Like fire descends from heaven. Exposing the Miracle of the Holy Fire

In 2001, the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne of the Church of Jerusalem, Metropolitan Kornily of Peter, in an interview with the program “GKRIZES ZONES” on the Greek TV channel “MEGA” recalled that “every creation of God is good, because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4, 4- 5). According to him, in the case of the Holy Fire, or as it is called in Greek - the Holy Light, “we are talking about natural, natural light, but the prayers read by the Patriarch or another bishop replacing him sanctify this natural light, and as a result of this he has the grace of the Holy Light. This is a natural light, which is lit from the Inextinguishable Lamp, kept in the sacristy of the Church of the Resurrection. But prayers have the power to sanctify natural light, and it also becomes supernatural light. The miracle is in the epiclesis, in the prayer of the bishop; this light is sanctified by it"

I, of course, with reverence am to this event. And, of course, I really don’t like hysteria, no matter what authoritative lips it comes from. I also want to say that we in the Russian Spiritual Mission began to study the text of the Order of the Holy Light. In this order of office, we are talking about the fact that "Christ is the True Light", that "The Light of Christ enlightens all." When the Resurrection of Christ took place, a glow was visible. It is clear that the Light of Christ or the Light of Tabor is not actually a flame, it is precisely the Divine Light. But we, people, are constantly trying to replace the living God with His image, His icon - it is more convenient for us to pray this way, otherwise we cannot contain Him in our limited consciousness. We have the Body and Blood of Christ under the guise of bread and wine, and therefore the Divine Light is presented in the form of Fire, which we can really see, which we can even kindle ourselves."

It is generally accepted that only people who adhere to the relevant beliefs believe in the existence of religious miracles. At the same time, not a single skeptic can explain the phenomenon of such a miracle as the Holy Fire, no matter what arguments he tries.

What is the Holy Fire?

An amazing phenomenon has been studied more than once by scientists and religious figures who could not find at least proof of the natural origin of the phenomenon called “the condescension of the Holy Fire”. It includes:

Ceremony preparing for the emergence 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, the international broadcast of the ceremony by TV channels begins.
The appearance of the Holy Fire and its transfer to other clergy.
The beginning of the first celebrations in honor of .

How does the Holy Fire appear?

The process of the emergence of flames deserves special attention. At about 10 o'clock in the morning, a religious procession begins to move to the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, led by the Patriarch and the highest ranks of the clergy. After they come close to Kuvuklia (the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher), events begin to unfold as follows:

So that the believers would not have doubts about where the Holy Fire comes from, the Patriarch undresses and remains in one white undershirt, under which nothing can be carried.
It is inspected by representatives of the Turkish and Israeli police, according to a tradition that has existed since the 14th century.
The Patriarch is approaching the entrance to Kuvukliya 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 faithful are left to wait for a miracle outside the doors.

How does the Holy Fire descend?

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

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

Why does the Holy Fire not burn?

The sheaf of candles held by the Patriarch consists of 33 pieces (according to the number of years Jesus spent on Earth). The only one who personally saw the secret of the Holy Fire takes the bundle out of Kuvuklia and hands it over to the Armenian Metropolitan. He shows it to the believers, and they light their candles from it. Weakened after fervent prayer, the Patriarch, as soon as he appears at the door, is lifted up in his arms and carried to the exit with hymns. Meanwhile, those who first visited Jerusalem are surprised to note the special properties of the flame:

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

How to bring the Holy Fire home?

No less important for the believer is not only the opportunity to see the Fire, but also the desire to take away its particle 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 idea, 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 prevents the lampada from going out;
vaseline oil, which is used to support combustion.

What should be done with the Holy Fire?

Most spiritual guides do not recommend turning into idolaters and turning fire into a kind of cult. Believers should 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 you to:

Orthodox, unable to come to the temple, personally see the miracle;
remind about bright holiday Easter, which he marks;
gain spiritual strength for fasting on Great Saturday.

Holy Fire - true or false?

If church officials consider it sinful to doubt the sacred nature of the phenomenon, then journalists and scientists are not shy in the most daring assumptions that the descent of the Holy Fire has a completely earthly origin. Supporters of different versions are leading options such as:

Concealment of fire from those who inspect 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 Sepulcher 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 a certain temperature 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 Andrey Volkov was admitted to Edicule before Holy Saturday, who received the approval of the Orthodox Church to install equipment with sensitive sensors. Before him, no one knew the answer to the slippery question, how scientists explain the convergence of the Holy Fire, Andrei Volkov’s research gave mixed results:

A few seconds before the appearance of the flame at the Holy Sepulcher, the physicist recorded an unusual long-wave electrical impulse that arose spontaneously.
During the ignition of the cotton wool laid out on the lid of the tombstone, the pulse fluctuations increased many times over.
Power measurements showed that the flash of fire can be compared to the operation of a low-power welding machine.
Scientific diagnostics of a crack on a column at the entrance to Kuvuklia proved that such damage could occur solely under the influence of electricity.

Holy Fire - interesting facts

The mystical character of the nature of Fire in history has been repeatedly associated with curious events. It was worth breaking at least one tradition of his appearance, as the course of the ceremony changed in front of all the witnesses. The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire underwent sharp interventions twice:

In 1101, the Latin Patriarch of Choque decided to take over the reins of the greatest Christian miracle in the world. own hands. The desire to unravel his secret so captured the heretic that he tortured the monks and received from them all the details of the procedure for obtaining Fire. The flame never appeared 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 enter the Kuvuklia first. 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 emanate from it.

In all official sources In the Orthodox Church, this sacred fire is called the Holy Fire. People believe that if miracles happen somewhere on earth, then only in Jerusalem.

This fire descends, of course, from heaven at noon on holy Saturday. The day before the onset of the Bright Sunday of Christ. Why not on Sunday itself, we do not know. God works in mysterious ways. Since the resurrected Jesus decided to show the world the miracle of the descent of the sacred fire precisely on Saturday, it means that at this time, two thousand years ago, the Angel of the Lord could illuminate with this fire the dark burial cave where the body of the crucified Savior lay.

This was first told to us by St. Gregory of Nyssa, who lived at the end of the 4th century. True, this saint did not live in Jerusalem, but in Syria, and did not see a miracle with his own eyes. And he testifies not about himself, but about the Apostle Peter. Interestingly, according to Gregory of Nyssa, Peter saw the sacred fire not with his own eyes, but as if intuitively, “ high apostolic mind". This evidence is not accepted by everyone. Firstly, none of the evangelists knew about him, and secondly, Peter, as follows from the story of St. Luke, who, having entered the cave and "bending down, he saw only the sheets lying, and went back, marveling at what had happened in himself"(Luke 24:12) we managed to visit the cave only on the first day of the week, in our opinion - on Sunday, while the sacred fire descends in Jerusalem on Saturday.

The next in line of evidence of the Holy Fire is the church historian Eusebius Pamphilus of Caesarea. Also from the 4th century. The figure is very significant and deserving of unquestioning trust when it comes to events of which he himself was a contemporary. We will return to this later, talking about the history of finding the True Cross of the Lord. But in everything that seemed to be events at which Eusebius himself was not, there he completely relies on the traditions and “testimonies” of the Church Fathers, who lived both a hundred and two hundred years before him. In this story, Eusebius tells of the patriarch Narkiss, who served in Jerusalem in the second century. The story of Narkiss is like two drops of water similar to the famous miracle of Hanukkah. There was also not enough oil in the lamp, water from the Siloam font was poured into it, and the lamp burned with sacred fire in the same way. But the fact is that Jerusalem of the second century is the Roman provincial town of Aelia Capitolina. And on the site of the current Temple, where the sacred fire was supposed to descend, there was a temple of the goddess Venus. And it is unlikely that pious Christians, then still in the majority of the Jews, would begin to serve in such an abominable place.

There are several more "evidence" about the miraculous lighting of the lamps in the Temple, which were seen by the pilgrims who visited it during the time of Byzantium. But already with the beginning of Muslim rule in the Holy Land, they began to be skeptical about the descent of the sacred fire in Jerusalem. True, the opinions of Arab authors differ here. Some of them claim that this is a trick used by the servants of the Temple, while others, such as Ahmad ibn al-Kassa, considered this a real miracle. By the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th century, a rite was established in Jerusalem, according to which the local ruler from Muslims sealed the doors of the Temple, while Christians stood in the courtyard and prayed. The fire appeared suddenly, the inhabitants of Jerusalem immediately lit lamps and candles from it, and carried this blessed fire to their homes.

But even then the rulers of the Muslim world sensed what is called unkind. One of them, the emir of Baghdad, tried to ban worship, accusing Christian ministers of making this fire with some kind of "magical art." But already at the beginning of the 11th century, Muslims began to treat the convergence of the sacred fire in Jerusalem with a certain respect, if not reverently. The ceremony of his descent was attended by local imams, who lit lamps in mosques from this fire. And there was nothing terrible for Muslims in such veneration of the sacred fire in Jerusalem. After all, Issa-Jesus is the same prophet of Islam, like all his predecessors: Ibrahim-, Daoud-, Suleiman- and others.

But the situation became extremely aggravated by 1009, when the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim, being not quite in his right mind, declared himself a kind of supreme deity. There was no place for the rest of the "deities" in his host, so he ordered the Temple of the Resurrection (the current Church of the Holy Sepulcher) to be destroyed to the ground. So the Christian East and Europe were left without their main miracle. And about the descent blessed fire ceased to speak for almost a century, until at the end of the 11th century, Pope Urban II remembered him in his famous speech in Clermont, where he urged Christians to go to crusade against the infidels and liberate the Holy Sepulcher. The pope promises the holy army to forgive all sins, reminds the future conquerors that, and that "in the temple, suddenly extinguished lamps ignite." Imagine what an explosion of religious feelings and bloodthirsty instincts his words caused in the landless wandering chivalry of France and Italy, who hunted robberies and robberies on the roads!

When in 1099, after long labors and hundreds of thousands of innocently chopped and burned inhabitants of Palestine, the crusaders captured the Holy City, sacred fire again began to descend from heaven in Jerusalem. True, there was one serious problem here. The fire would never go to the Temple if a Catholic Christian read the prayer. Therefore, in the testimony of Abbot Daniel, who visited the Holy Land during the reign of the crusaders, it is said that the sacred fire did not descend to the Catholic bishops, but only to the Orthodox. No matter how hard the poor Catholics tried, no matter how many tricks they resorted to, the sacred fire would never agree to answer their prayers! It is reliably known that in 1101, that is, two years after the conquest of Jerusalem by the crusaders, no miracle happened in the Temple.

For the entire short century of the reign of the crusaders in the Holy City, from 1099 to 1187, there are very few references to the miracles of the descent of the sacred fire in Jerusalem. But since the conquest of the city by the Muslim ruler Sallah ad-Din (Saladin, as he was called in Europe), enlightened Arab historians began to show interest in this miracle again. Already in the 13th century, the writer Al-Jawbari, in his book on secrets and tricks, calls the actions of Christian monks "cunning". He is echoed by Ibn al-Jawzi, who speaks of a source of hidden fire in the chapel of the Temple.

Christian apologists naturally come to the defense of a supernatural phenomenon that stirs the minds of pilgrims and drives them on their way to the Holy Land. After all, it is there, in Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher built by the Crusaders, on Great Saturday before the Bright Sunday of Christ, the sacred blessed fire descends from heaven, illuminating the entire Temple with its light! But already in the 15th century, a traveler named Paul Walter tells that Muslims open the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for pilgrims, and three bishops pray for the descent of the sacred fire. One of them is Greek, the second is Armenian, and the third represents the Coptic Orthodox community. It turns out that by that time the Vatican had already lost all control over the Jerusalem shrines. And if you look closely at the list of those who have testified since then about this universal miracle, then it contains mainly Orthodox, Russians and Greeks.

But enough history, let's look at this miracle through the eyes of a modern Orthodox person! It is Orthodox, because Catholics no longer take any part in prayers for the descent of the Holy Fire. There is no need to talk about reformists - Protestants, Baptists, Evangelicals and others. Their shrines - Golgotha and the Holy Sepulcher - are not in the Temple, but in a completely different place in Jerusalem. And no sacred fire has ever been observed in these places.

A few years ago, the Russian media and the Russian Orthodox Church witnessed a scandal that erupted after the statement of the "deacon of all Russia" Andrei Kuraev that the convergence of the Holy Fire is nothing more than a "trick with a lighter." I will add on my own that modern chemistry has more than a dozen ways to kindle the "sacred fire" without the help of a lighter. So, the formal search of the Greek Patriarch Theophilus at the entrance to Kuvuklia (“Tomb of the Holy Sepulcher”) in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday morning is only a pro forma, which is observed in age-old tradition established by the Muslims. As I said, it was they who first questioned the truth of the Christian miracle. By the way, the Armenians, who have been assigned a secondary role in this whole story with fire, have also repeatedly accused their Greek competitors of forgery.

They say that in a personal conversation between Kuraev and Theophilus, the Patriarch of Jerusalem admitted that if he reveals the whole truth to the world, he will simply be torn to pieces. But this is so, idle gossip ... In fact, the Orthodox Church, both Russian and Greek, has long been using the sacred fire as a popular talk show, attracting a huge number of viewers. It is clear that only a few lucky ones can visit the Temple at this time. True, the local Arabs may not help free of charge those who really want to spend the night in the Temple and get on the solemn descent from the sky of bright golden sparks, illuminating the Rotunda of the Temple plunged into darkness. Well, the rest can see how the Holy Fire descends on the screens of their TVs. It is clear that the organizers of such a show, Orthodox Greeks in Jerusalem, would never refuse to earn a couple of millions on it!

The idea that the burning of candles and lamps in the Temple from the supposedly “sacred fire” is a falsification is not new. It was talked about by scholars, theologians, representatives of various faiths, including Orthodox Church. The most famous are the statements in the middle of the last century by the late professor of the Leningrad Theological Academy Nikolai Dmitrievich Uspensky. He believed that in Kuvuklia the fire is lit from a secret hidden lamp, the light of which does not penetrate into the open space of the Temple, where all the candles and lamps are extinguished by the time of prayers. However, the professor claims that “The fire lit on the Holy Sepulcher from a hidden lamp is still a sacred fire received from a sacred place…”.

Like it or not, we don't know. What the Holy Holy Fire in Jerusalem really is is a matter of faith. If you believe in its miraculous descent, come to Jerusalem on the eve of Great Easter! Maybe you are lucky, and you, following the other lucky ones, will witness this miracle, performed annually in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

In the meantime, listen to the story of an eyewitness and participant in these events ...

(video by Vladislav Kipnis)

The Holy Fire is an unsolvable and mysterious mystery for scientists around the world. But not for Christians! We know that the Holy Fire is an Easter symbol that the Lord himself gives us from heaven! And the convergence of this great and beautiful gift from God has been going on since ancient times.

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

On the eve in the temple, all candles, lamps, chandeliers are extinguished. As early as the beginning of the 20th century. this was carefully observed: the strictest search was carried out by the Turkish authorities inside the chapel; on the slander of the Catholics, they even reached the revision of the pockets of the clergy metropolitan, the vicar of the patriarch ... because of suspicion, the patriarch is forced to undress himself to his cassock, so that it can be seen that he does not bring matches into the cave or anything that can light a fire. During the reign of the Turks, the close "control" of the patriarch was carried out by Turkish Janissaries, who searched him before entering the Kuvukliya, at the present time the Jewish policemen examine the patriarch.

Shortly before the arrival of the patriarch, the priest brings into the cave a large lamp, 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 also undresses before entering the cave) enter inside. They are sealed with a large piece of wax and a red ribbon is placed on the door; Orthodox ministers put their seals. At this time, the lights in the temple are turned off.

After sealing the Kuvuklia, Orthodox Arab youth runs into the temple, whose presence is also obligatory element Easter celebrations. Young people sit on each other's shoulders like riders. They ask mother of god and gentlemen, that he bestow the Holy Fire on the Orthodox. "There is no Faith other than the Orthodox Faith, Christ is the True God," they chant. For European parishioners, accustomed to other forms of expression of feelings and calm worship, it is very unusual to see such behavior of local youth. However, the Lord reminded us that he also accepts such a childishly naive, but sincere appeal to him. During the time when Jerusalem was under the British Mandate, the English governor once tried to ban these "Savage" dances. The patriarch prayed in the Kuvuklia for two hours: the fire did not come down. Then the patriarch, by his own will, ordered the Arabs to be let in .... And the fire descended. "The Arabs, as it were, are addressing all peoples: the Lord confirms the correctness of our faith by bringing down the Holy Fire on the eve of Orthodox Easter. What do you believe in?

All the people in the temple are patiently waiting for the patriarch to come out with fire in his hands. However, in the hearts of many people there is not only patience, but also awe 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 a holy place. AT different years the agonizing wait lasts from five minutes to several hours.

Before the descent, the temple begins to be illuminated by bright flashes of blessed light, small lightning flashes here and there. In slow motion, it is clearly seen that they come from different places in the temple - from the icon hanging over the cuvuklia, from the dome of the temple, from 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 without any harm through standing people.

A moment later, the whole temple turns out to be belted with lightning and glare, which snake down its walls and columns, as if flowing down to the foot of the temple and spreading over the square among the pilgrims. At the same time, candles are lit at those standing in the temple and on the square, the lamps themselves are lit; "And suddenly a drop falls on the face, and then a cry of delight and shock is heard in the crowd. The fire in the altar of the catholicon is burning! The flash and flame are like a huge flower. And the cuvuklia is still dark. Slowly, slowly, by candlelight, the fire from the altar begins to descend towards us And then a thunderous cry makes you look back at Cuvuklia. It shines, the whole wall shimmers with silver, white lightning streams through it. The fire pulsates and breathes, and from the hole in the dome of the temple a vertical wide column of light descended from the sky on the coffin." The temple or some of its 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 coffin open and the Orthodox Patriarch comes out, who blesses the audience and distributes the Holy Fire.

However, not everyone lights a fire from a patriarchal candle; for some, it lights up on its own. “Brighter and stronger flashes of heavenly light. Now the blessed fire began to fly all over the temple. It scattered in bright blue beads over the cuvuklia around the icon of the Resurrection of the Lord, and one of the lamps flared up, burst into the temple chapels, onto Golgotha (lit on her also one of the lamps), sparkled over the stone of chrismation (the lamp was also lit here. Some of the wicks of candles were charred, some of them lit up lamps, bunches of candles by themselves. One of the witnesses notes how a woman standing next to him lit candles three times, which she twice tried to put out.

The first time - 3-10 minutes, the lit fire has amazing properties- does not burn at all, regardless of which candle and where it will be lit. You can see how the parishioners literally wash themselves with this fire - they drive it over their faces, over their hands, scoop it up in handfuls, and it does no harm, at first it does not even scorch their hair.

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

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

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

Shortly before the Patriarch, the underling 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 undressed before entering the cave) enter inside. They are sealed with a large piece of wax and a red ribbon is placed on the door; Orthodox ministers put their seals. At this time, the lights turn off in the temple and there is a tense silence - 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 the 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 a holy place.

Prayer and ritual continue until the expected miracle happens. In different years, the agonizing wait lasts from five minutes to several hours.

Convergence

Before the descent, the temple begins to be illuminated by bright flashes of the Blessed Light, small lightning flashes here and there. In slow motion, it is clearly seen that they come from different places in the temple - from the icon hanging over Kuvuklia, from the dome of the Temple, from 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 without any harm through standing people.

A moment later, the whole temple turns out to be belted with lightning and glare, which snake down its walls and columns, as if flowing down to the foot of the temple and spreading over the square among the pilgrims. At the same time, candles are lit at those standing in the temple and on the square, the lamps themselves are lit, located on the sides of Kuvuklia, they light up on their own (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. Fire burns in the altar of the Katholikon! Flash and flame - like a huge flower. And Kuvuklia is still dark. Slowly, slowly, by candlelight, the fire from the altar begins to descend towards us. And then a thunderous cry makes you look back at Cuvuklia. It shines, the whole wall shimmers with silver, white lightning streams over it. The fire pulsates and breathes, and from the hole in the dome of the Temple, a vertical wide 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, who blesses those gathered and distributes the Holy Fire.

The patriarchs themselves tell about how the Holy Fire lights up. “I saw how the Metropolitan bent over the low entrance, entered the den 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 Meletios cites the words of Archbishop Misail: “When I entered the Holy Sepulcher of the Lord, seeing that on the entire lid of the tombs, light shines, like scattered small beads, in the form of white, blue, scarlet and other flowers, which then copulating, blushed and turned into the substance of fire ... and from this fire the prepared kandila and candles are kindled.

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

However, not everyone lights a fire from a patriarchal candle; for some, it lights up on its own. “Brighter and stronger flash of Heavenly Light. Now the Holy Fire began to fly all over the temple. It scattered with bright blue beads over Kuvukliya around the icon of the Resurrection of the Lord, and one of the lamps flared up after it. He burst into the temple chapels, to Golgotha (he also lit one of the lamps on it), sparkled over the Stone of Anointing (the lamp was also lit here). Someone's candle wicks were charred, someone's lamps, bunches of candles flared up by themselves. The flashes became more and more intensified, sparks here and there spread through the bunches of candles. One of the witnesses notes how a woman standing next to him lit up candles 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 which candle and where it will be lit. You can see how the parishioners literally wash themselves with this Fire - they drive it over their faces, over their hands, scoop it up in handfuls, and it does no harm, at first it does not even scorch their hair. “He lit 20 candles in one place and burned his brother with all those candles, and not a single hair writhed or burned; and having extinguished all the candles and then lit them with other people, I lit those candles, and I also lit those candles on the third day, and then touching my wife, I didn’t scorch a single hair, nor writhed ... ”- wrote four centuries ago one of the pilgrims. The droplets of wax that fall from the candles are called the blessed dew by the parishioners. As a reminder of the Miracle of the Lord, they will remain on the clothes of witnesses forever, no powders and washings will take them.

The people who are at this time in the temple 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 during the descent of fire, the depth of feelings of the overwhelmed people at that moment was fantastic - eyewitnesses left the temple as if reborn, as they themselves say - spiritually cleansed and enlightened. What is especially remarkable is that even those who are uncomfortable with this God-given sign do not remain indifferent.

There are also rarer miracles. Filming on one of the videotapes testifies to the healings taking place. Visually, the camera demonstrates two such cases - in a person with a disfigured, rotting ear, a wound smeared with Fire closes right before his eyes and the ear takes on a normal appearance, and also a case of a blind man's insight is shown (according to external observations, a person had thorns in both eyes before being "washed" by Fire).

In the future, from the Holy Fire, lamps will be lit throughout Jerusalem, and the Fire will be delivered by special flights to Cyprus and Greece, from where it will be transported all over the world. Recently, direct participants in the events began to bring it to our country. In the areas of the city adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, candles and lamps in churches light up by themselves.

Is it only Orthodox?

Many non-Orthodox, when they first hear about the Holy Fire, try to reproach the Orthodox: how do you know that it was bestowed on you? But what if he was received by a representative of another Christian denomination? However, attempts by force to challenge the right to receive the Holy Fire on the part of representatives of other denominations have been and have happened more than once.

For only a few centuries, Jerusalem was under the control of Eastern Christians, but most of the time, as now, the city was ruled by representatives of other teachings that were unfriendly or even hostile to Orthodoxy.

In 1099, Jerusalem was conquered by the crusaders, the Roman and local mayors, revering the Orthodox as apostates, boldly began to trample on their rights. The English historian Stephen Runciman cites in his book the story of this chronicler of the Western Church: “The first Latin patriarch Arnold of Choquet began unsuccessfully: he ordered the expulsion of heretic sects from their limits in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, then he began to torture Orthodox monks, seeking where they were keep the Cross and other relics ... A few months later, Arnold was replaced on the throne by Daimbert from Pisa, who went even further. He tried to expel all local Christians, even Orthodox Christians, from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and allow only Latins there, generally depriving the rest of the church buildings in Jerusalem or near it ... God's retribution soon struck: already in 1101 on Holy Saturday, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire did not happen in Kuvuklia, until Eastern Christians were invited to participate in this rite. Then King Baldwin I took care of the return of their rights to the local Christians…”.

The chaplain of the Crusader Kings of Jerusalem, Fulk, relates that when Western worshipers (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 turmoil, because the holy fire did not appear and the faithful remained in vain waiting all day in the Church of the Resurrection. Then, as if by heavenly inspiration, the Latin clergy and the king with all his court went ... to the temple of Solomon, recently converted by them from the mosque of Omar, and meanwhile the Greeks and Syrians, who remained at St. Tomb, tearing their clothes, with cries called for the grace of God, and then, finally, came down St. Fire".

But the most significant event 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 city authorities to allow them to celebrate Easter alone and receive the Holy Fire. At the call of the Armenian clergy, many of their fellow believers 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 Kuvuklia, but from the Temple in general. There, at the entrance to the shrine, they remained to pray for the descent of Fire, mourning the separation from Grace. The Armenian Patriarch prayed for about a day, however, despite his prayerful efforts, no miracle followed. At one moment, a ray struck from the sky, as is usually the case with the descent of Fire, and hit exactly the column at the entrance, next to which was the Orthodox Patriarch. Fiery bursts splashed from it in all directions and a candle was lit at the Orthodox Patriarch, who handed over the Holy Fire to the fellow believers. This was the only case in history when the descent took place outside the Temple, in fact, through the prayers of an Orthodox, and not an Armenian high priest. “Everyone rejoiced, and the Orthodox Arabs began to jump and shout for joy: “You are our one God, Jesus Christ, our true faith is one - the faith of Orthodox Christians,” writes Monk Parthenius. At the same time, Turkish soldiers were in the enfilades of buildings adjacent to the temple square. One of them, named Omir (Anvar), saw what was happening and exclaimed: “The only Orthodox faith, I am a Christian” and jumped down onto stone slabs from a height of about 10 meters. However, the young man did not crash - the slabs under his feet melted like wax, imprinting his footprints. For the adoption of Christianity, the Muslims executed the brave Anvar and tried to scrape off the traces that so clearly testify to the triumph of Orthodoxy, but they did not succeed, and those who come to the Temple can still see them, like the dissected column at the doors 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 convent Great Panagia, exuding fragrance.

The Turkish authorities were very angry with the arrogant Armenians, and at first even wanted to execute the hierarch, but later they had mercy and ordered him to always follow the Orthodox Patriarch as a warning about what had happened at the Easter ceremony and henceforth not to take a direct part in receiving the Holy Fire. Although the government has changed a long time ago, the custom is still preserved,. However, this was not the only attempt by Muslims, denying the Passion and the 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 copper wire hoping that the lamps will not light up and the miracle itself will not happen. But then, when the fire came down, copper caught fire.

It is difficult to enumerate all the numerous events that take place before the descent of the Holy Fire and during it. 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 happened for the first time on Good Friday in 1572. The first witnesses were two Frenchmen, a letter about this from one of them is kept in the Central Library of Paris. After 5 months - on August 24, Charles IX staged the Massacre of Bartholomew in Paris. In 1939, on the night from Good Friday to Good Saturday, she again began to stream myrrh. Several monks living at the Jerusalem monastery became witnesses. Five months later, on September 1, 1939, the II World War. In 2001 it happened again. Christians did not see anything terrible in this ... but the whole world knows about what happened on September 11 this year in the USA - five months after the myrrh-streaming.

In different years different people other names were used for the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire: Blessed Light, Sacred Light, Light not made by hands, Grace.