to move from one zone to another - when they saw a stranger, the Armenians immediately began to yell and angrily expelled the stranger.

Having passed to the right, we immediately found ourselves through the door into the Greek Temple of the Resurrection, which was also tightly fenced off with police turnstiles, only the central passage was left and two zones on the sides were divided into three sectors.

But the worst thing was that, as I already said, not a single believer was visible in the temple, but crowds of police were swarming around. There were so many of them that it simply dazzled your eyes. They hung in clusters everywhere: on the patriarchal throne, on the metropolitan throne, on the altar, on the walls, on the floor, on all the steps and even in the altar.

Some were with weapons (despite the fact that the Christian canon strictly prohibits entering the temple with weapons), others without. But the main thing was not this, but the fact that in their entire appearance, in movements, in facial expressions, in words, in actions, in gestures - in everything there was a clear desecration of the holy place where they are located, not only the absence respect, but also emphasized contempt and ridicule.

One of the machine gunners was chewing gum and defiantly blowing large bubbles - well, just a typical American Yankee with her pseudo-culture and complete absence of any moral and religious feelings. They behaved very rudely with the clergy, constantly pushing them, driving them out from place to place and not allowing them to go anywhere. The feeling was eerie: as if all the shrines, icons and altars were surrounded by demons and demons who had gathered here for their demonic Sabbath. An obvious violation of order was the fact that the Edicule of the Holy Sepulcher itself was not closed and sealed, but stood wide open in violation of the rules and some strange people were coming in and out of there.

The temple gradually began to fill up, but these were mostly VIPs, all sorts of ministers and officials, generals hung with epaulettes, who came by individual special invitation (by presenting a passport), as if to a theater show, and occupied “the best seats in the stalls.”

Going outside, I saw that the square in front of the temple was still empty, there were no ordinary people there: all the same soldiers, although it was already about 11 o’clock. Somewhere around 12, a Russian delegation of 500 people arrived.

First, Metropolitan Pitirim, who had previously participated in a prayer for the peace of Jerusalem in the Patriarchate, appeared in the main passage; he importantly tried to proceed to the Edicule, but was rather rudely stopped by the police and pushed aside; There they also allocated a place for the entire Russian delegation - in the far left sector from the altar of the Greek Temple of the Resurrection.
Mostly, the representatives of the Russian delegation were comrades with a very characteristic appearance: square and very well-fed, in impeccable Versace suits, with three chins and bob haircuts, who even here, in the most holy place and at the most holy moment, preferred not to part with their mobile phones and here, as if nothing had happened, they continued to vigorously discuss their business problems with Moscow via cellular communications: loan interest rates, purchases, sales, privatization agreements...

How the Russian person wants to show off and prove to everyone that we are not like everyone else. In addition, they say, in the most holy place at the most holy moment, suddenly all the abominations of a person come out - so this spectacle was even more disgusting than the spectacle of a police sabbath.

Both those and others clearly had something in common: a common approach to life - matter determines being, being determines consciousness... etc., etc., and other consequences of a long but brief study of a brief history course, history of life in Russia...

Special mention must also be made about television workers. Their cameras were stuck everywhere, two or three stationary and dozens of portable ones, with powerful spotlights shining right into their eyes; Dozens of spotlights stuck everywhere blinded the eyes, and for some reason some kind of wire was strung right under the dome of the Edicule.

In such a society and in such an environment, the expectation of a great miracle was not the most pleasant, but there was simply no other.

But no, I was wrong, there was clearly the presence of the One who created heaven and earth, and who led his people out of Egyptian slavery. His presence is only hidden to the idle gaze. Raising my eyes to the sky, I suddenly saw under the dome of the Church of the Resurrection three pigeons that had flown there from nowhere and how. They hovered under the dome and a bright ray of sun cut through the entire space from top to bottom. There were exactly three pigeons and then they disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. At twenty to one the first sound of the bell rang out, announcing that the Patriarch of Jerusalem was approaching the temple. Exactly at one o'clock, the Patriarch entered the temple with the sound of sticks hitting the stones and slowly began to approach the altar, making his way through the huge crowd on his own. Oddly enough, the police (for which they were actually gathered here) this time did not help him, but only hindered him. However, it is not difficult to guess who she helped and for whom she worked. There was also a huge crowd at the altar, and it was also very difficult for the Patriarch to get through it, but he still made his way there and there they began to dress him in all the patriarchal vestments. Here delegations of Copts, Ethiopians and other churches proceeded to the altar, asking for blessings from the Patriarch of the holy city of Jerusalem.

Finally, the Patriarch was dressed in all the patriarchal vestments and slowly began to move towards the Edicule, preceded by many banners and choristers and with priests in white vestments behind.

By this time the Edicule had already been sealed. This was very difficult for him; he was pale and concentrated in himself. He was surrounded on four sides by four gallant Greek guards in very beautiful bird-colored clothing, like the Swiss guards. The screaming and noise in the temple continued and grew. They loudly shouted something like “freedom for Jerusalem,” judging by the way the Israeli police were rushing around.

The Patriarch walked around the Edicule three times with banners and priests and stopped at the entrance. The Patriarch began to be exposed. The miter, staff, sakkos, epitrachelion, club, and armlets were carried by the priests to the altar. The tension grew and seemed to reach its climax. The screaming and noise were unimaginable. Usually, after the Patriarch enters the Edicule, there is deathly silence, and the intense prayerful waiting seems to last for an eternity. This time everything was different. This time there was a feeling that the Holy Fire could descend even before the Patriarch entered the Edicule, that it was already here.

Then a scuffle broke out between one priest and a policeman, apparently because he pushed him too roughly; they shouted at each other for quite a long time. Screams and noise and individual exclamations shouting about something could be heard from everywhere. I thought about how, in such a vile environment of bustle, shouting, fighting, running, screaming, drumming, idle glances, disbelief, rejection, denial, doubt, lack of faith, hesitation, how in such an environment the greatest of miracles could happen, planned and occurring annually? Yes, all this is true, but the incarnation of the Son of God itself was an act of this incomprehensible, greatest humility of God, condescension towards fallen human nature, towards the nature of fallen man distorted by sin. The roaring and screaming crowd is the symbol of this fallen world below, to which, humbling Himself, the grace of God descends in order to sanctify and save it - only in this way, through humility, is the path to salvation.

And the first example of this very saving humility is shown by the Lord Himself in his miracle of the Holy Fire. The Holy Fire cannot fail to descend. If he does not come down, this will already indicate the coming of the Antichrist. They say that the wait for the Holy Fire lasts from 10 minutes to an hour, and that during this time a person seems to live his entire life. This time the wait lasted no more than a minute.

The Patriarch entered the Edicule. I looked at my watch: it was exactly 2 o’clock. As soon as he entered inside, all the bells of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher struck such an intense, heart-rending prayer alarm, which I had never heard, either before or since.

The ringing was so loud that the windows shook. At the same moment, all the electric spotlights and many other lamps instantly went out, as if someone's powerful hand had turned off a switch. This really was the case, because no one (of the people) turned off the electricity, it turned off by itself.

It was clearly a miracle. A few moments later, the Patriarch appeared at the door of Edicule with a bunch of burning candles. He was shining all over, and light seemed to emanate from him.

An explosion of jubilation along with the fire quickly spread from Edicule - all eyes were turned there and almost no one noticed how the fire came from the other side. When I looked at the altar of the Church of the Resurrection a few moments later, I saw that all the Greek priests standing at the altar already had bundles of candles burning brightly even before the fire from the Edicule reached them. And the priest in vestments stood on the high place of the altar with two brightly blazing bunches of candles in his hands raised high - apparently, his candles flared up along with the Patriarch, but in the altar of the Church of the Resurrection.

This was the second miracle. Patriarch Irenaeus returned to the altar with bunches of burning candles, the entire temple instantly burst into flames that do not burn, an explosion of jubilation and delight accompanied by the ringing of bells, the entire temple was instantly filled with smoke up to the dome, and only a bright ray of the sun cut through it.

There was something unearthly and sublime about this.

Priest Oleg Viflyantsev (based on materials from the Holy Fire website)

THE MIRACLE OF THE Descent of the HOLY FIRE (1855, 1859 and 1982).

This a miracle happens every year, before Orthodox Easter, in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.
This miracle, the only one in its grandeur in the history of the Christian world, occurs every year. Let us remind you: the miracle of the descent of fire takes place in an Orthodox church, on Orthodox Easter, celebrated according to the Orthodox, old style, when the service is performed by the Orthodox patriarch. The attempt of the Catholicos Bishop to receive the Holy Fire ended in failure, or rather, in the punishment of the Lord: the sacred fire did not descend inside the temple, but lightning struck a column near the temple, scorching it from the inside and splitting it. No other non-Orthodox dared to illegally receive the sacred fire.

This miracle takes place in the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord in Jerusalem. Fire comes down by itself, from God, - not ignited by any person, nor matches, nor lighters, nor other human inventions. For this chant, the patriarch is specially checked, and carefully, by non-religious people before entering.

The descending fire is called grace-filled fire because it brings with it grace from God - grace that sanctifies a person, frees him from sins, heals illnesses, gives talents and spiritual gifts. The Greeks call this fire holy light: agiosphotos. For the first moments this fire does not scorch, does not burn, then it becomes ordinary, spontaneous.

Different eyewitnesses living in different centuries describe the descent of the sacred fire very similarly, with minor differences that only complement each other. For if their descriptions were identical, a suspicion would arise that one was copying from the other.

The Bible says: “in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word will come to pass,” that is, for authenticity you need two or three witnesses.

So we, for comparison and complete reliability, will give descriptions of two eyewitnesses of the descent of fire, one who lived in the 19th century, the other in the 20th century.

In 1859, Mrs. Varvara (B. d. S.-I.) was present at the descent of the Holy Fire and described this miracle in a letter to her spiritual father, Abbot Anthony.

On Great Saturday in the Feodorovsky Monastery, early in the morning, all the nuns and pilgrims tied small colorful candles into bundles so that each bundle consisted of 33 candles - in memory of the number of years of Christ.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, after the liturgy, our Orthodox at the Holy Sepulcher extinguished the lamps, and all the candles in the church. (The Holy Sepulcher is the burial place of our Lord Jesus Christ, a former crypt, and now a chapel).

In the entire city, and even in the surrounding area, there was not a spark of fire left. Only in the houses of Catholics, Jews and Protestants did the fire not go out. Even the Turks follow the Orthodox and come to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on this day. I saw their children holding bunches of candles in their hands and spoke to them through a translator. There were also adults with the children.

At 12 noon the doors of the temple are open, and the cathedral is full of people. Everyone, without exception, old and young, goes to the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord. We made our way there through the crowd of people with difficulty. All five tiers of choirs were full of pilgrims, and even on the walls, where it was possible to somehow stay, there were Arabs everywhere. One attracted special attention: he sat down on the handle of a large candelabra in front of the icon and planted to myself on my knees my daughter, about seven years old. Bedouins with shaved heads, women with money strung on their heads and noses and covered with white veils, with children of different ages came running into the temple from the mountains. Everyone was fussing and bustling, impatiently waiting for the Holy Fire. Turkish soldiers stood between the pilgrims and calmed the worried Arabs with guns.

Catholic monks and Jesuits looked at all this with curiosity, among them was our Russian prince Gagarin, who converted to the Latin Church 18 years ago. The royal doors were open, and the highest clergy of all Christian denominations could be seen there. [The Resurrection Cathedral is the only place on earth where representatives of all faiths are present together - as an exception to the rule, which nevertheless confirms the rule: you cannot pray with heretics].

The Patriarch of Jerusalem happened to be present here for the first time - in previous years he lived in Constantinople. However, his deputy, Metropolitan Peter Meletius, was in charge of the altar, and he himself received the Holy Fire. Since Sunday (Vaii week), the Metropolitan has not eaten anything except prosphora, and did not even allow to myself drink water; this made him paler than usual, however, he spoke calmly to the clergy.

Each one had a bunch of candles in his hands, and others standing in the choir lowered several such bunches on wires and these bunches hung on the walls to receive heavenly fire. All the lamps are filled with oil, the chandeliers have new candles: the wicks are not burned anywhere. Gentiles, with distrust, carefully wipe all the corners of the edicule [the edicule is the place of the Holy Sepulcher, where the body of Christ lay], and they themselves place cotton wool on the marble board of the Holy Sepulcher.

The solemn moment is approaching, everyone’s heart beats involuntarily. Everyone is focused on the thought of the supernatural, but some have doubts, others, pious, pray with the hope of God’s mercy, and others, who came out of curiosity, indifferently wait for what will happen.
A ray of sun flashed through the hole above the edicule. The weather is clear and hot. Suddenly a cloud appeared and blocked the sun. I was afraid that there would be no more Holy Fire and that the people would tear the Metropolitan to pieces out of frustration. Doubt darkened my heart, I began to reproach myself, why did I stay, why did I expect an unrealistic phenomenon? Thinking like this, I became more and more worried. Suddenly everything in the church went dark. I felt sad to the point of tears; I prayed earnestly... The Arabs began shouting, singing, beating their chests, praying out loud, raising their hands to the sky; The Kavass and Turkish soldiers began to calm them down. The picture was terrible, there was general alarm!

Meanwhile, in the altar they began to vest the metropolitan - not without the participation of non-believers. The clergy helps him put on the silver surplice, girds it with a silver cord, and puts on his shoes; all this takes place in the presence of the Armenian, Roman and Protestant clergy. Having dressed him, he is led arm in arm with his head naked between two walls of soldiers, preceded by smart cavas, to the door of the edicule and the door is locked behind him. The Edicule is empty, it is first searched).

And here he is alone at the Holy Sepulcher. Silence again. A cloud of dew descends on the people. I also got some for my white cambric dress.

In anticipation of fire from the sky, everything falls silent, but not for long. Again there is restlessness, shouting, rushing about, praying; those who are worried are calmed down again. Our mission was at the pulpit above the royal doors: I could see the reverent expectation of His Eminence Kirill. I also looked at Prince Gagarin standing in the crowd. His face expressed sadness, he peered intently at the edicule. In the front room, on both sides of the edicule, there are round holes in the walls, through which the abbots and abbots of the surrounding monasteries present candles to the Most Reverend Viceroy (Metropolitan).

Suddenly, a bunch of lit candles appears from a side hole... In an instant, Archimandrite Seraphim hands the candles to the people. At the top of the edicule everything lights up: lamps, chandeliers. Everyone screams, rejoices, crosses themselves, cries with joy, hundreds, thousands of candles transmit light to one another... Arabs singe their beards, Arab women bring fire to their bare necks. [They singe their beards - that is, they wash their beards with fire, passing the burning flame of candles through the hair of the beard from below - after all, for the first minutes the fire does not burn or scorch either the skin or the hair. - Comp.]. In close quarters, fire pierces the crowds; but there was no case of a fire occurring. The general delight cannot be described: this is an indescribable miracle. After the sun - immediately a cloud, then dew and fire. Dew falls on the cotton wool that lies on the Holy Sepulcher, and the wet cotton wool suddenly lights up with a blue flame. The governor touches the cotton wool with unburned candles - and the candles are lit with a dull bluish flame. The governor hands the candles lit in this way to those standing at the openings. It is wonderful that at first there is half light from so many candles in the church; no faces are visible; the whole crowd is in some kind of blue fog. But then everything is illuminated and the fire burns brightly. Having passed the fire to everyone, the governor emerges from the edicule with two huge bunches of lit candles, like torches.

The Arabs wanted, as usual, to carry him in their arms, but the Bishop evaded them and, as if in a fog, walked with quick steps from the edicule to the altar of the Church of the Resurrection. Everyone tried to light their own candle from his candles. I was on the path of his procession and also lit it. It seemed transparent; he was all in white; inspiration burned in his eyes: the people saw in him a heavenly messenger. Everyone cried with joy. But now, there was an indistinct rumble among the people.

I accidentally looked at Prince Gagarin - tears were streaming down his face and his face was shining with joy. Yesterday he extolled the advantages of the Roman confession, and today, amazed by the effect of heavenly grace granted only to Orthodoxy, he sheds tears. Is this not the late fruit of repentance?..

The patriarch accepted the governor into his arms. And the Bedouins, in wild delight, gather in a circle and dance in the middle of the church, beside themselves with joy they stand on each other’s shoulders, sing and pray until they fall exhausted. Nobody stops them.

Mass followed, after which everyone ran to light the lamps: some to home, some to Elijah the Prophet, to the Monastery of the Cross, some to Bethlehem, some to Gethsemane. Lights along the streets throughout the day, in sunlight - an extraordinary sight! His Eminence, Viceroy Peter Meletius, said that it has been 30 years since God has vouchsafed him to receive heavenly fire:
- Now grace has already descended on the Holy Sepulcher, when I ascended into the Edicule: apparently, you all prayed earnestly, and God heard your prayers. Sometimes I prayed for a long time with tears, and the fire of God did not descend from heaven until two o’clock in the afternoon. And this time I already saw him, as soon as they locked the door behind me! Has the beneficial dew fallen on you?

I answered that even now traces of dew were still visible on my dress, like wax stains. “They will remain forever,” said the bishop. This is true: I washed my dress 12 times, but the stains are still the same.

I asked what Vladyka felt when he came out of the edicule, and why did he walk so quickly? “I was like a blind man, I couldn’t see anything,” he answered, “and if they hadn’t supported me, I would have fallen!” This was noticeable: his eyes seemed not to look, although they were open.

This is a summary of the letter from Mrs. Varvara B. de S.-I. In this description, you need to especially pay attention to the fact that there is not one miracle here, but two: in addition to the blessed fire, the blessed dew also descends from the blessed cloud. This is confirmed by another eyewitness, the monk Parthenius from Mount Athos. He says this: after the patriarch leaves the Holy Sepulcher, “the people rush inside the Holy Sepulcher to venerate themselves; and I [monk Parfeniy] was honored to venerate. The entire tomb of Christ was wet, supposedly soaked by rain; but I could not find out why it was. In the middle of the Holy Sepulcher stood that great lamp, which lit itself and burned with a great light.” (M., 1855, monk Parfeniy).

And here is what an eyewitness says about the Holy Fire that descended in 1982.

It’s 10 o’clock, four hours left until the Holy Fire.

They have already sealed the doors of the edicule and put a wax seal on it. Now the Arabs are marching in a religious procession.

Noise, screams, music. The Arabs turn to God very violently, with a southern temperament. Patriarch Diodorus walks past us. In a few minutes, the patriarch will enter the Holy Sepulcher wearing only a tunic. A Copt and an Armenian are standing at the door of the Tomb. They will stand as witnesses to the receipt of the Holy Fire.

On this day, every Orthodox Christian, every believer tries to come to the Church of the Resurrection. Pilgrims come from different countries. The Patriarch has already entered the Edicule and will now pray for the sending of the Holy Fire. ...The Holy Fire descended unusually quickly this year.

Screams, noise, crying. Everyone lights candles with the blessed fire, holds out candles, hundreds of hands are visible, and the whole temple seems to light up, there are lights all around, huge bunches of candles, 2-3 bunches in each hand. The whole temple lights up.

Coming out of the temple, we see: all the streets of Jerusalem are crowded with people, everyone is carrying the Holy Fire.

Here are the stories of some sisters after the descent of the fire.

I saw fire both around the edicule and around the dome of the temple, in the form of triangular lightning.

Feeling joy, some sisters cried, even sobbed near me when the Holy Fire descended.

And near me there were Russians from Belgium. "Hooray!" - they shouted.

Some have joy, some have tears. In general, there is no such mood as in our church in Russia. How merciful the Lord is: after all, people are swearing nearby, and the police are separating someone, anything can happen... but grace descends, everyone can see it equally.

The sisters say that grace still manifests itself after the first descent, after the fire.

I see lightning sparkling again above the edicule, around the edicule in such zigzags, then it will sparkle there, then on the very dome of the edicule... Suddenly a ball appeared (like ball lightning). At some point, it suddenly disintegrated, sparkling in a zigzag. Immediately we all jumped up: grace! What a miracle.

We are all standing there waiting. Suddenly everyone started whistling, and I saw that a blue ball descended directly onto the image of the Risen One. And the patriarch comes out, having already received the Holy Fire.

We come to Golgotha, suddenly the whole temple will shine again, and again there will be grace on Golgotha!

When I first came here, they told me: grace heals. My hands were so sore from rheumatism, they were all twisted. “Lord,” I think, “I will lay my hands on the Light, directly on grace.” But grace is warm and does not sting. I apply it and feel that the Lord has given me consolation - for joy I don’t remember what kind of fire it is, hot or cold. And with such joy I walked to the mission building, I didn’t feel anything, whether I had an illness or not, but there was such joy in my soul that you couldn’t express it. With joy, I didn’t know what to do, cry or scream.

So, the evidence from different centuries clearly agree: the Holy Fire happens every year. But the miracle is not one, but two: in addition to fire, dew also appears from the cloud. And the blessed fire accompanies the appearance of lightning, not only inside the edicule, but also outside it, outside the Church of the Resurrection and in other sacred places in Jerusalem, sanctified by the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ there.

(Based on materials from the book: “The Holy Fire over the Holy Sepulcher”, Vengeance “Peres no", Moscow, 1991).

THE MIRACLE OF THE HOLY FIRE

Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on the Cross, was buried in a tomb that belonged to Nicodemus, and rose from the tomb on the third day after His death. Where was Mount Golgotha - the place of the Savior’s suffering and the place of His burial? According to Holy Tradition, in the Gospel era, a rock called Golgotha, which exists to this day, on which the Crucifixion of Christ took place, was located almost immediately outside the walls of what was then Jerusalem, on the outside. The Holy Tomb - the cave in which the body of the Savior was located for three days, was carved into a small rock located at a distance of ten meters from Golgotha, which rises somewhat above the rock of the Holy Tomb. In terms of its internal structure, the Holy Tomb was a cave carved into the rock, in which there were two rooms: the far one, which was the actual burial chamber, with a bed - arcosalium - and the entrance room in front of it. In the 4th century, by order of Saint Helen Equal to the Apostles, a magnificent temple was erected over the site of Golgotha and the Holy Tomb - the Basilica, and both Golgotha itself and the Holy Tomb were enclosed under its arches. Until our time, the Basilica was rebuilt several times, even destroyed (614), restored and is now known as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Since ancient times, directly above the burial cave of the Savior there has been a special chapel - the Edicule. The word "Edicule" means "royal bedchamber." To designate a tomb, this word is used in the only place on earth - in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where the “King of kings and Lord of lords” was laid down for a three-day sleep. Here He rose again, the firstborn from the dead, opening the way to the Resurrection for us all. The modern Edicule is a chapel measuring about eight meters long and six meters wide, located under the arches of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. As in evangelical times, the Holy Sepulcher, the Holy Sepulcher, currently consists of two rooms: a small “burial chamber” 2.07 x 1.93 meters, almost half occupied by a stone bed - arcosalium, and an entrance room (room) called the chapel of the Angel , measuring 3.4x3.9 meters. In the middle of the Angel's chapel there is a pedestal with a part of the sacred stone, which was rolled away from the Holy Tomb by the Angel and on which he sat, addressing the myrrh-bearing women.

The modern Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a huge architectural complex, including Golgotha with the site of the Crucifixion, the rotunda - an architectural structure with a huge dome, under which the Edicule is directly located, the Catholicon, or cathedral Temple, which is the cathedral for the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, the underground Church of the Finding of the Life-Giving Cross, the Holy Church Equal-to-the-Apostles Helena, several chapels - small churches with their own altars. On the territory of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher there are several active monasteries; it includes many auxiliary rooms, galleries, etc. Moreover, various parts of the Temple belong to several Christian denominations. For example, the Franciscan Church and the Altar of Nails - the Catholic Order of St. Francis, the Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen, the chapel of the “Three Marys” - the Armenian Apostolic Church, the grave of St. Joseph of Arimathea, altar on the western part of the Edicule - Ethiopian (Coptic) church. But the main shrines - Golgotha, Edicule, Catholicon, as well as the general management of services in the Temple, belong to the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. Since the time Jerusalem began to belong to Orthodox Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has been located within the city, surrounded by a high square wall under Sultan Suleiman; The length of each of the four sides is exactly one kilometer.

Since ancient times it has been known about the Miracle of the Descent of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher. The Fire that descended has a unique property: it does not burn in the first minutes. By commanding the Fire to descend, the Lord testifies to His Resurrection. The first witness to the descent of the Holy Light into the Holy Sepulcher was, according to the testimony of St. Fathers, Apostle Peter. Having run to the Tomb after the news of the Resurrection of the Savior, he, in addition to the burial shrouds, as we read in the Gospel, saw an amazing light inside the Tomb of Christ. “Having seen this, Peter believed, he saw not only with sensual eyes, but also with a high apostolic mind: the Sepulcher was filled with light, so that although it was night, he saw it in two images: inwardly, sensually and spiritually.” This is how Saint Gregory of Nyssa tells us about this. The earliest written testimony of an eyewitness to the appearance of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher dates back to the 4th century and was preserved by the church historian Eusebius Pamphilus.

Although according to many, both ancient and modern evidence, the appearance of the blessed light can be observed in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher throughout the year, the most famous and impressive is the miraculous descent of the Holy Fire on the eve of the Feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, on Holy Saturday. Throughout almost the entire existence of Christianity, this miraculous phenomenon has been observed annually by both Orthodox Christians and representatives of other Christian faiths (Catholics, Armenians, Copts, etc.), as well as representatives of other non-Christian religions. To see the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire, people have been gathering at the Holy Sepulcher since Good Friday; many stay here immediately after the procession of the Cross, which takes place in memory of the events of that day. The descent of the Holy Fire itself takes place on Holy Saturday in the afternoon. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is so filled that people stand close to each other on Saturday morning, even in the most remote places of the Temple. Those who do not get inside the Temple fill the square and the entire surrounding area. According to the most conservative estimates, the capacity of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is up to 20 thousand people, the area around the Temple and the immediate surroundings of the Temple can accommodate another 50 thousand people. On Holy Saturday, the Temple, the square in front of the Temple, and the immediate surroundings are filled with people awaiting the descent of the Holy Fire. This is how it was, according to the descriptions of Russian pilgrims, a hundred, two hundred, and nine hundred years ago. One of the most ancient descriptions of the descent of the Holy Fire belongs to Abbot Daniel, who visited the Holy Tomb in 1106-1107. This is how he describes this event:

“And when seven o'clock on the Sabbath day came [about 12-13 o'clock modern time. - Author], King Baldwin went [the Temple at that time belonged to the Crusaders. - Auth.] with his army to the Holy Sepulcher from his house, everyone went on foot. The king sent messengers to the courtyard of the monastery of Sava the Sanctified and called the abbot and the monks, they went to the Sepulcher, and I, thin, went with them. We came to the king and bowed to him. Then he bowed to the abbot and all the monks and ordered the abbot of the Sava monastery and me, the thin one, to go near him, and he ordered the other abbots and all the monks to go in front of him, and ordered his army to go behind. And they came to the western doors of the Temple of the Resurrection [The temple in those days looked different from the modern one. - Author]. And many people surrounded the church doors and could not then enter the Temple. Then King Baldwin ordered his soldiers to disperse the people by force, and a road was built among the crowd, like a street, all the way to the Sepulcher. We walked to the eastern doors of the Holy Sepulcher, the king went ahead and took his place, on the right side of the fence of the great altar, opposite the eastern doors and the doors of the Sepulcher. Here was the seat of the king, created on an eminence. The king ordered the abbot of the Sava monastery with his monks and Orthodox priests to stand over the Tomb. He ordered me, a thin man, to be placed high above the very doors of the Tomb, opposite the great altar, so that I could see through the doors of the tomb. The doors of the tomb are all three [in the modern Edicule there is one. - Author], were sealed with the royal seal.

Catholic priests stood in the great altar. And when the eighth hour of the day arrived, the Orthodox priests began the service at the top of the Sepulchre, all the spiritual men and many hermits were there. The Catholics in the great altar began to squeal in their own way. So they all sang, and I stood here and diligently looked at the tomb doors. And as they began to read the proverbs of Holy Saturday, at the first reading of the proverbs, the bishop and the deacon came out of the great altar, approached the tomb doors, looked into the Tomb through the sacrum of the doors, did not see the light in the Tomb and returned back. And as they began to read the sixth proverb, the same bishop approached the tomb doors and saw nothing. Then all the people screamed with tears: “Kyrie, eleison!” - which means “Lord, have mercy!” And when the ninth hour had passed and they began to sing the passage song “We sing to the Lord,” then suddenly a small cloud came from the east and stood over the uncovered top of the Temple, a little rain began to fall over the Sepulcher and very wet us standing at the Sepulcher. Then suddenly the light shone in the Holy Sepulchre, a bright brilliance emanated from the Sepulcher.

The bishop came with four deacons, opened the tomb doors, took a candle from King Baldwin, entered the Tomb, lit the first royal candle from the light of the saint, took this candle out of the Tomb and handed it to the king himself. The king stood in his place, holding the candle with great joy.

From the king's candle we lit our candles, and from our candles all the people lit their candles. The holy light is not the same as earthly fire, but wonderful, it glows differently, its flame is red, like cinnabar, glows unspeakably.” Almost the same procedure occurs now. Only the modern Temple does not have a hole in the dome; the knightly guards were replaced by Israeli police and Turkish guards. The entrance to the modern Temple is not from the east, but from the south, and Catholics now do not participate in the descent of the Holy Fire, but are present at it. Both historical and modern practice indicate that during the descent of Fire, three groups of participants must be present.

First of all, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem or one of the bishops of the Jerusalem Patriarchate with his blessing (as was the case in 1999 and 2000, when the Fire was received by the Guardian of the Sepulcher, Metropolitan Daniel). Only through the prayers of this obligatory participant in the sacrament of the Holy Fire is the miracle of its descent performed. This is an experience proven over centuries. In 1578, when the Turkish mayor of Jerusalem was replaced, the Armenian priests agreed with the new mayor to transfer the right to receive the Holy Fire instead of the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem to a representative of the Armenian Church.

The Orthodox Patriarch and the clergy in 1579 on Holy Saturday were not even allowed into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. They stood in front of the closed doors of the Temple from the outside. The Armenian clergy entered the Edicule and began to pray to the Lord for the descent of the Fire. But their prayers were not heard. The Orthodox priests standing at the closed doors of the Temple also turned to the Lord with prayers. Suddenly a noise was heard, the column located to the left of the closed doors of the Temple cracked, Fire came out of it and lit candles in the hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. With great joy, the Orthodox priesthood entered the Temple (the Turks immediately expelled the Armenian priests from Edicule) and praised the Lord. Traces of the descent of Fire can still be seen on one of the columns located to the left of the entrance.

Since 1579, no one has challenged or attempted to receive the Holy Fire bypassing the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. Representatives of other Christian faiths are necessarily present in the Temple on Holy Saturday, but receive the Fire from the hands of the Orthodox Patriarch.

Mandatory participants in the sacrament of the descent of the Holy Fire are the abbot and the monks of the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified. Of all the ancient monasteries of the Judean Desert, which once flourished with great ascetics, only this monastery, seventeen kilometers from Jerusalem, in the Kidron Valley, not far from the Dead Sea, has been preserved in its original form. In 614, during the invasion of Shah Hasroi, the Persians killed fourteen thousand monks here. There are fourteen monks in the modern monastery, including two Russians. But the presence of the abbot of the monastery with the monks was mandatory both during the pilgrimage of abbot Daniel, and during the descent of Fire in modern times.

And finally, the third group of obligatory participants are local Orthodox Arabs. On Holy Saturday - twenty to thirty minutes after the sealing of the Edicule - Arab Orthodox youth, shouting, stomping, and beating drums, riding on top of each other, rush into the Temple and begin singing and dancing. There is no evidence about the time when this ritual was established. The exclamations and songs of the Arab youth are ancient prayers in Arabic, addressed to Christ and the Mother of God, who is asked to beg the Son to send Fire, to St. George the Victorious, especially revered in the Orthodox East. Young Orthodox Arabs loudly exclaim, literally shout, that they are “the most eastern, the most Orthodox, living where the sun rises, bringing with them candles to light the Fire.” According to oral traditions, during the years of British rule over Jerusalem (1918-1947), the English governor once tried to ban “savage” dances. The Patriarch of Jerusalem prayed for two hours: The fire did not go down. Then the Patriarch ordered with his will to let in the Arab youth. After they performed the ritual, the Fire descended. All three of these groups necessarily take part in the modern litany of the Holy Fire.

In our time, the descent of the Holy Fire occurs on Holy Saturday, usually between 13 and 15 hours Jerusalem time. Around ten o'clock on Holy Saturday, all the candles and lamps in the entire huge architectural complex of the Temple are extinguished. After this, the procedure for checking the Edicule for the presence of sources of fire and sealing the entrance to the Edicule with a large wax seal takes place. Representatives of the Jerusalem mayor's office, the Turkish guards, the Israeli police, etc., who carried out the inspection, put their personal seals on the large wax plaque. Then you become a witness to a miraculous phenomenon. At first, occasionally, and then more and more, the entire air space of the Temple is pierced by flashes of light, flashes of light. They have a bluish color, their brightness and size increase in waves. A short time after the sealing of the Edicule, young Orthodox Arabs, as already mentioned, begin to offer their prayers to Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, and Saint George for the granting of the Holy Fire. Their emotional prayers, exclamations and dancing, accompanied by beating the drums, take place directly at the Edicule for 20-30 minutes. After some time, usually about thirteen o’clock, the litany itself begins (in Greek, “prayer procession”) of the Holy Fire - a procession of the cross from the altar of the Catholicon through the entire Temple with access to the rotunda and a three-fold circumambulation of the Edicule. In front are the banner bearers with twelve banners, behind them are the youths with ripids, the crusader cleric and, finally, His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem himself. The abbot and the monks of the Monastery of Saint Sava the Sanctified also take part in the procession. The Patriarch stops just before the entrance to the Edicule; he is unmasked: his festive vestments are removed and he is left in only a white vestment. At the same time, sometimes the Patriach is searched. Although this is not carried out every time without fail, representatives of the authorities can exercise this right every time, which was often done in the past. This depends on the order of the immediate authorities of Jerusalem: if the ruler hates Christians, they can search. In only one vesture the Patriarch enters the Edicule. Now everything depends on him, on his secret kneeling prayer. The tension reaches its highest point, many of those gathered are seized by the feeling that, due to his sins, the Great Miracle may not happen. After the Patriarch enters the Edicule, the intensity and frequency of bluish light flashes increases. Bluish lightning strikes with Greek “tricks”) [In Moscow, a certain abbot of an unspecified confession, Innokenty Pavlov, also believes that there is no miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire, but that “the Patriarch of Jerusalem simply lights a candle from a lamp and then gives it to the believers.” - Approx. ed.], and in the last almost fifty years the Jews have been participating in both the sealing of the Edicule and the search of the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

A little needs to be said about the possibility of forgery. The fact is that the land itself on which the Temple is built belongs to a Turkish family. Every morning an interesting ritual takes place: the priests standing in front of the main gate await the opening of the Temple, hand over the rent established long ago and then, accompanied by members of the Turkish family, enter the Temple. Any procession in the Temple, for example the Easter procession around the Edicule, is accompanied by kawas - Turks who protect the processions from provocations of Muslims and Jews. Before entering the Edicule of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, it stands sealed, under the supervision of two Turkish guards and the Israeli police. On Holy Saturday, as has already been said, before entering the Edicule, the Patriarch is unmasked and thoroughly searched, although not always. The safety of the seal on the entrance doors of the Edicule is checked before the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Armenian high priest enter it. To receive the Fire, two people enter the Edicule - the Patriarch of Jerusalem and a representative of the Armenian Church. The representative of the Armenian Church, entering together with the Patriarch of Jerusalem into the Edicule to receive the Fire, remaining in the chapel of the Angel, sees all the actions and has the opportunity to intervene. Considering the almost two-thousand-year interest of non-Christian participants in this Great Miracle in exposing and disrupting at least one descent of the Holy Fire, the version of forgery can only bring a smile to people living in Jerusalem. Even Muslim Arabs who consider it necessary to bring the Holy Fire home will consider any discussion of forgery to be a deception. They have a legend that in the year when the Holy Fire does not descend, the end of the world will come.

The question of how the Holy Fire descends on the Savior’s three-day bed has long been of interest to the curious. There is direct evidence of the painting of the lighting of the Holy Fire. In the letter of Arefa, Metropolitan of Caesarea of Cappadocia, to the Emir of Damascus (beginning of the 10th century) it is written: “Then suddenly lightning appears and censers are lit, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem take from this light and light a fire.” The Constantinople cleric Nikita wrote (947): “About the sixth hour of the day, looking at the Divine Tomb of the Savior, the Archbishop sees the Divine manifestation of light: for through the chapel of the Angel he has access to the door. Having seized the time to transmit this light to the polycandiles located in the holy church of God, as he usually does, he had not yet emerged from the Tomb, when one could suddenly see the entire church of God, filled with inimitable and Divine light.” Trifon Korobeinikov wrote (1583): “And then all people see the grace of God coming from heaven to the Holy Sepulcher, fire walking along the board of the Holy Sepulcher like lightning and every color is seen in it: the Patriarch approaches the Tomb holding candles open to the Sepulcher, and Fire will descend from the Holy Sepulcher onto the patriarchal hands and candles. Then the Christian censers themselves burned, like those above the Holy Sepulcher.” Hieromonk Meletius, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1793-1794, conveys the story of the descent of Fire from the words of Archbishop Misail, Epitrope of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who received the Fire for many years. “When I entered,” he said, “inside the Holy Tomb, we saw on the entire lid of the Tomb a shining light, like scattered small beads, in the form of blue, white, scarlet and other colors, which then, copulating, turned red and transformed over time into the substance of fire; but this fire, for as long as one can slowly read “Lord, have mercy” fourty times, does not burn, and from this fire the prepared candlesticks and candles are kindled.”

All of the above sources report either the condensation of liquid small drops of “fire beads” directly on the bed-arcosalia of the Holy Sepulcher with the existing dome above the Edicule, or the fall of rain drops above the Edicule and the presence of “small beads” on the lid of the Holy Sepulcher due to rain when the dome of the Temple is open and about bluish flashes - lightning that precede the descent of the Holy Fire. Both of these phenomena simultaneously take place during the kneeling prayer of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and at the present time. His prayer leads to the ignition of the Holy Fire from small drops of liquid in the presence of flashes - lightning; at the same time, the wicks of candles or lamps on the lid of the Holy Sepulchre are spontaneously lit. It is also possible to light the wicks of Orthodox lamps hanging near the Edicule. This is how it happened almost two thousand years ago, according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, and this is how the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire takes place, according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, even today. Our Lord Jesus Christ commands Fire to ignite from droplets of “rain” on the lid of the Holy Tomb or on the wick of an Orthodox lamp near the Edicule, according to the prayer of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, as if reminding us, sinners, every year on Holy Saturday of His Resurrection and victory over hell. But sinful people perceive the fact of the descent of the Holy Fire differently. To those who seek and doubt, the Lord testifies to the truth of His Resurrection precisely at this place in Jerusalem in Gospel times and strengthens them in faith. To those who are indifferent and not striving for their salvation and eternal life, He testifies to His Resurrection and the upcoming Last Judgment. He testifies to His conscious opponents of His victory over hell and the eternal torment that awaits all His opponents after the Last Judgment. Accordingly, different religions interpret the fact of the descent of Fire differently. Almost all Christian denominations (including Catholics before the Great Schism of 1054 - that is, before the separation of Catholicism from Orthodoxy - who took an active part directly in the litany) are present in the Temple and receive the Holy Fire from the hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Muslims are not officially present in the Temple, but they do not deny the fact of the descent of the Holy Fire, honoring our Savior Jesus Christ as one of their Prophets. Only Jews and atheists deny the fact of the descent of the Holy Fire, as well as the fact of the Resurrection of Christ. It is they who spread, including in the press, rumors about the “tricks” of dishonest priests. The officials checking the Edicule, searching the Patriarch and thus guaranteeing that there were no forgeries, under Christian and Muslim control over Jerusalem, were representatives of the authorities who could execute for slander, and under the existing Israeli control of the authorities, according to Israeli laws, For libel, they can be subject to a substantial fine in court.

Despite all possible options, during the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire, the following phenomena remain absolutely inexplicable from the point of view of modern science.

1. The presence of flashes of light preceding and accompanying the ignition of the Holy Fire. After the Patriarch entered the Edicule, an extraordinary phenomenon was observed in the Temple. Throughout the Temple, but mainly near the area of the Katholikon and Edicule (the domes are located above them), flashes of a bluish color begin to appear, reminiscent of lightning, similar to those that everyone observed in the evening in the sky. These lightning flashes can flash in any direction - from top to bottom, and from left to right, not necessarily under domes. Flashes have characteristic features: light sparkles without a visible source, flashes never blind anyone, and there is no sound (thunder) characteristic of ordinary lightning. All this gives eyewitnesses the impression that the source of the flashes is, as it were, outside our world. It is not difficult to distinguish them from camera flashes. Filming the anticipation and descent of Fire on his video camera, M. Shugaev was able to see clear differences. Using the frame-by-frame viewing mode and using still images, you can easily differentiate them: camera flashes are shorter in time and have a white color, lightning flashes are longer in time and have a bluish color. According to the testimonies of the monks serving obedience directly at the Edicule, bluish flashes can be seen in the Temple not only on Holy Saturday. But these are one-time and short-term flashes; long-lasting flashes of light that follow each other at short intervals occur only on Holy Saturday, somewhere from twelve to sixteen or seventeen hours.

2. The phenomenon of the appearance of liquid droplets. To begin with, it should be noted that only people on official business can see the Holy Tomb directly on Holy Saturday: clergy participating in the litany, and official representatives of the Jerusalem authorities sealing the Edicule and ensuring order. The information that is available may come either directly from such people, or in retellings from loved ones. In addition to the sources already cited, you can use the story of a 19th-century pilgrim who interviewed the Patriarch: “Where, your Beatitude, do you deign to receive the Fire in the Edicule?” The elderly archpastor, not paying attention to what was heard in the tone of the question, calmly answered as follows (I wrote down almost word for word what I heard): “I, dear sir, if you please know, am no longer a reader without glasses. When I first entered the chapel Angela and the doors closed behind me, there was twilight. The light barely penetrated through two holes from the rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre, also dimly lit from above, but in the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher I could barely discern whether I had a prayer book in my hands or something else. I noticed, as it were, a whitish spot on the black background of the night: it was obviously the white marble plaque on the Holy Sepulchre. When I opened the prayer book, to my surprise, the seal became completely accessible to my vision without the help of glasses. Before I had time to read the lines with deep emotional excitement. three or four, when, looking at the board, which was becoming more and more white and so that all four of its edges were clearly visible to me, I noticed on the board there were, as it were, small scattered beads of different colors, or rather, like pearls the size of a pinhead and even less, and the board began to emit a positive light, as if it were light. Unconsciously sweeping away these pearls with a large piece of cotton wool, which began to merge like drops of oil, I felt a certain warmth in the cotton wool and just as unconsciously touched it with a candle wick. It flared up like gunpowder, and - the candle burned and illuminated the three images of the Resurrection, just as it illuminated the face of the Mother of God and all the metal lamps above the Holy Sepulchre" (Nilus S. Shrine in hiding. Sergiev Posad, 1911). There are no official documents on the study of the chemical composition of the drops. There are informal analytical studies conducted by modern enthusiasts that indicate the essential oil content of the drops (similar compounds may be of a plant nature).

3. The phenomenon that Fire does not burn or scorch, although the heat spreads. An ordinary candle fire has a temperature of many hundreds of degrees, close to a thousand degrees Celsius. If you try to perform ablution with such fire for more than five seconds, burns on your hands and face are guaranteed. Hair (beard, eyebrows, eyelashes) will catch fire or begin to smolder. In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, more than ten thousand people light about twenty thousand bunches of candles within two to three minutes (most pilgrims light two or three bunches of candles). People stand close to each other. The volume of the Temple is limited. Try lighting twenty thousand bunches of candles in a dense crowd of people within a few minutes with ordinary fire. We think that most women's hair and clothing will definitely catch fire. With a thousand-degree fire temperature and twenty thousand fire sources in a closed room, heat strokes and fainting will occur, especially in the elderly. Holy Fire has a property that distinguishes it from the fire we are used to. Not only does it not burn, but it also does not burn for a period of time sufficient to say “Lord, have mercy” approximately forty times, and while continuously washing a person’s face with it (without removing the hand with candles). Holy Fire warms, but does not burn! It should be noted that the candles are easily lit by Fire and the Fire, which does not burn a person, spreads throughout the Temple due to the ignition of candles - one from the other. From the Patriarchal Candles, the Fire spreads throughout the entire Temple within a few minutes. Naturally, pilgrims with burning bundles of candles are in emotional delight, paying very little attention to the behavior of their neighbors. But Fire does not set fire to any hanging parts of clothing (kerchiefs, belts) or long hair of women! The age of most pilgrims, as a rule, is above average; they spend almost a day in the Temple, but heat strokes and fainting are not observed. In the entire history of the descent of Fire there has not been a single fire.

4. The presence of the joint appearance of all the above-described miraculous phenomena precisely on Holy Saturday on the eve of the Orthodox Easter holiday (in accordance with the Alexandrian Paschal, which is currently adhered to only by the Orthodox Churches). We can say that the phenomena observed during the descent of the Holy Fire partially occur in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and in ordinary times. According to the testimonies of the monks who perform obedience directly at the Edicule, bluish flashes can be seen in the Temple not only on Holy Saturday. But these are one-time flashes. Numerous outbreaks with a short time interval occur only on Holy Saturday, from approximately 12 to 16-17 hours. The spontaneous lighting of lamps, also sometimes observed on other days, may be due to these flashes. But in ordinary times, such spontaneously igniting fire does not have the property of not burning. It seems that any attempts to reproduce the descent of the Holy Fire in a laboratory built in close proximity to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher will be forced to face the problem of reproducing the above-mentioned miraculous property of Fire. With a lot of work, it is possible to recreate the chemical composition of the drops, and with the help of special modern equipment, artificially recreate intense flashes of light (most likely accompanied by sound or thunder), but this property of Fire will never be able to be reproduced! And the incident that occurred in 1579, when Fire descended from a column, indicates that the above description is a description of only the most common properties of the descent of Fire. But the Fire itself can descend in another way. It is impossible not to see that the descent of Fire on Holy Saturday on the Holy Sepulcher is the result of a direct Divine (in the language of science - transcendental) influence. The Lord has commanded every year for more than two thousand years that Fire should descend at the site of His suffering on the Cross and earthly death, and He commands it on the day before His Resurrection.

The descent of the Holy Fire is observed only on the eve of Orthodox Easter, according to the Orthodox calendar and only through the prayers of the Orthodox Patriarch; The fire descends only on the candles of the Orthodox Patriarch, which is indisputable evidence of the undoubted truth and divine grace of Orthodoxy - in contrast to many other faiths that only call themselves Christian. History remembers two cases when representatives of other Christian denominations tried to receive Fire. The unsuccessful attempt of the Armenian clergy to obtain Fire has already been mentioned. In 1101, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, who owned Jerusalem at that time, independently tried to obtain the Fire. The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Edicule did not happen until Orthodox Christians were invited to participate in this rite. “The first Latin Patriarch Arnold of Choquet started unsuccessfully: he ordered the expulsion of the heretical sects from their territory in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, then he began to torture Orthodox monks, trying to find out where they kept the Cross and other relics. A few months later, Arnold was succeeded on the throne by Daimbert of Pisa, who went even further. He attempted to expel all local Christians, even Orthodox Christians, from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and admit only Latins there, completely depriving the rest of the church buildings in or near Jerusalem. God's retribution soon struck: already in 1101 on Holy Saturday, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Edicule did not happen until Eastern Christians were invited to participate in this rite. Then King Baldwin I took care of returning their rights to local Christians” (S. Runciman. Eastern Schism. M., 1998, pp. 69-70).

And since then, none of the non-Orthodox has tried to repeat such attempts, fearing failure and the shame that inevitably follows.

The Miracle of the Holy Fire is one of the few miracles of Orthodoxy, in principle accessible to everyone who wants to know the truth: “come and see!” Any doubter, having paid 600-700 dollars (this is the price of a standard tourist trip to the Holy Land - Jerusalem, Tiberias - for 7 days), is quite able to personally verify the authenticity of the fact and all the above-described details of the descent of the Holy Fire. The miracle occurs in front of the whole world, “all progressive humanity” (and is even regularly broadcast on Russian television and on the Internet, on the website of the Jerusalem Orthodox Patriarchate). But how many people respond with their hearts to this obvious call, obvious to everyone?..

Once upon a time, many hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, before His redemptive suffering and Resurrection, the inhabitants of Israel (and through them - before all humanity) faced the question of who was right: the servants of the True God or the servants of the pagan gods ? This is what happened when a dispute arose between the servants of the idol of Baal and the prophet of God Elijah (see: 1 Kings 18, 21-39). And after much debate, Elijah offered them a simple way to check who was right. We, people of the 21st century, can rightly call this method the experimental method - in accordance with the exact criteria of the experimental method accepted in modern science. The proposal was this: “Let each of us call on the name of his God, and the God who gives the answer through fire is the true God. And if the Lord is God, then let us follow Him, and if Baal is God, then let us follow Baal.” And then, by the grace of God, it was revealed who the true God is and who is His true admirer, because the fire came down then only through the prayer of the prophet Elijah and burned the sacrifice, the wood, and the stone altar itself, which, having encroached on, the priests of Baal suffered complete fiasco. And then it became clear to everyone where true worship of God was.

The situation of the descent of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher every year practically reproduces this experimental situation that took place many hundreds of years before the Nativity of Christ. And here there are many praying representatives of different faiths, and here there is a true servant of the true God, through whose prayer (and only through his prayer!) Fire miraculously descends, possessing supernatural properties. But aren’t there now ministers of other faiths trying to dispute their right to receive Fire from God, as was the case under Elijah? Due to the fact that such attempts, as history shows, always end in failure, and there is no one else willing to take risks and disgrace themselves... God is unchangeable, this is clearly evidenced by the biblical Old Testament text: I am the Lord your God, and I will not change ( Small 3, 6). And just as then, in the distant times of Elijah, God, unchangeable in nature, gives an answer to questioning humanity, the answer to the question of where true faith is, gives an answer through fire. The answer is not false, just as the one who answers Himself is not false - the Lord is the truth (Jer. 10:10). And anyone who accepts the biblical text as truth must, by virtue of his faith in the unchangeable God and faith in the authenticity of the mentioned story about the descent of fire from heaven through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, with logical necessity, draw the conclusion that fire is sent by God only through the prayer of His true minister. But, as a rule, no one draws this conclusion... In that ancient story about the descent of fire through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, perhaps the most amazing thing was not even the miracle of its descent, but the fact that, having at first perceived with delight the miraculous testimony of the true God, the Israelites almost immediately fell back into apostasy. The children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, destroyed Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword; I was left alone, but they are also looking for my soul in order to take it away (3 Kings 19:10) - this is how the prophet Elijah complains to God about them only a short time after the miracle of the descent of the fire. This is what is most striking about all this ancient history.

A similar picture remains in our time - the joy of rejoicing at the descent of the Holy Fire is replaced by a retreat into the darkness of lies for the majority of witnesses of its descent in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher... The Fire descends, leaving fallen and blind humanity unrequited, unrequited in the face of the Righteous Judge. They did not accept the love of the truth for their salvation (2 Thess. 2:10) - this is the pattern of behavior of the human race drowning in sins, and even an obvious Miracle of God cannot do anything with this vicious pattern, a conscious and voluntary pattern...

Holy Week (week)

The last week of Great Lent, which is dedicated to the remembrance of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, is called “Passion”. In early Christian communities, during this time it was prescribed to eat only dry food, avoid entertainment, stop work and court cases, and release prisoners. All services of Holy Week are distinguished by the depth of experience and consistently “reproduce” the last days of the life and suffering of Jesus Christ. Therefore, during Holy Week, the days of remembrance of saints are not celebrated, the remembrance of the dead and the sacraments of Marriage and Baptism are not performed (except for special cases). Each day of Holy Week is called "great". In Catholic churches, during Holy Week (up to and including Good Friday), it is customary to remove or cover with purple cloth all images of the Crucifixion.

In worship Happy Monday I remember the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph the Beautiful, sold by his brothers to Egypt, as a prototype of the suffering Jesus Christ, as well as the Gospel story about Jesus’ curse on the barren fig tree, symbolizing a soul that does not bear spiritual fruit - true repentance, faith, prayer and good deeds.

IN Maundy Tuesday I remember Jesus’ denunciation of the Pharisees and scribes, as well as the parables He spoke in the Jerusalem Temple: about tribute to Caesar, about the resurrection of the dead, about the Last Judgment, about ten virgins and talents.

IN Great Wednesday we remember the sinner who, having washed with tears and anointed the feet of Christ with precious ointment, thus prepared Him for burial.

In worship Maundy Thursday we recall four events that, according to the Gospel tradition, took place on this day: the Last Supper, at which Christ established the sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ’s washing of the feet of His disciples as a sign of humility and love for them, the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and the betrayal of Judas.

Day Good Friday dedicated to the remembrance of the condemnation to death, the suffering of the Cross and the death of Jesus Christ. According to the tradition of the Eastern Church, at the end of Vespers on Good Friday, a removal is performed Shrouds- an image of Jesus Christ placed in a tomb, which is installed for worship in front of the altar part of the temple. In the Western tradition, the display of the Holy Cross and the veneration of the Holy Sepulcher are performed.

IN Holy Saturday there is a remembrance of the burial of Jesus Christ, the presence of His body in the tomb, the descent into hell to proclaim there victory over death and the deliverance of souls awaiting His coming, and the remembrance of the prudent thief called to paradise. Divine services on this day begin in the early morning, continue until the end of the day and merge with the beginning of the solemn Easter matins.

In the Western tradition, on Holy Saturday during the eve of Easter, the fire is consecrated and a special candle is lit - Easter, which is then installed at the altar or pulpit and remains there until the final service of Pentecost.

Throughout the day, the temples carry out the blessing of Easter meal dishes (Easter cakes, eggs, Easter cottage cheese, salt, meat products, etc.).

The descent of the Holy Fire occurs every year on Holy Saturday, the eve of the Orthodox Easter. The earliest evidence of the descent of fire in Jerusalem dates back to the 4th century and belongs to the pilgrim Etheria. The fire descends only on the eve of Easter, celebrated according to the old Julian calendar, and we know that the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ falls on different days every year. The Holy Fire descends only through the prayers of the Orthodox Patriarch.

Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection of Christ covers with its roof Mount Golgotha, and the Cave of the Holy Sepulcher, and the garden where the first appearance of the risen Christ the Savior to Mary Magdalene took place. This temple was erected in the 4th century by the holy Emperor Constantine and his mother Saint Helena.

Nowadays, the miracle of the descent of heavenly fire happens like this. Around noon, the Patriarch of Jerusalem with the clergy and praying procession goes from the Patriarchate to the Church of the Resurrection. The procession enters the temple and, having walked three times around the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher, located inside the temple, stops near its entrance. Pilgrims from all over the world gather in the temple; all the candles and lights in the temple are extinguished.

Every year, several thousand people present in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher see: the Patriarch, whose clothes were specially examined, enters the Edicule, which has been checked and sealed. Representatives of other Christian denominations and police officers participate in the inspection of the Edicule, its sealing and the inspection of the Patriarch every year. The inspection is carried out to prove that the patriarch cannot possibly bring a source of fire to Edicule. This custom was established by the Turks, who captured Palestine in 1517. After searching the Edicule, they sealed it and placed a guard until the patriarch entered.

The Patriarch, wearing only a linen cassock, with thirty-three unlit candles in his hand, enters the chapel. Kneeling, he prays in front of the Holy Sepulcher for the sending of the Holy Fire.

The descent of the fire is preceded by flashes in the form of bluish lightning, piercing the entire air space of the temple. Then, on the marble slab of the Holy Sepulcher, fiery balls of blue flame appear, as if in the form of drops of rain or dew. Sometimes the Holy Fire itself lights the lamps at the tomb. The Patriarch lights cotton wool from them and then lights candles with this fire. Coming out of the chapel, he passes the fire to the Armenian Patriarch and the people. The entire temple is filled with rejoicing, the fire is passed on to each other, lit from already burning candles. People hold in their hands bunches of thirty-three candles - according to the number of years of the Savior’s earthly life. The Holy Fire has the miraculous property of not burning at first. Those standing in the temple pass the flame over their face and hair and “wash themselves”: for the first few minutes the fire does not burn the skin or singe the hair.

The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire on Orthodox Easter after the prayer of the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is proof of the truth of our faith. In 1579, the Armenian community obtained from the Turkish authorities that their primate, and not the Orthodox patriarch, be allowed into the chapel. (It must be said that the Armenians, although they are Christians, distorted the Orthodox faith back in the 4th century and adhere to the Monophysite heresy, that is, they recognize in Christ only one - Divine - nature.) The Orthodox humbly prayed at the closed doors of the temple, the Armenians waited for the descent of the Holy Fire in Kuvuklia. And the Lord performed a miracle: the Holy Fire descended, but not on the Holy Sepulcher. Lightning struck the column next to which the Orthodox were praying, and fire came out of it. The scorched marble column still testifies to this miracle.

Eyewitness account

The famous traveler Abraham Sergeevich Norov was present at the descent of the holy fire. Norov traveled to Jerusalem in 1835 and was in the chapel. From the chapel of the Angel I saw Metropolitan Misail receiving the fire: “Thus, we reached the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher in the midst of a wonderful sight of people, agitated or hanging from all the arcades and cornices.

Only one of the Greek bishops, the Armenian bishop (who had recently received the right to do so), the Russian consul from Jaffa and we, three travelers, entered the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher behind the metropolitan. The doors closed behind us. The never-fading lamps above the Holy Sepulcher were already extinguished; only weak lighting passed to us from the temple through the side openings of the chapel. This moment is solemn: the excitement in the temple has subsided; everything came true as expected. We stood in the Angel's chapel, in front of the stone rolled away from the den; Only the metropolitan entered the den of the Holy Sepulcher. I already said that the entrance there has no doors. I saw how the elderly metropolitan, bowing before the low entrance, entered the den and knelt before the holy tomb, in front of which there was nothing and which was completely naked. In less than a minute, the darkness was illuminated with light, and the Metropolitan came out to us with a flaming bunch of candles.

Part 1 - Source of the Holy Fire
Orthodox critics of the miraculous appearance of fire

Jerusalem, Saturday on the eve of Orthodox Easter. A ceremony is held in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - the Litany of the Holy Fire. The Temple is filled with pilgrims, in the middle of the Temple a chapel (Edicule) is built, into which two priests (Greek Patriarch and Armenian Archimandrite) enter. After some time, they emerge from the Edicule with fire, which is passed on to the believers (see photo and video section). In the Orthodox community, there is widespread belief in the miraculous appearance of fire and various amazing properties are attributed to it. However, even at the beginning of the last century, even among the Orthodox, doubts arose about the miraculous nature of the emergence of fire and the presence of some special properties in it. These doubts were so widespread in society that it allowed the leading orientalist of the last century, IY Krachkovsky, to conclude in 1915: “The best representatives of theological thought in the East also notice the interpretation of the miracle that Prof. A. Olesnitsky and A. Dmitrievsky talk about “the triumph of the consecration of the fire at the Holy Sepulcher”” (). The founder of the Russian spiritual mission in Jerusalem, Bishop Porfiry Uspensky, summarizing the consequences of the scandal with the Holy Fire, which led to the Metropolitan’s admission of forgery, left the following note in 1848: “But from that time on, the Holy Sepulcher clergy no longer believes in the miraculous appearance of fire” (). A student of Professor Dmitrievsky mentioned by Krachkovsky, Honored Professor of the Leningrad Theological Academy Nikolai Dmitrievich Uspensky, in 1949, gave an assembly speech at the annual report of the Council of the Leningrad Theological Academy, in which he described in detail the history of the Holy Fire, and based on the presented material, he made the following conclusion: “Obviously, when then, without giving a timely and energetic explanation to his flock about the true meaning of the rite of St. fire in the future, they were unable to raise this voice in front of the ever-increasing fanaticism of the dark masses due to objective conditions. If this was not done in a timely manner, then later it became impossible, without risking personal well-being and, perhaps, the integrity of the shrines themselves. All that was left for them to do was to perform the ritual and remain silent, consoling themselves with the fact that God “as He knows and can, He will bring understanding and calm the nations” (). There are quite a lot of doubters about the miraculous nature of the Holy Fire among modern Orthodox believers. Here we can mention Protodeacon A. Kuraev, who shared his impressions of the meeting of the Russian delegation with the Greek Patriarch Theophilus in the following words: “His answer about the Holy Fire was no less frank: “This is a ceremony that is a representation, like all other ceremonies of 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 the edicule 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 spoken more openly about the lighter in his pocket” (), another example is an interview about the Holy Fire with Archimandrite Isidore, head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, where he in particular recalled the words of the locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne of the Church of Jerusalem, Metropolitan Cornelius of Petrine: “...This is a natural light that is lit from the Unquenchable Lamp, kept in the sacristy of the Church of the Resurrection” (). The now disgraced Russian Orthodox Church, Deacon Alexander Musin (Doctor of Historical Sciences, Candidate of Theology), in collaboration with church historian Sergei Bychkov (Doctor of Historical Sciences), published a book. : “THE HOLY FIRE: MYTH OR REALITY?”, where they write in particular: “In order to lift the veil over this centuries-old, but by no means pious myth, we decided to publish a small work by the famous St. Petersburg professor Nikolai Dmitrievich Uspensky (1900-1987), dedicated to history ritual of the holy fire of Great Saturday, as well as a forgotten article by the world famous orientalist academician Ignatius Yulianovich Krachkovsky (1883-1951) “The Holy Fire” based on the story of Al-Biruni and other Muslim writers of the 10th-13th centuries.”
A series of works by the protopresbyter of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, George Tsetsis, is devoted to exposing the myth of the miraculous appearance of the Holy Fire; he writes: “The prayer that the patriarch offers before lighting the Holy Fire in the Holy Edicule is completely clear and does not allow for any misinterpretations. 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 have shown 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 located on the holy throne, symbolizing the Holy Sepulcher" ().
The younger generation of theologians is not lagging behind; in 2008, a thesis on Liturgics was defended on the topic “The rite of the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem,” completed by P. Zvezdin, a 5th year student at the Institute of Theology of BSU, in which he also dispels the myth of the miraculous appearance of fire ().
However, one has only to accept the correctness of the Orthodox figures mentioned here, who have earned honor and respect for their service, and one will have to admit that many Greek patriarchs and no less noble Orthodox clergy hypocritically deceived believers by talking about the miraculous appearance of fire and its unusual properties. This is probably why in apological articles written by famous Russian theologians, seemingly honored Orthodox figures are so often slandered, attributing to them heretical views, a craving for collecting fables to please their preconceived opinions and the lack of a scientific approach in their critical works regarding the Holy Fire (8 , ; ).

What arguments do critics of the miraculous nature of the appearance of the Holy Fire give?
Almost all skeptics are confused by the clear definiteness of the time of receiving fire and the ability to change this time by order of local authorities.
Due to constant strife between Christian denominations, in 1852, through the efforts of the authorities, a document appeared, the so-called STATUS-QUO, where the sequence of actions of all rituals for all denominations in the city was thoroughly recorded. The service of the Holy Fire is also scheduled minute by minute, in particular, to obtain the fire, the priests who entered the Edicule are given time from 12.55 to 13.10 (). And now, for 8 years of live broadcasts, this time has been impeccably observed. Only in 2002, due to a fight between the patriarch and the archimandrite inside the Edicule, fire began to be distributed much later than a certain time (). Those. the delay was due to the priests, and not due to lack of fire. This fight had serious consequences; for several years now, an Israeli policeman has been the first to enter the Edicule, together with the Armenian archimandrite and the Greek patriarch, vigilantly ensuring that high-ranking clergy do not fight again in this holy and revered place (). Skepticism is also betrayed by another fact related to the time of appearance of the fire, which is narrated by Prof. AA Dmitrievsky, referring to prof. AA Olesnitsky, in 1909 he writes: “Once upon a time the feast 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” (). It turns out that the time of the appearance of a divine miracle can also be determined by the orders of the Islamic administration.
In principle, God is able to carry out any order of any administration, since He is omnipotent and can do anything and plan His miracles in any way. However, such a clearly defined miracle in time is the only example. Let's say in the Gospel example of the bath, which is referred to by miracle apologists (John 5: 2-4), healings do not occur at a strictly defined time, but as the evangelist writes: “<…>for the angel of the Lord from time to time went into the pool and disturbed the water, and whoever entered it first after the water was disturbed was healed<…>" Also, other annual Orthodox miracles, for example, the descent of the Cloud of Grace on Mount Tabor on the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord or the appearance of poisonous snakes in the Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (on the Island of Kefalonia) on the day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also do not have a strictly defined time period. By the way, the descent of the cloud on Mount Tabor and the appearance of poisonous snakes occurs in full view of people, while the fire occurs in Edicule, which is closed from pilgrims. Such accessibility greatly contributes to clarifying the true nature of these phenomena; for example, it turns out that the clergy themselves bring snakes and they are not at all poisonous (). Regarding Mount Tabor, everything is also relatively simple. At this time of year, fogs form almost daily on the mountain, and pilgrims only witness the birth of such fog (). The spectacle is truly beautiful, and having increased religiosity, it is easy to attribute miraculous properties to what you see.

Skeptics' version of the appearance of fire
From the point of view of skeptics, the Greek patriarch and the Armenian archimandrite light their candles from an unquenchable lamp, which is brought in by the keeper of the coffin shortly before the patriarch's entrance. Perhaps the lamp is not placed on the coffin, but in a niche behind the icon from which the patriarch takes it out; perhaps some additional manipulations are taking place inside. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to see this.
Let's remember the sequence of actions during the ceremony (link to video).

1. Examine the Edicule (two priests and a representative of the authorities).
2. Seal the entrance doors of Edicule with a large wax seal.
3. The keeper of the coffin appears and brings a large, capped lamp inside the coffin. The seal is removed in front of him, he goes inside Kuklii, and after a few minutes he comes out.
4. 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.
5. 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).

Naturally, a man with a lamp covered with a cap will interest skeptics. By the way, there are holes for air in the lamp's cap, so that a fire can burn in it. Unfortunately, apologists for the miracle practically do not explain in any way the insertion of this lamp into the Edicule. They pay attention to the inspection of the Edicule by government officials and priests before sealing. Indeed, after inspection there should be no fire inside. Then the miracle apologists pay attention to the search of the Greek patriarch before his entry into the Edicule. True, the video clearly shows that only Greek priests remove his clothes and do not search their patriarch, but this is not important, due to the fact that earlier another representative of the Greek Orthodox Church entered there to put a lamp on the slab of the Tomb and no one does not examine.

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.”

The apologist for the miracle did not like this answer so much that even, in my opinion, a false interview with Patriarch Theophilus () appeared.

The most important evidence of the miraculous appearance of fire.
Once again, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that by trusting Orthodox skeptics, we thereby recognize the deception on the part of the Greek patriarchs and a number of prominent Russian Orthodox figures. I will present this evidence.
- Monk Parthenius, recorded the stories of those who talked with the Metropolitan of Transjordan (1841-1846 or 1870-1871), in which he talks about the spontaneous combustion of the lamp: “Sometimes I go up, and it’s already burning; then I’ll soon take it out, and sometimes I’ll go up, and the lamp is not yet burning; then I will fall to the ground in fear and with tears begin to ask for mercy from God. When I get up, the lamp is already burning, and I light two bunches of candles, take them out and serve them" (24).
- Viceroy Peter Meletius, whose words are conveyed to us by the pilgrim Barbara Brun de Sainte-Hippolyte, traveling around 1859, who left the following note: “Now grace has already descended on the Savior’s Tomb when I ascended into the Edicule: apparently, you all prayed earnestly, and God heard your prayers. I used to pray for a long time with tears, and the fire of God did not descend from heaven until two o’clock, but this time I already saw it, as soon as they locked the door behind me” (24).
- Hieromonk Meletius quotes the words of Archbishop Misail, who received the fire: “When he came in, he told me, inside to St. To the Tomb, we see on the entire roof of the Tomb a shining light, like scattered small beads, in the form of white, blue, alago and other colors, which then copulated reddened, and transformed over time into the substance of fire; but this Fire, over the course of time, as soon as you can slowly read forty times “Lord have mercy!” And because of this, the fire does not burn the prepared candlesticks and candles” (24).
- Patriarch Diodorus in 1998 says: « I make my way through the darkness into the interior, and fall to my knees there. Here I offer special prayers that have come down to us through the centuries and, having read them, I wait. Sometimes I wait a few minutes, but usually the miracle happens as soon as I say the prayers. From the midst of the very stone on which Jesus lay, an indescribable light pours out. It is usually blue in color, but the color can vary and take on many different shades. It cannot be described in human words. Light rises from the stone like mist rises from a lake - it almost looks like the stone is covered in a damp cloud, but it is light. This light behaves differently every year. Sometimes it covers only the stone, and sometimes it fills the entire Edicule, so that if people standing outside looked inside, they would see it filled with light. The light does not burn - I have never burned my beard in all sixteen years that I have been the Patriarch of Jerusalem and received the Holy Fire. The light is of a different consistency than ordinary fire burning in an oil lamp.
“At a certain moment, the light rises and takes the form of a column, in which the fire is of a different nature, so that I can already light candles from it. When I light candles with fire in this way, I go out and hand over the fire first to the Armenian Patriarch, and then to the Coptic Patriarch. Then I transfer the fire to all the people present in the temple" ().
- Abraham Sergeevich Norov, former Minister of National Education in Russia, famous Russian writer, who traveled to Palestine in 1835:
“Only one of the Greek bishops, an Armenian bishop (who had recently received the right to do so), the Russian consul from Jaffa and we three travelers entered the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher behind the metropolitan. The doors closed behind us. The never-fading lamps over the Holy Sepulcher were already extinguished; only weak lighting passed to us from the temple through the side openings of the chapel. This moment is solemn: the excitement in the temple has subsided; everything came true as expected. We stood in the Angel's chapel, in front of the stone rolled away from the den; Only the metropolitan entered the den of the Holy Sepulcher.
I already said that the entrance there has no doors. I saw the elderly metropolitan bowing before the low entrance. entered the den and knelt down before the Holy Sepulcher, in front of which nothing stood and which was completely naked.
In less than a minute, the darkness was illuminated with light, and the Metropolitan came out to us with a flaming bunch of candles” (24).
- Bishop Gabriel: “And when on Holy Saturday the Patriarch came out with the Holy Fire, we did not light it, but quickly, together with Bishop Anthony, dived into the edicule of the Holy Sepulcher. One Greek ran in, the Bishop and I, and we saw blue, heavenly-colored fire in the Holy Sepulcher, we took it with our hands and washed ourselves with it. It didn’t burn for a split second, but then it gained strength, and we lit the candles” (24).

Version of the Armenian side
In addition to the Greek patriarch, an Armenian archimandrite enters the Edicule to illuminate the fire. The priest of the Armenian Church, abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Archangels (AAC) Hieromonk Gevond Hovhannisyan, who attended the ceremony of consecration of the fire for 12 years, and is personally acquainted with the priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church entering the Edicule to consecrate the fire together with the Greek Patriarch writes:
“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” ().
In addition, he filmed what was happening in Kuvuklia immediately after the fire was removed from there. No special blue light was recorded on the coffin slab. Only burning lamps, contrary to the story of Bishop Gabriel (27, link to video). In His blog, Priest Ghevond provides scans of their journal of the Patriarchate “Zion” N-3 from 1874, which tells how, during the Holy Fire ceremony, the Greek patriarch burned his beard, which they were able to quickly extinguish. This case, as noted in the magazine, is the consequence of superstitious interpretations about fire that the Greeks spread among their flock, and if the Greeks had explained to their own, as the Armenian Patriarch does, then there would have been no such cases and temptations with which the Christian faith is humiliated before believers of other religions... (30).
There is one subtlety that is characteristic of the attitude of the Armenian Church to the Holy Fire. According to legend: “St. Gregory enters the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday, where he asks the Lord for the Light to descend as a sign of His Resurrection... The Lord heard his prayers, and in his honor all the lamps and candles are miraculously lit. To this miracle, St. Gregory sings “Luys Zwart” (Quiet Light), which is still sung every Saturday in the AAC... Afterwards, he asks the Lord to light the lamps with invisible light every Holy Saturday, for the glory of His Resurrection. A sign that continues to this day, and is visible only with the eye of faith! (“Book of Questions” by St. Tatevatsi 14-15c). Thus, according to their belief, the first visible kindling of fire was of divine origin, and subsequently, the appearance of fire, invisible to the ordinary eye, occurs, while the visible fire is kindled from an unquenchable lamp. This is how priest Ghevond denotes this position: “I note that the AAC, in addition to the fact that it does not deny the Miraculous Descent of Fire, it also gives its evidence, but at the same time it does not call something that is not a “Miracle” a Miracle, i.e. when a Miracle happens, then he boldly speaks about it! The fire lit on the Holy Sepulcher is a Blessed Fire for us, for we believe that through the prayer of our Saint Gregory Lusavorich, the Lord to this day, every Holy Saturday, in the glory of His Resurrection, lights lamps with the Invisible Light and therefore we do not call it the Holy Fire, but LUIS - LIGHT!" (31).
This subtlety brings confusion and misunderstanding of what some representatives of the Armenian church say, for example, priest Emmanuel in an interview for the film “Secrets of Fire”: “This is exactly the miracle when Jesus, our Lord is resurrected, and the Light hits directly... You can to say... he beat from the Body of the Lord Himself... from the Body of the Lord Himself. That is, he does not descend from above, as many explain. This is not correct. I'm wondering. The attitude of the Armenian side to the man-made lighting of fire can be understood from the following example. During the 2002 fight in Kuvuklia, the Greek patriarch managed to put out the candles of the Armenian archimandrite. Without hesitation, he lit them with a lighter, which he said in an interview: “In this worst situation I had to use my emergency light, a cigarette lighter,” he later admitted” ().

Spontaneous combustion of candles among pilgrims.
Every year there is a lot of evidence of spontaneous combustion of candles in the hands of pilgrims. Thus, it would seem that we have a unique opportunity to show that fire appears not only inside the Edicule, but also in the temple, in full view of many video cameras. I carefully watched the video live broadcasts provided by NTV for 8 years, watched several Orthodox films about this ceremony, saw live broadcasts made by other television companies and hundreds of videos of varying quality, but in none of them did I find a moment when the candles were in the hands of the pilgrims caught fire themselves. Everywhere candles were ignited by the fire of other candles. My requests to believers to provide a video of spontaneous combustion were also unsuccessful. It remains to state that the stories of believers are not confirmed by video materials and agree with the opinion of the guide who led pilgrimage groups to the ceremony: “In my groups, some of those standing next to me also said when they arrived home that their candles lit up on their own! If I were next to them If I hadn’t stood there, maybe I would have believed it!” (28).

Scientific proof of the miraculous appearance of fire
At the “Christianity and Science” section of the XVII Christmas educational readings on Tuesday in Moscow, the results of a scientific experiment conducted by Russian scientists on Holy Saturday 2008 in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem were announced for the first time.
Head of Sector, Institute of Atomic Energy named after. Kurchatov, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences Andrei Volkov spoke about his own attempt to measure low-frequency long-wave radio signals in the Jerusalem temple during the annual descent of the Holy Fire.
Using specially designed equipment, the scientist took measurements in the temple during almost 6.5 hours of waiting for the fire, and over the next months he worked on deciphering them.
A. Volkov considers the difference between the indicators he received on the day of the descent of the fire and the day before to be an “absolute miracle.” In addition, he said, “analysis of the cracks on the pillar immediately before the entrance to the temple really leads to the idea that they could only appear as a result of an electrical discharge.”
According to A. Volkov, his colleague, the world’s leading specialist in fracture mechanics, Evgeniy Morozov, also speaks about this.
Considering that “from a strictly scientific point of view, the only measurement made does not indicate anything reliable,” A. Volkov at the same time stated that he bears full responsibility for the results obtained and is ready to present them.
“But if you ask me, as a scientist, whether there was a miracle or not, I will say: I don’t know,” he added.
In turn, deputy chairman of the commission at the Moscow Patriarchate for the study of miraculous phenomena, teacher at the Russian Orthodox University. John the Theologian Alexander Moskovsky stated that A. Volkov “performed a scientific feat by conducting the first in history serious, reliable and responsible scientific measurement of the Holy Fire” (32).

A few comments from my side.

The result of scientific work must be presented in the form of a scientific article and be reviewed by relevant specialists. A. Volkov did nothing of the kind and therefore it is difficult to evaluate the scientific component of his research and consider his work on the nature of the Holy Fire scientific.
The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda sets out the following details of the research: “Here is what he said: “A few minutes before the removal of the Holy Fire from Edicule*, a device recording the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation detected a strange long-wave pulse in the temple, which no longer appeared. I don’t want to refute or prove anything, but this is the scientific result of the experiment (...) It took six hours to “catch” the mysterious splash. The Patriarch of Jerusalem has long since disappeared into the Edicule, the ceremony has begun... Yes! A change in the emission spectrum due to an unknown pulse was recorded. It happened in the period from 15 hours 4 minutes to 15 hours 6 minutes - I will not give the exact time due to the technological features of the device. One splash - and nothing else like it. And soon the Patriarch of Jerusalem appeared with a burning candle...” (34). Knowing the sequence of actions during the ceremony. one can find a completely natural explanation for this result. There are a large number of photo and video cameras in the temple. They turn on as soon as there is fire. But at the beginning, the fire is distributed first of all from the windows of the Edicule, and after a few minutes the Greek patriarch comes out of the gates of the Edicule with lit candles. In other words, the electromagnetic surge observed a few minutes before the patriarch’s exit could be due to the beginning of the distribution of fire from the windows of the Edicule.
The scientific activity of Andrei Aleksandrovich Volkov raises some doubts. It is not possible to find any scientific articles written by him. You yourself can go to the scientific electronic library and search for authors with the last name Volkov - http://elibrary.ru/authors.asp. Although, I am an unknown scientist, but the search gives five links to my articles. Are there any signs of pseudoscience in Andrei Volkov’s activities? In KP’s dossier it is written that he is the head of Nano-Aseptica LLC, as far as I understood his website (when the site was still working), nano-asepsis means that the dressing material is coated with nanoparticles and thereby it acquires special medicinal properties. However, although the site (the site is currently not functioning) quotes the opinions of some experts on the benefits of using dressings, there is no imprint on these documents, nor are there any links to scientific articles that would confirm the effectiveness of this approach.

Thus, the work of Andrei Volkov, at the moment, does not meet the criteria that determine the scientific nature of the research and the effect discovered in it may have a completely natural explanation.

Why don't the authorities expose it?
I have already quoted here an entry from the diary of Porfiry Uspensky describing an attempt at such an exposure: “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 with 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.” (2).
Pasha was intimidated by the wrath of the Russian Tsar: “After this confession, it was decided to humbly ask Ibrahim not to interfere in religious affairs and the dragoman of the Holy Sepulchre 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 will be very dissatisfied with the discovery of these secrets.” (2).
Any action by the Muslim authorities against the Orthodox Church could provoke an international scandal, and it was not unfounded that the priests threatened Ibrahim Pasha with the Russian Tsar. A few years later, the Crimean War broke out between Russia and Turkey, and precisely under the pretext of oppressing the Orthodox in the Holy Land.
On the other hand, they are currently letting an Israeli policeman inside the Edicule, or they were letting the Russian ambassador in, in the testimony I have already quoted. There is nothing wrong with someone else being present inside and observing the miraculous appearance of the fire.
However, there is another, very important reason not to expose the falsification with fire. This is income from pilgrims visiting holy places. The income is so huge that in fact the entire population of Jerusalem was fed from it, so prof. Dmitrievsky quotes the following observation from Prof. Olesnitsky “But in Jerusalem and Palestine this holiday belongs not only to the Orthodox population: all local residents take part in it, not excluding Muslims. A family hearth is unthinkable without a warming and illuminating element, and this latter exudes for all of Palestine from the holy tomb. This is felt the entire population, and cannot help but feel, because Palestine feeds almost exclusively on the gifts that are brought to it by the fans of the Holy Sepulcher from Europe. Thus, the Feast of the Holy Sepulcher is a celebration of the happiness and well-being of the country. legends about the holy fire and its miraculous properties, and that in the circumstances surrounding the consecration of the fire (in its color, brightness, etc.) the people see signs of a happy or unhappy summer, fertility or famine, war or peace" ().
The opinion that Muslims know about deception, but use it very profitably, is heard in Islamic revelations of the Holy Fire, for example, al-Jaubari (before 1242)
under the heading “The trick of the monks in lighting the fire in the Church of the Resurrection” says: “Al-Melik al-Mauzzam, 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 (assigned) to it: “I do not I will leave until I see how this light descends." The monk said to him: "What is more pleasant to the king: this wealth that flows to you in this way, or familiarity with this (business)? If I reveal this 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 the same position. (...)" ().
In the end, I want to note that it is not the atheist and non-believers who are the main critics of the miraculous nature of the Holy Fire or other miracles, but the Orthodox themselves. In this case, I only had to collect these critical materials created by the believer and present them to the public.

Every year on the eve of Orthodox Easter, a special service is held in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem. It is characterized by the removal of a special fire from the Holy Sepulcher, which, according to believers, appears supernaturally.

The phenomenon is certainly ancient. However, the divine origin of fire is questioned; as a result, this phenomenon has both its supporters and opponents. The time has come for us to debunk the myths about the Holy Fire.

The Holy Fire is of divine origin. This is the most important myth regarding this phenomenon. As has already been said, doubts regarding the origin of fire have always been present. Not long ago, the Armenian priest Ghevond was even able to film a secret lamp, which is hidden behind a retractable icon in the Edicule. Schemes for priests to receive the Holy Fire have been written about for a long time. In the 12th century, the Arab Ibn al-Qalanisi wrote that thin wires rubbed with oil were stretched between the lamps. At the right moment, one of the threads was imperceptibly set on fire, as a result of which a fire as bright as lightning quickly lit all the lamps. It seemed to believers that fire had descended from heaven. Another Arab in the 13th century told how an iron casket was placed on the top of the dome with the time the fire would burn in it calculated in advance. At the right time, he sets fire to the lubricated chain, and along it the fire from above descends to the lamp. The literature describes that fire can also appear due to the combination of balsam oil with some other additives. Chemists are well aware of the spontaneous combustion of substances in air.

The Holy Fire does not burn. This fact is cited by many as evidence of the divine nature of fire. However, ordinary fire will not burn you in the first minutes; you can even wash your face with it. Such features will be present if the fuel is a low-calorie substance, for example, balsam oil. In addition, it is worth making allowances for religious ecstasy, which can reduce pain sensitivity. And a draft in the temple deflects the flame and creates an air cushion. The pilgrims themselves say that some were seriously burned by the fire. In the video you can see people who do not so much hold their hands or beard over the fire as move over it.

The Holy Fire unites people. While thousands of pilgrims anxiously await the descent of the Holy Fire, real intrigues and showdowns are unfolding behind the scenes. Greek priests protect this phenomenon, not allowing outsiders. But Armenian priests are outraged by such open business. This conflict has been going on for several hundred years. Priests, in search of truth, sometimes even engage in assault right in the premises of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. As a result, the fighting is separated by the police. What kind of unification of people can we talk about when even the church employees themselves are fighting for the right to manage a miracle? In 1834, the fight turned into a massacre, when about 300 pilgrims became victims.

The Holy Fire is a miracle for all Christians. In fact, not all Christians have the opportunity to experience this miracle. The Holy Fire appears only in the presence of the Orthodox Patriarch. But why are these believers better than Catholics and Protestants? Why did the great God make happy exclusively the Orthodox with his attention? They say that once Catholics did not allow Orthodox Christians into the temple. Then God not only did not give fire to the stubborn ones, but also struck here with lightning. A trace of it still remains on one of the columns. Since then, Catholics have had nothing to do with miracles. Is this correct? Or is religion once again dividing people?

The Holy Fire has descended into the temple since time immemorial. In fact, the first mention of fire dates back to the 4th century. It was at that time that Christians ordered and canonized the four Gospels. Pilgrim Sylvia said that lamps are lit in the temple, and an unquenchable lamp is constantly burning inside the cave; fire is not brought here. Obviously, there was no miracle then, but simply a sacred fire burning in the Edicule. The initiates kept his secret from ordinary people. Blavatsky wrote that even in ancient Egypt, alchemists learned to create finely porous materials. They absorbed the oil like a sponge and then slowly let it burn. By the 9th century, believers began to perceive cold fire as a miracle. And for the priests, this attitude only benefited them, as it strengthened their religious influence. But even then, enlightened critics emerged who criticized the “divine manifestation.” However, people believed in miracles, and in the XII-XIII centuries, simply the sacred fire became the Holy Fire. And they lit it no longer in the presence of believers, but inside the Edicule, demonstrating a miracle to the believers.

The Holy Fire is a mysterious miracle. This is exactly what the Orthodox Church constantly talks about, emphasizing that the mystery of fire has never been solved by anyone. However, back in the 17th century, Patriarch Kirill Loukaris of Constantinople said that if this miracle really existed, then all Turks would have believed in Jesus Christ long ago. But this doesn’t happen!

The Holy Fire is a holy phenomenon that does not involve self-interest. In fact, the existence of such a “miracle” is beneficial to both Israel and the Orthodox Church. Previously, Arabs and Turks made money on it. They could not deny themselves the opportunity to make money from naive believers. People go to Jerusalem for a miracle, leaving money in the church and the city. Today, every year, about a hundred figures fly from Russia to meet the Holy Fire at the expense of the state, whose names are not advertised. This whole party is flying for a piece of fire, which is being delivered to Russia by plane. In our country, the journey of the shrine around the country is accompanied by performances and banquets. A religious event is given a commercial spin. The income from a miracle is really great. Previously, Palestine was generally fed by pilgrims from Europe; the Feast of the Holy Sepulcher was a holiday of happiness and prosperity for the entire country. And Muslims even charged an entrance fee to an Orthodox church.

The fire comes on schedule. The ceremony for receiving the Holy Fire is not scheduled minute by minute - they do not require a miracle from God according to a schedule. After the patriarch, wearing only a linen robe, enters the Edicule, the entrance is sealed, and the wait for a miracle begins. Believers can wait a few minutes, or they can wait several hours. All this time, people pray for the descent of the holy fire and for the remission of sins. They say that if one day the fire does not go down, it will become a terrible sign for humanity, and everyone in the temple will die.

The fire ceremony remains unchanged. Around the 13th century, the acquisition of the Holy Fire changed. Previously, it appeared in the form of a flash from above the Edicule, and then the priests began to go inside to get the fire. The previous revelations lost their force, but the Arabs immediately saw how the fire was lit - from a lamp hidden in a niche.

The descent of the fire is accompanied by wonderful flashes. Today in the temple there are many journalists with special equipment and amateur photographers. Flashes are indeed visible in the video, but it is impossible to distinguish them by color from a photo flash. At the same time, when there were no cameras, they did not talk about mysterious flashes at all, although this would have been an even greater miracle. A bright flash was present until the 13th century, when fire was expected outside the Edicule. However, this fits perfectly into the technology for creating a “miracle”.

The pilgrims' candles light themselves. This is a very beautiful legend, which is not confirmed in the video. On the contrary, you can see how people take fire from their neighbors. But then they tell how a “miracle” came to them.

The priests themselves believe in miracles. The highest clergy, who directly take part in the ritual, still avoid the words “miracle” or “convergence.” Patriarch Theophilos III said that this ceremony shows how the Easter message from the tomb illuminated the whole world. In the temple there is a performance, a reenactment of that event. It is not surprising that the main witness of the “miracle” answers questions about its nature evasively. The famous deacon Andrei Kuraev reacted to such a statement: “He could not have said more openly about the lighter in his pocket.”

The Apostle Peter saw the sacred light in the Holy Sepulcher. They say that when Peter came to this place after the Resurrection, he saw light here. However, the Gospel itself says nothing about this.

Before entering the Edicule, the Patriarch is stripped of all vestments and searched. Such a measure should supposedly convince believers that it is impossible to bring fire from the outside. However, live television broadcasts show that only the outer part of the Patriarch’s clothing is removed, while the rest remains on him. And no one tries to search the priest - he enters the cave during the procession.

In Russia they have always believed in the miraculous nature of the Holy Fire. Even Orthodox leaders, and even more so scientists, at the end of the 19th century were quite skeptical about the nature of the Holy Fire. The existence of a “miracle” was doubted by such scientists as I. Krachkovsky, A. Dmitrievsky, as well as Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky). Professor N. Uspensky in 1949, in his assembly speech, described in some detail the history and essence of this ritual. And only in our time, when religion is implanted almost by force, there are few critics left. Almost the only major Orthodox scientist who questions the Divine origin of the Holy Fire is Doctor of Historical Sciences, Candidate of Theology Alexander Musin. The disgraced priest, of course, cites the testimony of Hieromonk Gevonid Oganesyan, who personally saw how Armenian and Greek priests deceive the believers. But who wants to hear and listen to the truth?

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