On what holiday does the Holy Fire descend? Exposing the "Holy Fire"

18.10.2019

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 the light in the tomb was in vain terrified,” 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 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 can be 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 the day before 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 its procession of the cross, the procession passes by everyone in the temple memorable places: the sacred grove where Christ was betrayed, the place where he was beaten by Roman legionnaires, 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. IN different years The tedious 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 bright light. In addition, here and there, between the columns and walls of the temple, quite visible lightning, which often pass without any harm through standing people.

A moment later, the entire temple turns out to be surrounded by lightning and glare, which snake down its walls and columns, as if flowing down to the foot of the temple and spreading across the square among the pilgrims. At the same time, the candles of those standing in the temple and in the square light up, the lamps located on the sides of the Edicule light up themselves (with the exception of 13 Catholic ones), like some others within the temple. "And suddenly a drop falls on the face, and then a cry of delight and shock is heard in the crowd. The fire 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 the Edicule, spread Fire throughout the temple through special holes, 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 one of the lamps flared up after it. 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 - 3-10 minutes, the ignited Fire has amazing properties - it does not burn at all, regardless of what candle and where it is lit. You can see how parishioners literally wash themselves with this Fire - they rub it over their faces, over their hands, scoop up handfuls of it, and it does not cause any harm, at first it does not even 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 mutilated rotting ear, the wound, smeared with Fire, heals right before our eyes and the ear returns to normal appearance, and also shows a case of a blind man gaining insight (according to external observations, the person had cataracts on both eyes before “washing” himself with 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."

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 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.

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 late XIX centuries 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, II began world war. In 2001 it happened again. Christians did not see anything terrible in this... but the whole world knows what happened on September 11 of this year - five months after the myrrh streaming

For those who are interested in this topic, there is a website that presents large number information about this miracle. His address is http://www.holyfire.org.

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 every year on different days. 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 to closed doors temple, the Armenians were waiting for the descent of the Holy Fire in Edicule. 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.

What will happen if the Holy Fire does not descend, says Archimandrite Victor (Kotsaba).

Reference:

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.

– Father, how many times have you been present at the descent of the Holy Fire?

– By the grace of God I had the opportunity to witness this miracle several times. Of course, the experience is unforgettable. First of all, the trip itself requires some effort: these days there are a huge number of people in Jerusalem and it is not at all easy to go to the Edicule of the Holy Sepulcher, where the Holy Fire descends.

It seems that it is on this day, Holy Saturday, that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher becomes the center of the world. People have been arriving since the evening, the entire city is blocked off, and police officers at checkpoints are becoming more active. The path to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ is also not easy, which must be overcome by entering old town. Every 100-200 meters there is a new post, people gather in crowds. We once stood in one of them for more than an hour. The path itself is not long, but takes approximately 1.5 – 2 hours. It happens that you are caught in the middle of a crush, and you cannot advance anywhere. Everyone is rushing to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

I remember my first trip to the descent of the Holy Fire; then I didn’t have any special passes, but I managed to calmly walk the whole way and stop right next to the entrance to the Edicule. It was also a miracle for me then. (smiles)

– Nobody knows at what moment the Holy Fire will descend? How is the wait going?

– Our entire delegation has been in the Temple since 10 am. The fire usually goes down around 2 p.m. We stay in one place all this time, because if we go out, it will be difficult, almost impossible, to enter. There are screams, bustle, noise and heat all around. There is, of course, the opportunity to pray, because we are standing near the Edicule of the Holy Sepulcher itself.

First, Arab Orthodox youth appear, shouting slogans in their own language, announcing that Christ is Risen, singing various songs, running, and climbing out onto the Edicule with drums. When I first saw such behavior in the temple, I was amazed. But this is considered the norm: at a time when Jerusalem was under the British Mandate, the English governor tried to ban these “savage” dances, young people were not allowed into the Temple - and the Fire did not appear. The Patriarch prayed in Edicule for two hours and then ordered the Arabs to be let in... Then only 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.

Next, the Patriarch with the bishops of the Jerusalem Church leads the procession of the Cross, walking around the Edicule three times, after which he is completely undressed and goes inside. All the lamps are extinguished. A regal silence sets in, despite the large number of people, only the flashes of phones and cameras appear. After about 15 minutes, the Patriarch comes out with Fire and distributes it to everyone. One of the “dancing” Orthodox Arabs runs up to him, takes the Fire, and, cutting through the crowd, simply runs to the other end of the Temple. In a matter of minutes, the entire Temple is ablaze with the Holy Fire.

Immediately after the descent, the fire has a special property: it does not burn the face and hands. I checked on myself, this is indeed the case. It feels soft, not like the fire we are used to. After this, everyone congratulates each other with the words “Christ is Risen!”

– There is a legend that if the fire does not go away, it will be the end of the world.

– This, of course, is a well-known legend, so everyone is waiting with trepidation and fear for the descent of the Holy Fire.

– Were there any cases when the fire did not go away?

– There was the only case in history when the descent of the Holy Fire took place outside the Temple through the prayers of the Orthodox Patriarch. This happened in 1579.

As you know, the owners of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are several Churches. And so the priests of the Armenian Church, contrary to tradition, persuaded and bribed Sultan Murat the Truthful and the mayor to allow them to individually celebrate Easter and receive the Holy Fire. At the call of the Armenian clergy from all over the Middle East, many of their coreligionists came to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter alone. The Orthodox, together with Patriarch Sophrony IV, were removed not only from the Edicule, but also taken out of the Temple. They prayed for the fire to descend before entering the shrine, grieving over what happened.

The Armenian Patriarch prayed for about a day, but no miracle happened. At one moment, a ray struck from the sky, as usually happens when fire descends, and hit the column at the entrance, next to which the Orthodox Patriarch was located. Fiery bursts of fire splashed out from it in all directions - and the candle of the Orthodox Patriarch was lit, who passed on the Holy Fire to his co-religionists. This is the column before today preserved at the entrance to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.

Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova

Holy Fire. History, convergence ceremony, hypotheses, facts...

Description of the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire

Introduction

The Resurrection of Christ - Easter, before which the described event 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 - 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 the light in the tomb was in vain terrified,” 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

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 the Mother of God and the Lord to 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 can be 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, by his own will, ordered the Arabs to be let in... And the fire descended.” Arabs like would appeal to 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?

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 its procession of the cross, 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 legionnaires, Golgotha, where he was crucified, the Stone of Anointing - on which the body of Christ was prepared for burial.

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 fill everything around with bright light. In addition, here and there, between the columns and walls of the temple, quite visible lightning flashes, which often pass through standing people without any harm.

The fire burns in the altar of the Catholicon! The flash and flame are like a huge flower. And Edicule is still dark. Slowly - slowly, along the candles, the Fire from the altar begins to descend towards us. And then a thunderous cry makes you look back at Edicule. It shines, the whole wall shimmers with silver, white lightning streams along it. The fire pulsates and breathes, and from the hole in the dome of the Temple a wide vertical column of light descended from the sky onto the Tomb." The Temple or its individual places are filled with an unparalleled radiance, which is believed to have first appeared during the Resurrection of Christ. At the same time, the doors of the Tomb open and the Orthodox Patriarch comes out, blessing those gathered and distributing the Holy Fire.

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

However, not everyone lights the fire from the patriarchal candle; for some, it lights up on its own. "Brighter and stronger flashes of Heavenly Light. Now Holy Fire began to fly all over the temple. It scattered with bright blue beads over the Edicule around the icon of the “Resurrection of the Lord,” and one of the lamps flared up after it. 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 lit up the candles on their own three times, which she twice tried to extinguish. At first, the Holy Fire does not burn at all

First time Holy Fire does not burn at all" Having lit 20 candles in one place and burned his 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, he lit those candles, and the same for the third time those candles I too was warm, and nothing touched my wife, not a single hair was singed, not a single hair was creased...” - 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.

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, closes 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).

Is it only the Orthodox?

In 1099, Jerusalem was conquered by the crusaders, the Roman church and local city officials, considering the Orthodox as apostates, boldly began to trample on their rights. The English historian Stephen Runciman cites in his book a narrative about this by a chronicler of the Western Church: “The first Latin patriarch Arnold of Choquet began unsuccessfully: he ordered the expulsion of the sects of heretics from their territory in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, then he began to torture Orthodox monks, trying to find out where they were. keep the Cross and other relics... A few months later, Arnold was replaced on the throne by Daimbert of Pisa, who went even further. He tried to expel all local Christians, even Orthodox, from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and allow only Latins there, completely depriving the rest of the church buildings in Jerusalem or. near him... 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...”

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 Parfeniy. 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.

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 (see the description of the witness)... but the whole world knows about what happened on September 11 of this year - five months after the myrrh streaming.

Over the years, different people have used other names for the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire: Holy Light, Sacred Light, miraculous Light, Grace.

How the Holy Fire lights up in the Holy Sepulcher

Sometime soon after Easter days I, among several newly arrived pilgrims, accompanied the Patriarch on the way to Jericho and the Jordan. Halfway through the journey we were invited to his tent for lunch. One of these skeptics, choosing a convenient moment, suddenly posed the question like this:

Where, your Bliss, do you deign to receive Fire in the Edicule?

The aged Archpastor, not paying attention to what was heard in the tone of the question, calmly answered like this (I wrote down what I heard almost word for word):

I, dear sir, if you please know, am no longer a reader without glasses. When I first entered the Angel’s chapel and the doors closed behind me, there was twilight. Light barely penetrated through two openings from the rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre, also dimly lit from above. In the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, I could not discern whether I had a prayer book in my hands or something else. One could barely notice a whitish spot against the black background of the night: then, obviously, the marble plaque on the Holy Sepulcher was white. 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 three or four lines with deep emotional excitement, 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 what looked like small scattered beads different colors, or rather, like pearls with pin head 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, as it illuminated the face of the Mother of God and all the metal lamps above the Holy Sepulcher. For this I leave it to you, dear sir, to judge my emotional excitement at that moment and to deduce the answer to the question asked."
Quote by: Nilus S. The shrine is hidden. Sergiev Posad, 1911, p. 183-187.

The most vivid description (of the ignition of the Holy Fire by the Patriarch - editor's note) dates back to 1892, where a wonderful picture of the ignition of the Holy Fire is given from the words of the Patriarch, he said that sometimes, having entered the Edicule, and not having time to read the prayer, he had already seen like a marble coffin slab was covered with small multi-colored beads, like small pearls. And the stove itself began to emit an even light. The Patriarch swept away these pearls with a piece of cotton wool, which merged like drops of oil. He felt the warmth in the cotton wool and touched the candle wick with it. The wick flared up like gunpowder - the candle caught fire. By the way, cotton wool is first placed on the stove. According to eyewitnesses, sometimes this is done by people of other faiths in order to eliminate doubts on this matter.

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

Now (1859) grace has already descended on the Tomb of the Savior as soon as I entered the Edicule. Apparently you all prayed earnestly, and God heard your prayers. Sometimes I pray for a long time with tears, and the fire of God does not descend from heaven until two o’clock, but this time I already saw it, as soon as they locked the door behind me!

After the Patriarch leaves the Edicule, or rather he is taken to the Altar, the people rush inside the Tomb to venerate. The whole slab is wet, as if it had been wet by rain.
Quote by: Yushina L. The Presence of God: Parables and Miniatures. - M.: INFRA-M, 2000, p. 18-19.
Excerpt taken from the book: Holy Fire over the Holy Sepulcher, 1991.

Of the last pilgrims of blessed memory, Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov wrote that “cotton paper (cotton wool) is first placed on the Holy Sepulcher in order to collect the Holy Fire, which, as they say, appears in small sparks on the marble slab of the Holy Sepulcher.” A. S. Norov describes: “I saw how the elderly metropolitan, bending over the low entrance, entered the nativity scene and knelt before the Holy Sepulcher, on 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.” Hieromonk Meletius, the most pious Sarov elder, claims that “the appearance of the Holy Fire does not seem to come from anywhere, as it does from the very Tomb, consecrated by the Flesh of Christ, which annually exudes it as a sign. this truth and orthodoxy." Not being a personal witness to the descent of the Holy Fire, Hieromonk Meletius cites the words of Archbishop Misail, who was serving at that time: “When I entered,” Archbishop Misail told him, “inside the Holy Sepulcher, we saw a shining light on the entire lid of the tomb, like scattered small beads, in the form of white, blue, scarlet and other colors, which then, when copulating, turned red and turned into a substance of fire; but this Fire, over the course of time, as soon as one can slowly read “Lord, have mercy” fourty times, does not burn or scorch, and from this Fire the prepared censers and candles are lit; “But however,” added the archbishop, “I can’t say how or where this phenomenon comes from.”

Hieromonk Hippolytus (18th century) writes in his native Ukrainian language that the slab of the Sepulcher was covered with “sprinkles, like living silver...”
Quote from: Trinity Evangelist No. 36, Edition of the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra. 1991

The latest pre-revolutionary evidence is the leaflet “Holy Fire”, printed by the Russian artist I. I. Matveev in Jerusalem in 1907 and preserved in one of the files of the Archive foreign policy Russian Empire. “Patriarch Ubrus Not Made by Hands places the Patriarch Ubrus Not Made by Hands on the marble slab of the Holy Sepulcher. From the Face of the Lord, the blessed fire shines, like fiery beads rolling along the Sepulcher. Then the patriarch sweeps away the fiery beads with bunches of cotton wool. But so as not to have to take revenge on Ubrus, it is surrounded with flower petals. But the beads rolls along the leaves, onto the petals, and the patriarch collects fiery beads, and lights a candle, giving the holy fire"
Quote from: Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, f. RIPPO, on. 873/ 1, d. 472, l. 80-81 rev.

Why are we convinced that the Holy Fire is from God?

Many miracles happen in the world, but, without a doubt, nothing comparable to the descent of the Holy Fire in scale, unusualness - healing people, giving them a feeling of spiritual rebirth, the condescension of Fire without the help of a person possessing miraculous properties; The Holy Dew, the Holy Light and much more are unknown.

I would like to warn heterodox Christians against trying to attribute the miracle of the Lord to the works of the devil, because we have been given true guidance on how to distinguish the works of God’s hands from the wiles of the tempter:

“Then they brought to Him a demon-possessed man, blind and dumb; and He healed him, so that the blind and dumb man could both speak and see. And all the people marveled and said, “Is this not the Christ, the son of David?” And the Pharisees, when they heard [this], said: He does not cast out demons except [by the power of] Beelzebub, the prince of demons... But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them... every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men... Or recognize the tree as good and its fruit as good ; or recognize the tree as bad and its fruit as bad, for a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 12:22-33).

Therefore, we also ask those who dare to say something similar about the Holy Fire: do they recognize the healing of the crippled and terminally ill as a bad thing? If this is a good deed, then who is the only one who could do such a thing?

Christians who do not profess Orthodoxy would do well to remember that the events described take place in the Holy of Holies of the entire Christian world - the Church of the Resurrection of Christ (see guide to the Temple). Would the Lord allow the evil one to build his machinations in the place where, by the Resurrection, He proved His Divine nature and won victory over death and the powers of darkness.

As life shows, the miracle described does not lead to spiritual decline the people who saw him, on the contrary, the pilgrims testify (see 1, 2, 3, 4) about the feeling of peace and grace that overwhelmed them during the descent, incomparable in depth, people repent of their sins and cry with joy, the memory of the fact that the Lord has granted them His mercy, will remain with these people forever and is unlikely to make them worse, and many atheists who see the sign of the Lord become believers. Moreover, over the course of many years and to this day, the descent of the Holy Fire has strengthened faith in the Savior in Christians who are under the yoke of infidels.

So in 1580, when the Holy Fire descended once outside the Temple, where the Orthodox, local Christian Arabs were expelled, in a city where preaching Christianity was punishable by death penalty, shouted: “You are our one God, Jesus Christ, our one true faith is the faith of Orthodox Christians.” And the Muslim Turk who saw him accepted Christianity, paying for his decision with his life.

Well, it will not hurt the most ardent critics to know that for the first time the Holy Fire (Light) kindled on the Holy Sepulcher at the moment of the resurrection of Christ, as the apostles already testified to. There is little doubt that among the hierarchs of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church that received the Holy Fire was its first head, the Apostle James.

The symbolic connection between the Holy Fire (Light) and the Resurrection of Christ was accurately noted by Nikolai Lisovsky: “It is no coincidence that the Slavic enlighteners Saints Cyril and Methodius translated the Greek word “Anastasis” (“rebellion”) with the Slavic word “Resurrection.” “Resurrect” in the original and basic sense means “to kindle, to resurrect fire.” The Resurrection of Christ is thus not just the rising from the grave of his deified flesh, but also the resurrection of the New Fire and the New Light. As Heraclitus said, the world, the cosmos, is nothing more than “fire, kindled in moderation and in moderation. going out." And as long as there is a Church and there are believers, while the annual sacrament of the Holy Fire is celebrated in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday, it means that God has not yet left us completely, has not left the earth and the world, redeemed by the Sacrifice of Calvary from the slavery of sin and death. "

I would like to know from atheists and believers of other faiths, if the events occurring during the descent of the Holy Fire were accidental, and not given with a specific purpose from above, how to explain such an obvious favor of miraculous events specifically towards the Orthodox (see 1, 2, 3a, 3b )? Why is nothing like this given to anyone else? If the children of the Orthodox Church were mistaken, would the Lord give them such a strong reason to strengthen themselves in their “delusion,” while such undoubted evidence not only strengthens Orthodox Christians in the faith, but also converts atheists and people of other faiths to the true faith.

In addition, the descent of the Holy Fire does not now have any remote resemblance (with the exception of the Light of Tabor) - after all, this is not an episodic event which, once occurring, cannot be seen and verified by skeptics. This Miracle occurs annually (for almost 2000 thousand years - see early evidence - in known time and in a well-known place, so that everyone can see it with their own eyes, regardless of religion or beliefs.

I would like to remind convinced atheists that not a single person has yet been able to present an explanation of at least part of the events we have described that does not contradict the facts. If such attempts were made, they were more likely explained by ignorance of the scale and essence of the events taking place (see the analysis by E. Barsukov. “Easter Fire”, the theories of O. Sleznyak, as well as the Response to the article by V. Kiselevich “From a Drop a Flame Will Kindle”). Those same learned men who are well aware of the miraculous events or have seen them with their own eyes, perfectly understood the futility of attempts to explain the Holy Fire by “the mischief of nature” or “the machinations of priests.” So we will simply advise skeptics to take a closer look at the supposed “object of criticism.”

However, the Lord always leaves room for choice. As they say, “Free will…”

Answers to typical accusations of falsification

Lightning-like flashes made with lighting equipment and mirrors by the priests themselves

1) On the slow motion tapes you can see how the source of the flashes was the icon of the Savior; in some cases the light came from the windows of the Temple dome located at a high altitude (helicopters with priests, according to eyewitnesses, do not fly around the dome either).
2) It is doubtful that such a “show of light,” if it actually took place, would not have been exposed by the Turkish guards (who were ordered to cut off the head of anyone bringing Fire or objects for its ignition into the temple) and the Turkish administration, under whose control Easter had previously taken place .

The Patriarch brings something into the Edicule with which one can get fire and lights it there.

1) It is appropriate to recall that before entering the Patriarch is searched, and if now this is more of a symbolic action, then during the reign of Muslim Arabs and Turks it was a real search (the death penalty was imposed for bringing in such objects).
2) It is very doubtful that more than a hundred Patriarchs, who chose serving God as their destiny, I believe, well understanding that a lie cannot benefit the truth, unanimously deceived their flock, so much so that no one could notice or find out anything.
3) Such accusations generally do not make much sense, since usually some pilgrims’ candles light up on their own (which is documented on videotape), and often the lamps hanging in the temple also light up on their own.

Non-burning fire is obtained with the help of ether, therefore it does not burn 1) Candles with the Holy Fire are not burned at any point in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, incl. on its upper tiers 1.1) It is impossible to fill a huge room with ether 1.2) In addition, a certain concentration is required. How do Orthodox priests establish it, given that the temple belongs to several confessions and such actions are not observed. 2) Fire retains its non-burning properties outside the temple. How is the ether stored there? why is it not blown away by the wind 3) Where do priests receive and received ether in huge quantities? 4) Why does the ether burn with an atypical flame? 5) How is it that the candles light up on their own? 6) Why, if, as some critics claim, the temple is filled with ether, does it not explode when a fire ignites (imagine a spark arising in a gas cylinder)? Why doesn’t the entire space or some of its individual volumes light up, but only candles and lamps burn? 7) Why don’t pilgrims notice an unusual smell?

Believers simply move their hands quickly and therefore do not get burned

Some special one is used chemical composition burning material (option - a special atmosphere is created), with the help of which a non-burning (warm) flame is achieved.

1) Most pilgrims bring ordinary candles from home or buy them from Arabs on the street; there is no special trade in the temple at all. However, Fire does not burn no matter what kind of candle it is lit from.
2) The Orthodox received the Holy Fire for thousands of years under the rule of Muslim Arabs, Turks, Latins, and Jews who were hostile to them, yet no one was able to convict the Orthodox clergy of any fraud.
3) According to eyewitnesses, the temperature of Fire is about 40-45 degrees C. Chemistry does not know substances that burn under normal conditions with such a flame temperature.
4) It is interesting to hear what special atmosphere Orthodox priests could create, for example, in the 12th century, when there was no dome as such (when it rained, it dripped on the parishioners), especially considering that the keys to the temple are owned by the Muslim family, the temple itself Closes at night every day.

Believers lubricate body parts with a special composition so that it does not burn.

1) What is this composition, who will make science happy with its formula?
2) I wonder why beards don’t burn (and they are also washed with Fire).
3) Would all 10,000 pilgrims annually attending the Festival in the Temple, who arrived from different parts of the world, would do something like this together, and in such a way that no one still knows about this trick? Would they really agree to wait impatiently for a Miracle for 24 hours in terrible cramped conditions?

The Holy Fire is a natural phenomenon. Easter Day was specially calculated by the Orthodox, who knew astronomy, and a special place was chosen.

1) The date of the celebration of Orthodox Easter is set according to the Julian calendar, so as to always be after the Jewish one, as happened in the time of the Savior.
2) From year to year, the position of the planets and even the phase (age, distance, position in the sky) of the Moon on Easter changes significantly (see table), which indicates the complete failure of the hypothesis about any connection between the descent of the Holy Fire and astronomical phenomena.
3) This “natural phenomenon” must have been very finicky and disobedient if it descended outside the Temple in 1580, when there was no Orthodox priest; "awaited" the Orthodox hierarchs, who were removed from the Temple by the Latins on Easter 1101.
4) If we agree with these assumptions, it turns out that the composition " natural phenomenon"includes a) the descent of Fire from somewhere unknown, b) spontaneous combustion of lamps, candles and even non-burning objects (water, iron) c) lightning-like flashes of light, d) lightning, e) healing of people (recorded on films), etc.

The Holy Fire is a reminder of the Resurrection of Christ, according to the Russian Orthodox Church

The descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on the eve of Orthodox Easter annually reminds of the miracle of the Resurrection of Christ, and believers are free to perceive it as a sign or as a miracle, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church said Orthodox Church on Tuesday at an online conference at RIA Novosti.

Every year, thousands of pilgrims come to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, founded in the 4th century on the site where the earthly journey of Jesus Christ ended, to witness the miracle. Until now, the annual appearance of the Holy Fire in this temple on the eve of Orthodox Easter has not been explained from a scientific point of view. And many Christians believe in its divine origin in response to the prayers of pilgrims and the Orthodox patriarch.

"The descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem, in the main temple of the entire Christian world, in the place where the miracle of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ took place - this is an image that goes back to the prototype. This is an extraordinary, supernatural or close to supernatural event, which does not matter in itself on its own, but as a reminder that the Lord has risen and the laws of nature are being overcome,” said Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, first deputy chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University.

He called the tradition of bringing the Holy Fire to churches in Russia, established in recent years, good.

“There is no need to make it absolute and transfer the center of the Easter celebration - touching the Resurrection of Christ - to the expectation of the Holy Fire. There is no need to be upset if it is not delivered to your church. There is no need to create a crush and fuss in order to be closer to this lamp and from it light your personal candle,” said the archpriest.

Another participant in the online conference, Chairman of the Information Department of the Moscow Patriarchate Vladimir Legoida, noted that the Church never uses a miracle “as a last trump card or argument” in matters of faith. The representative of the Russian Orthodox Church considers the existing doubts of skeptics about the miraculous nature of the Holy Fire to be normal.

“A miracle, unlike scientific conclusions, does not have a violent character. A person is always free to accept something as an action of God, or not to accept it. For me, there are just existing doubts about what is happening there in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and there is one more thing confirmation of the authenticity of a miracle, because a miracle is always free. You are always free to accept it or not,” Legoida said.

He was in Jerusalem several times “at the descent of the Holy Fire” and always heard different reviews. "Even the actions there different people produced. Someone, indeed, washed himself with this fire - and his big beard did not catch fire... And someone said: “Oh, but it burns me,” and so on. That is, there is a certain freedom of perception here. And this, it seems to me, is very important - this is what corresponds to the Gospel. Because never in the Gospel do we see a statement of faith based on a miracle or a requirement to accept a miracle as the basis of faith,” noted a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Material prepared:

Every year, with the onset of Easter, the Orthodox public is seized with a craving for miracles. And to her once again such a miracle is shown - the descent of the Holy Fire. Broadcast live on federal Russian channels. Functionaries of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation organize the distribution of the Holy Fire on an all-Russian scale.

The fact that the Holy Fire is the work of human hands has been said more than once since the early Middle Ages. The first exposers of the miracle were, of course, Muslims interested in discrediting Christianity (and Muslims ruled Jerusalem for a little less than twelve centuries - from 637 to 1917 with two breaks). Islamic theologians and travelers left such evidence.

Ibn al-Qalanisi (mid-12th century): “When they are there on Easter... they hang lamps in the altar and arrange a trick so that the fire reaches them through the oil of balsam tree and devices made from it, and its property is that fire arises when combined with jasmine oil. It has a bright light and brilliant shine. They manage to pass a stretched iron wire between adjacent lamps... and rub it with balsam oil, hiding it from view... When they pray and the time of descent comes, the doors of the altar open... They enter and light many candles... Someone standing tries to bring the fire closer to the thread , he...moves through all the lamps from one to another until he lights them all. Whoever looks at this thinks that fire has come down from heaven..."

Al-Jaubari (first half of the 13th century): “The fact is that at the top of the dome there is an iron box connected to a chain on which it is suspended. It is strengthened in the very vault of the dome, and no one sees it... And when the evening of the Saturday of light comes, the monk goes up to the box and puts sulfur in it... and under it there is a fire, calculated until the hour when he needs the descent of the light. He smears the chain with oil of balsam wood and, when the time comes, the fire ignites the composition at the junction of the chain with this attached box. Balsam oil collects at this point and begins to flow along the chain, down to the lamp. The fire touches the wick of the lamp...and lights it.”

Ibn al-Jawzi (mid-13th century): “I investigated how the lamp is lit on Sunday - the festival of light... When the sun sets and it becomes dark, one of the priests takes advantage of his inattention, opens a niche in the corner of the chapel, where no one can see him, lights his candle from one of the lamps and exclaims: “The light descended and Christ was merciful”...

The “moving marble icon” mentioned by Viceroy Misail covers the “niche in the corner of the chapel” that Ibn al-Jawzi wrote about six centuries earlier.

Of course, for a Christian, the testimony of a non-Christian is not worth much. But in the Christian world, the attitude towards the miracle of the Holy Fire was also skeptical in places. In 1238, Pope Gregory IX refused to acknowledge its miraculous nature, and since then the Roman Catholic Church has been of the opinion that the Holy Fire is a “trick of the Eastern schismatics.”

Orthodox hierarchs themselves avoid statements about the nature of the Holy Fire, giving the opportunity to speak out “ ordinary people" But even people of clergy wrote about the man-made nature of fire. Thus, the founder and first head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky), wrote down two stories: “The hierodeacon, having climbed into the chapel of the Sepulcher at the time when, according to general belief, the Holy Fire was descending, he saw with horror that the fire was being lit simply from a lamp. , which never goes out, and so the Holy Fire is not a miracle. He himself told me about this today,” according to Hierodeacon Gregory, “The Book of My Genesis”, part 1.

“When the famous lord of Syria and Palestine Ibrahim, Pasha of Egypt, was in Jerusalem... This Pasha decided to make sure whether the fire really suddenly and miraculously appeared on the lid of the Tomb of Christ... 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 case of truth they would be given 5,000 pungs (2,500,000 piastres), and in case of lies, let them give to him all the money collected from deceived fans, and that he will publish in all the newspapers of Europe about the vile forgery. The governors of Petro-Arabia, Misail, and Metropolitan Daniel of Nazareth, and Bishop Dionysius of Philadelphia (currently of Bethlehem) came together to consult what to do. During the minutes of deliberation, Misail admitted that he was lighting a fire in a cuvuklia from a lamp hidden behind a moving marble icon of the Resurrection of Christ, which is near the Holy Sepulcher.

After this confession, it was decided to humbly ask Ibrahim not to interfere in religious affairs and a dragoman of the Holy Sepulcher monastery was sent to him, who pointed out to him that there was no benefit for his lordship to reveal the secrets of Christian worship and that the Russian Emperor Nicholas would be very dissatisfied with the discovery of these secrets. Ibrahim Pasha, having heard this, waved his hand and fell silent... Having told all this, the Metropolitan said that God alone is expected to stop (our) pious lies. As he knows and can, he will calm the peoples who now believe in the fiery miracle of the Great Saturday. But we can’t even begin this revolution in the minds, we will be torn to pieces right at the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre...” - from the words Metropolitan Dionysius, “The Book of My Genesis”, part 3.

Already in our time there is evidence Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem- in whose jurisdiction the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is located. In April 2008, receiving a delegation from the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, he, among other things, answered a question about the nature of the Holy Fire. This is how deacon Andrei Kuraev, who participated in the meeting, describes it: “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.”

Why do the church fathers refuse to acknowledge the man-made nature of fire and continue to talk about an “unusual and miraculous phenomenon”? Apparently, they see a miracle as a means of strengthening faith and increasing the size of the flock. Meanwhile, true faith has no reasons and, as a result, does not need miracles as a means of strengthening. Several years ago, representatives of the Foundation for Christian Education and Charity named after St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) turned to Patriarch Kirill with a request to give a “theological, liturgical and historical assessment of both the “fire of Great Saturday” itself, kindled in Jerusalem, and the widespread practice of its excessive veneration during the celebration of the Holy Day. Christ's Resurrection" There was no answer.

The secret of the place.Edicule is not the Holy Sepulcher at all

Whatever the nature of the Holy Fire, it may be of value simply because it was lit at the Holy Sepulcher. The problem, however, is that the Edicule is not the Holy Sepulcher at all.

As you know, after being removed from the cross, the Savior’s body was placed in a cave located on the property that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, a friend of Pilate and a secret follower of Christ. Joseph bought this plot in the gardens outside the city wall for the future burial of his family members, but by the time of the crucifixion no one had yet been buried there.

In 41 - less than 10 years after the crucifixion of Jesus - Herod Agrippa began another expansion of Jerusalem. By the year 44, both the Holy Sepulcher and all the burials closest to it were inside the new - third - city wall. Since, according to the Jewish ideas of that time, the cemetery could not be located inside the city, the burials were moved to a new location, and the vacated territory began to be intensively built up.

In 66, 33 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, the famous Jewish War began, which was an intricate combination of the liberation war of the Jews against the Romans and civil war the Jews among themselves - the Secarii and the Zealots engaged in mutual extermination, killing along the way everyone who came to hand. During civil strife, they burned most of Jerusalem. The little that remained was broken by the Romans, who took the city. Even then, the location of the Holy Sepulcher could only be indicated very approximately. But that was not the end of the matter.

In 132, the Bar Kokhba revolt broke out. In 135 it was suppressed. Jerusalem was once again burned, and its population - including those who could preserve the memory of the site of the Holy Sepulcher - slaughtered. After this, the Jews, under pain of death, were forbidden to even approach the place where the city was located. The very name Jerusalem was banned. On its ruins, by order of Emperor Publius Aelius Hadrian, the new city of Aelia Capitolina began to be built. The area between the remains of the second and third walls was allocated for the construction of barracks. The terrain was leveled - the elevations were cut down, the depressions were filled in, the space between the buildings was paved with stone. On the site where the Holy Sepulcher was once supposedly located, the Temple of Venus was built, and next to it passed main street new city - Cardo Maximus.

Was it possible after all this to find the burial place of Christ?

Empress Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, founder of the Byzantine Empire, decided that it was possible. In 325, she organized excavations aimed at finding the Holy Sepulcher. In 326, a cave was discovered, which it was decided to consider the Holy Sepulcher.

On the site of the Holy Sepulcher, or rather, above this place, an impressive temple complex. But in 637, Jerusalem was captured by Muslims. Three s extra years they demonstrated incredible tolerance, but in 1009 the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was destroyed, and the Holy Sepulcher itself was completely destroyed: a small stone elevation with a niche - the very cave where the body of Christ once rested - was split into many stones, the stones were broken into rubble, the crushed stone is ground into dust, the dust is scattered in the wind...

Thus, it is unknown whether Empress Helena found the place, and if so, it means that the real Holy Sepulcher was destroyed ten centuries ago.

Maxim Troshichev