The Holy Fire, how it is lit, full version. About how the Holy Fire descends
“Do not be deceived, O Jew, become accustomed to the prophetic speech,
and understand that He is truly the Savior of the world, and the omnipotent one.”
(Stichera 6 on “I cried to the Lord” of the Sunday service of the 5th tone)
Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on the Cross, was buried in a tomb that belonged to Nicodemus, and rose from the tomb on the third day after His death. Where was Mount Golgotha - the place of the Savior’s suffering and the place of His burial? According to Sacred Tradition, in the gospel era, a rock called Golgotha, which exists to this day, on which the Crucifixion of Christ took place, was located almost immediately outside the walls of the then Jerusalem with outside. The Holy Tomb - the cave in which the body of the Savior was located for three days, was carved into a small rock located at a distance of ten meters from Golgotha, which rises somewhat above the rock of the Holy Tomb. In terms of its internal structure, the Holy Tomb was a cave carved into the rock, in which there were two rooms: the far one, which was the actual burial chamber, with a bed - arcosalium - and the entrance room in front of it. In the 4th century, by order of Saint Helen Equal to the Apostles, a magnificent temple was erected over the site of Golgotha and the Holy Tomb - the Basilica, and both Golgotha itself and the Holy Tomb were enclosed under its arches. Until our time, the Basilica was rebuilt several times, even destroyed (614), restored and is now known as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
Since ancient times, directly above the burial cave of the Savior there has been a special chapel - the Edicule. The word "Edicule" means "royal bedchamber." To designate a tomb, this word is used in the only place on earth - in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where the “King of kings and Lord of lords” was laid down for a three-day sleep. Here He rose again, the firstborn from the dead, opening the way to the Resurrection for us all. The modern Edicule is a chapel measuring about eight meters in length and six meters in width, located under the arches of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. As in evangelical times, the Holy Sepulcher, the Holy Tomb currently consists of two rooms: a small “burial chamber” 2.07 x 1.93 meters, almost half occupied by a stone bed - arcosalium, and an entrance room (room) called the chapel Angel, size 3.4x3.9 meters. In the middle of the Angel's chapel there is a pedestal with a part of the sacred stone, which was rolled away from the Holy Tomb by the Angel and on which he sat, addressing the myrrh-bearing women.
The modern Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a huge architectural complex, including Golgotha with the site of the Crucifixion, a rotunda - an architectural structure with a huge dome, under which the Edicule is directly located, the Catholicon, or cathedral Temple, which is the cathedral for the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, the underground Church of the Finding of the Life-Giving Cross, the Holy Temple Equal-to-the-Apostles Helena, several chapels - small churches with their own altars. There are several active monasteries on the territory of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; it includes many auxiliary rooms, galleries, etc. Moreover, various parts of the Temple belong to several Christian denominations. For example, the Church of the Franciscans and the Altar of Nails - to the Catholic Order of St. Francis, Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen, chapel "Three Marys" - Armenian apostolic church, grave of St. Joseph of Arimathea, altar on the western part of the Edicule - Ethiopian (Coptic) church. But the main shrines are Golgotha, Edicule, Catholicon, as well as general guidance services in the Temple belong to the Jerusalem Orthodox Church. Since the time Jerusalem began to belong to Orthodox Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has been located within the city, surrounded by a high square wall under Sultan Suleiman; The length of exactly each of the four sides is exactly one kilometer.
Since ancient times it has been known about the Miracle of the Descent of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher. The descended Fire has unique property: it doesn't burn you in the first minutes. By commanding the Fire to descend, the Lord testifies to His Resurrection. The first witness to the descent of the Holy Light into the Holy Sepulcher was, according to the testimony of St. Fathers, Apostle Peter. Having run to the Tomb after the news of the Resurrection of the Savior, in addition to the burial shrouds, as we read in the Gospel, he saw an amazing light inside the Tomb of Christ. “Having seen this, Peter believed, he saw not only with sensual eyes, but also with a high apostolic mind: the Sepulcher was filled with light, so that although it was night, he saw it in two images: internally, sensually and spiritually.” This is how Saint Gregory of Nyssa tells us about this. The earliest written testimony of an eyewitness to the appearance of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher dates back to the 4th century and was preserved by the church historian Eusebius Pamphilus.
Although according to many, both ancient and modern testimonies, the appearance of the blessed light can be observed in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher throughout the year, the most famous and impressive is the miraculous descent of the Holy Fire on the eve of the Feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ on Holy Saturday. Throughout almost the entire existence of Christianity, this miraculous phenomenon has been observed annually by both Orthodox Christians and representatives of other Christian faiths (Catholics, Armenians, Copts, etc.), as well as representatives of other non-Christian religions. To see the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire, people have been gathering at the Holy Sepulcher since Good Friday; many stay here immediately after the procession of the Cross, which takes place in memory of the events of that day. The descent of the Holy Fire itself takes place on Holy Saturday in the afternoon. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is so filled that people stand close to each other on Saturday morning, even in the most remote places of the Temple. Those who do not get inside the Temple fill the square and the entire surrounding area. According to the most conservative estimates, the capacity of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is up to 20 thousand people, the area around the Temple and the immediate surroundings of the Temple can accommodate another 50 thousand people. On Holy Saturday, the Temple, the square in front of the Temple, and the immediate surroundings are filled with people awaiting the descent of the Holy Fire. This is how it was, according to the descriptions of Russian pilgrims, a hundred, two hundred, and nine hundred years ago. One of the most ancient descriptions of the descent of the Holy Fire belongs to Abbot Daniel, who visited the Holy Tomb in 1106-1107. This is how he describes this event:
“And when it was seven o’clock on the Sabbath day (about 12-13 o’clock modern time. - Auto.), King Baldwin went (the Temple at that time belonged to the Crusaders. - Auto.) with his army to the Holy Sepulcher from his house, everyone went on foot. The king sent messengers to the courtyard of the monastery of Sava the Sanctified and called the abbot and the monks, they went to the Sepulcher, and I, thin, went with them. We came to the king and bowed to him. Then he bowed to the abbot and all the monks and ordered the abbot of the Sava monastery and me, the thin one, to go near him, and he ordered the other abbots and all the monks to go in front of him, and he ordered his army to go behind. And they came to the western doors of the Temple of the Resurrection (The Temple in those days looked different from the modern one. - Auto.). And many people surrounded the church doors and could not then enter the Temple. Then King Baldwin ordered his soldiers to disperse the people by force, and a road was built among the crowd, like a street, all the way to the Sepulcher. We walked to the eastern doors of the Holy Sepulcher, the king went ahead and took his place, on the right side of the fence of the great altar, opposite the eastern doors and the doors of the Sepulcher. Here was the seat of the king, created on an eminence. The king ordered the abbot of the Sava monastery with his monks and Orthodox priests to stand over the Tomb. He ordered me, a thin man, to be placed high above the very doors of the Tomb, opposite the great altar, so that I could see through the doors of the tomb. There are all three grave doors (in the modern Edicule there is one. - Auto.) were sealed with the royal seal.
Catholic priests stood in the great altar. And when the eighth hour of the day arrived, the Orthodox priests began the service at the top of the Tomb, all the spiritual men and many hermits were there. The Catholics in the great altar began to squeal in their own way. So they all sang, and I stood here and diligently looked at the tomb doors. And as they began to read the proverbs of Holy Saturday, at the first reading of the proverbs, the bishop and the deacon came out of the great altar, approached the tomb doors, looked into the Tomb through the sacrum of the doors, did not see the light in the Tomb and returned back. And as they began to read the sixth proverb, the same bishop approached the tomb doors and saw nothing. Then all the people screamed with tears: “Kyrie, eleison!” - which means “Lord, have mercy!” And when the ninth hour had passed and they began to sing the passage song “We sing to the Lord,” then suddenly a small cloud came from the east and stood over the uncovered top of the Temple, a little rain began to fall over the Sepulcher and very wet us standing at the Sepulcher. Then suddenly the light shone in the Holy Sepulchre, a bright brilliance emanated from the Sepulcher.
The bishop came with four deacons, opened the tomb doors, took a candle from King Baldwin, entered the Tomb, lit the first royal candle from the light of the saint, took this candle out of the Tomb and handed it to the king himself. The king stood in his place, holding the candle with great joy.
From the king's candle we lit our candles, and from our candles all the people lit their candles. The holy light is not the same as earthly fire, but the wonderful one glows differently, its flame is red, like cinnabar, glows unspeakably.”
P Almost the same procedure occurs now. Only the modern Temple does not have a hole in the dome; the knightly guards were replaced by Israeli police and Turkish guards. The entrance to the modern Temple is not from the east, but from the south, and Catholics now do not participate in the descent of the Holy Fire. Both historical and modern practice indicates that during the descent of Fire, three groups of participants must be present.
First of all - Patriarch of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church or one of the bishops of the Jerusalem Patriarchate with his blessing (as was the case in 1999 and 2000, when the Fire was received by the Guardian of the Sepulcher, Metropolitan Daniel). Only through the prayers of this obligatory participant in the sacrament of the Holy Fire is the miracle of its descent performed. This is an experience proven over centuries.
In 1578, when the Turkish mayor of Jerusalem was replaced, the Armenian priests agreed with the new mayor to transfer the right to receive the Holy Fire instead of the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem to a representative of the Armenian Church. The Orthodox Patriarch and the clergy in 1579 on Holy Saturday were not even allowed into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. They stood in front of the closed doors of the Temple from the outside. The Armenian clergy entered the Edicule and began to pray to the Lord for the descent of the Fire. But their prayers were not heard. The Orthodox priests standing at the closed doors of the Temple also turned to the Lord with prayers. Suddenly a noise was heard, the column located to the left of the closed doors of the Temple cracked, Fire came out of it and lit candles in the hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. With great joy, the Orthodox priesthood entered the Temple (the Turks immediately expelled the Armenian priests from Edicule) and praised the Lord. Traces of the descent of Fire can still be seen on one of the columns located to the left of the entrance.
Since 1579, no one has challenged or attempted to receive the Holy Fire bypassing the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. Representatives of other Christian faiths are necessarily present in the Temple on Holy Saturday, but receive the Fire from the hands of the Orthodox Patriarch.
Mandatory participants in the sacrament of the descent of the Holy Fire are Abbot and monks of the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified. Of all the ancient monasteries of the Judean Desert, which once flourished with great ascetics, only this monastery, seventeen kilometers from Jerusalem, in the Kidron Valley, not far from the Dead Sea, has been preserved in its original form. In 614, during the invasion of Shah Hasroi, the Persians killed fourteen thousand monks here. There are fourteen monks in the modern monastery, including two Russians. But the presence of the abbot of the monastery with the monks was mandatory both during the pilgrimage of abbot Daniel, and during the descent of Fire in modern times.
And finally, the third group mandatory participants - local Orthodox Arabs. On Holy Saturday - twenty to thirty minutes after the sealing of the Edicule - Arab Orthodox youth, shouting, stomping, and beating drums, riding on top of each other, rush into the Temple and begin singing and dancing. There is no evidence about the time when this ritual was established. The exclamations and songs of the Arab youth are ancient prayers in Arabic, addressed to Christ and the Mother of God, who is asked to beg the Son to send Fire, to St. George the Victorious, especially revered in the Orthodox East. Young Orthodox Arabs loudly exclaim, literally shout, that they are “the most eastern, the most Orthodox, living where the sun rises, bringing with them candles to light the Fire.” According to oral traditions, during the years of British rule over Jerusalem (1918-1947), the English governor once tried to ban “savage” dances. The Patriarch of Jerusalem prayed for two hours: The fire did not go down. Then the Patriarch ordered with his will to let in the Arab youth. After they performed the ritual, the Fire descended. All three of these groups necessarily take part in the modern litany of the Holy Fire.
IN In our time, the descent of the Holy Fire occurs on Holy Saturday, usually between 13 and 15 hours Jerusalem time. Around ten o'clock on Holy Saturday, all the candles and lamps in the entire huge architectural complex of the Temple are extinguished. After this, the procedure for checking the Edicule for the presence of sources of fire and sealing the entrance to the Edicule with a large wax seal takes place. Representatives of the Jerusalem mayor's office, Turkish guards, Israeli police, etc., who carried out the inspection, put their personal seals on the large wax seal. Then you become a witness to a miraculous phenomenon. At first, occasionally, and then more and more, the entire air space of the Temple is pierced by flashes of light and flashes of light. They have a bluish color, their brightness and size increase in waves. A short time after the sealing of the Edicule, young Orthodox Arabs, as already mentioned, begin to offer their prayers to Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, and Saint George for the granting of the Holy Fire. Their emotional prayers, exclamations and dancing, accompanied by beating the drums, take place directly at the Edicule for 20-30 minutes. After some time, usually about thirteen hours, the litany itself begins (in Greek, “prayer procession”) of the Holy Fire - religious procession from the altar of the Catholicon through the entire Temple with access to the rotunda and a three-fold walk around the Edicule. In front are the banner bearers with twelve banners, behind them are the youths with ripids, the crusader cleric, and finally, His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem himself. The abbot and the monks of the Monastery of Saint Sava the Sanctified also take part in the procession. The Patriarch stops just before the entrance to the Edicule; he is unmasked: his festive vestments are removed and he is left in one white vestment. At the same time, sometimes the Patriach is searched. Although this is not carried out every time without fail, representatives of the authorities can exercise this right every time, which was often done in the past. This depends on the order of the immediate authorities of Jerusalem: if the ruler hates Christians, they can search. In only one vesture the Patriarch enters the Edicule. Now everything depends on him, on his secret kneeling prayer. The tension reaches its highest point, many of those gathered are seized by the feeling that, due to his sins, the Great Miracle may not happen. After the Patriarch enters the Edicule, the intensity and frequency of bluish light flashes increases. Bluish lightning strikes throughout the Temple, either from above from under the domes, down, or from below under the domes of the Temple. An unpredictable shower of such bluish flashes of lightning permeates the entire space of the Temple, especially the Edicule during the kneeling prayer of the Patriarch at the three-day bed of the Savior for the descent of the Holy Fire. His prayer can take ten minutes, maybe more than an hour - depending on how it turns out. The faces of the people in the Temple awaiting the descent of the Fire are full of excitement and expectation. Someone sings prayers to Christ and the Mother of God, someone is anxiously awaiting a miracle and is afraid that, due to our sins, it may not happen when the bluish flashes of lightning subside. All those waiting are imbued with a sense of participation in a great event that occurs no more than two thousand times in the entire history of mankind. During this time, the Roman, Abyssinian, Byzantine, Ottoman empires managed to develop, become famous and perish; enormous changes took place in the ordinary way of life of people, but according to the kneeling prayer of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem on Holy Saturday, in anticipation of a huge number of people, for almost two thousand For years this Great Miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire has been invariably performed.
And finally the Fire goes down. Even before the Patriarch appears with candles lit from the Holy Fire at the door of the Edicule, the speed-walking candle-bearers, who received the Holy Fire through the windows in the chapel of the Angel, are already carrying it throughout the Temple. And the joyful ringing of bells, sounding on Holy Saturday only after the descent of the Fire, informs everyone present in the Temple and the surrounding area about the miracle that has taken place. The fire spreads with lightning speed throughout the Temple - everyone lights their candles from the candles of the messengers and from each other. Fire doesn't burn, and not only the Fire from the Patriarchal Candle, but also from all ordinary candles bought not in the Temple (there is no trade here), but in ordinary Arab shops in the Old City.
Separately, it is necessary to say about the intensity of the flame. The Easter candle of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is thirty-three connected candles. Basically, each of those present holds three bunches of candles and candles from other places in the Holy Land. When the Fire has reached a person, there is a standing fire in our hands, from which intense heat emanates. It should be noted that in the Temple people stand so densely that if the Fire were ordinary, someone would definitely catch fire, because everyone has more than one bunch in their hands. However, before each other’s eyes, people are literally washed by the Holy Fire, which at first does not burn at all. Everyone's flame is so vast that it can be seen touching nearby people. The fire literally touches the clothes of nearby people and the headscarves of women. And in the entire history of the descent of Fire - not a single accident, not a single fire.
P After this, a solemn procession with Fire begins in the Old City, which, by the way, is carried at the head of each column by Muslim Turks. The population of Jerusalem is about 800,000 people; the entire Christian and Arab communities of Jerusalem (more than 300,000 people) participate in the processions, and even Muslim Arabs consider it necessary to bring the Holy Fire into the house and light household lamps from it. This day in Jerusalem is not celebrated only by Jews who prefer not to leave home and have sad faces the next day. It is the Jews who mainly write about the imitation of the descent of the Holy Fire by “dishonest” priests (calling the phenomenon of the descent of the Fire Greek “tricks”), and in the last almost fifty years the Jews have participated in both the sealing of the Edicule and the search of the Patriarch of Jerusalem.
A little needs to be said about the possibility of forgery. The fact is that the land itself on which the Temple is built belongs to a Turkish family. Every morning an interesting ritual takes place: the priests standing in front of the main gate await the opening of the Temple, hand over the rent that was established a long time ago, and then, accompanied by members of the Turkish family, enter the Temple. Any procession in the Temple, for example, the Easter procession around the Edicule, is accompanied by kavas - Turks who protect the processions from provocations of Muslims and Jews. Before entering the Edicule of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, it remains sealed, under the supervision of two Turkish guards and the Israeli police. On Holy Saturday, as has already been said, before entering the Edicule, the Patriarch is unmasked and thoroughly searched, although not always. The safety of the seal on the entrance doors of the Edicule is checked before the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Armenian high priest enter it. To receive the Fire, two people enter the Edicule - the Patriarch of Jerusalem and a representative of the Armenian Church. The representative of the Armenian Church, entering together with the Patriarch of Jerusalem into the Edicule to receive the Fire, remaining in the chapel of the Angel, sees all the actions and has the opportunity to intervene. Considering the almost two-thousand-year interest of non-Christian participants in this Great Miracle in exposing and disrupting at least one descent of the Holy Fire, the version of forgery can only bring a smile to people living in Jerusalem. Even Muslim Arabs who consider it necessary to bring the Holy Fire home will consider any discussion of forgery to be a deception. They have a legend that in the year when the Holy Fire does not descend, the end of the world will come.
The question of how the Holy Fire descends on the Savior’s three-day bed has long been of interest to the curious. There is direct evidence of the painting of the lighting of the Holy Fire. In the letter of Arefa, Metropolitan of Caesarea of Cappadocia, to the Emir of Damascus (beginning of the 10th century) it is written: “Then suddenly lightning appears and censers are lit, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem take from this light and light a fire.” The Constantinople cleric Nikita wrote (947): “About the sixth hour of the day, looking at the Divine Tomb of the Savior, the Archbishop sees the Divine manifestation of light: for through the chapel of the Angel he has access to the door. Having seized the time to transmit this light to the polycandiles located in the holy church of God, as he usually does, he had not yet emerged from the Tomb, when one could suddenly see the entire church of God, filled with invincible and Divine light.” Trifon Korobeinikov wrote (1583): “And then all people see the grace of God coming from heaven to the Holy Sepulcher, fire walking along the board of the Holy Sepulcher like lightning and every color is seen in it: the Patriarch approaches the Tomb holding candles on the side of the Tomb , and fire will descend from the Holy Sepulcher onto the patriarchal hands and candles. At the same time, the Christian incense burned itself, like that over the Holy Sepulcher.” Hieromonk Meletius, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1793-1794, relays the story of the descent of Fire from the words of Archbishop Misail, Epitrope of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who received the Fire for many years. “When I entered,” he said, “inside the Holy Tomb, we saw on the entire lid of the Tomb a shining light, like scattered small beads, in the form of blue, white, scarlet and other colors, which then, copulating, turned red and transformed over time into substance of fire; but this fire, for as long as one can slowly read “Lord, have mercy” fourty times, does not burn, and from this fire the prepared candlesticks and candles are kindled.”
All of the above sources report either the condensation of liquid small drops of “fire beads” directly on the bed-arcosalia of the Holy Sepulcher with the existing dome above the Edicule, or the fall of rain drops above the Edicule and the presence of “small beads” on the lid of the Holy Sepulcher due to rain when the dome of the Temple is open and about bluish flashes - lightning that precede the descent of the Holy Fire. Both of these phenomena simultaneously take place during the kneeling prayer of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and at the present time. His prayer leads to the ignition of the Holy Fire from small drops of liquid in the presence of flashes - lightning; at the same time, the wicks of candles or lamps on the lid of the Holy Sepulchre are spontaneously lit. It is also possible to light the wicks of Orthodox lamps hanging near the Edicule. This is how it happened almost two thousand years ago, according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, and this is how the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire takes place, according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, even today. Our Lord Jesus Christ commands Fire to ignite from droplets of “rain” on the lid of the Holy Tomb, or on the wick of an Orthodox lamp at the Edicule, at the prayer of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, as if reminding us, sinners, annually on Holy Saturday of our Resurrection and victory over hell. But sinful people perceive the fact of the descent of the Holy Fire differently. To those who seek and doubt, the Lord testifies to the truth of his Resurrection precisely at this place in Jerusalem in Gospel times and strengthens them in faith. To those who are indifferent and not striving for their salvation and eternal life, He testifies to His Resurrection and the upcoming Last Judgment. He testifies to His conscious opponents of His victory over hell and the eternal torment awaiting all His opponents after Last Judgment. Accordingly, the fact of the descent of Fire and different religions. Almost all Christian denominations (including Catholics before the Great Schism of 1054 - that is, before the separation of Catholicism from Orthodoxy - who took an active part directly in the litany) are present in the Temple and receive the Holy Fire from the hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Muslims are not officially present in the Temple, but they also do not deny the fact of the descent of the Holy Fire, honoring our Savior Jesus Christ as one of their Prophets. Only Jews and atheists deny the fact of the descent of the Holy Fire, as well as the fact of the Resurrection of Christ. It is they who spread, including in the press, rumors about the “cunning” of dishonest priests. The officials who checked the Edicule, searched the Patriarch and were thus guarantors that there were no forgeries, under Christian and Muslim control over Jerusalem were representatives of the authorities who could execute for slander, and under the existing Israeli control of the authorities, according to Israeli laws, For libel, they can be subject to a substantial fine in court.
P For all possible options during the Miracle, the descent of the Holy Fire remains absolutely inexplicable from the point of view modern science the following phenomena:
1. The presence of flashes of light preceding and accompanying the ignition of the Holy Fire. After the Patriarch entered the Edicule, an extraordinary phenomenon was observed in the Temple. Throughout the Temple, but mainly near the area of the Katholikon and Edicule (the domes are located above them), flashes of a bluish color begin to appear, reminiscent of lightning, similar topics, which everyone observed in the evening sky. These lightning flashes can flash in any direction - from top to bottom, and from left to right, not necessarily under domes. Flashes have characteristic features: light sparkles without a visible source, flashes never blind anyone, and there is no sound (thunder) characteristic of ordinary lightning. All this creates the impression among eyewitnesses that the source of the flashes is, as it were, beyond the boundaries of our world. It is not difficult to distinguish them from camera flashes. Filming the anticipation and descent of Fire on his video camera, M. Shugaev was able to see clear differences. Using the frame-by-frame viewing mode and using still frames, you can easily differentiate them: flashes from the camera are shorter in time and have white, lightning flashes last longer and have a bluish color. According to the testimonies of the monks serving obedience directly at the Edicule, bluish flashes can be seen in the Temple not only on Holy Saturday. But these are one-time and short-term flashes, long-lasting flashes of light that follow each other at short intervals occur only on Holy Saturday, somewhere from twelve to sixteen or seventeen hours.
2. The phenomenon of the appearance of liquid droplets. To begin with, it should be noted that only people on official business can see the Holy Tomb directly on Holy Saturday: clergy participating in the litany, and official representatives of the Jerusalem authorities sealing the Edicule and ensuring order. The information that is available may come either directly from such people, or in retellings from loved ones. In addition to the sources already cited, you can use the story of a 19th-century pilgrim who interviewed the Patriarch: “Where, your Beatitude, do you deign to receive the Fire in the Edicule?” The elderly archpastor, not paying attention to what was heard in the tone of the question, calmly answered as follows (I wrote down almost word for word what I heard): “I, dear sir, if you please know, am no longer a reader without glasses. When I first entered the chapel Angel and the doors closed behind me, there was twilight. The light barely penetrated through two openings from the rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre, also dimly lit from above, but in the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher I could hardly discern whether I had a prayer book in my hands or anything else. - I could barely notice a whitish spot on the black background of the night: it was obviously the white marble plaque on the Holy Sepulchre. When I opened the prayer book, to my surprise, the seal became completely accessible to my vision without the help of glasses. with deep emotional excitement, lines three or four, when, looking at the board, which was becoming more and more white and so that all four of its edges were clearly visible to me, I noticed on the board there were, as it were, small scattered beads of different colors, or rather, as if pearls the size of a pinhead and even smaller, and the board began to positively emit as if 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 three images of the Resurrection, as it illuminated the face of the Mother of God and all the metal lamps above the Holy Sepulchre" ( Nilus S. The shrine is hidden. Sergiev Posad, 1911). There are no official documents studying the chemical composition of droplets. Informal analytical studies conducted by modern enthusiasts indicate the essential oil content of the drops (similar compounds may be of a plant nature).
3. The phenomenon that Fire does not burn or scorch, despite the fact that the heat spreads. An ordinary candle fire has a temperature of many hundreds of degrees, close to a thousand degrees Celsius. If you try to perform ablution with such fire for more than five seconds, burns on your hands and face are guaranteed. Hair (beard, eyebrows, eyelashes) will catch fire or begin to smolder. In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, more than ten thousand people light about twenty thousand bunches of candles for two or three minutes (most pilgrims light two or three bunches of candles). People stand close to each other. The volume of the Temple is limited. Try lighting twenty thousand bunches of candles in a dense crowd of people within a few minutes with ordinary fire. We think that most women's hair and clothing will definitely catch fire. With a thousand-degree fire temperature and twenty thousand fire sources in a confined space, heat stroke and fainting will occur, especially in the elderly. Holy Fire has a property that distinguishes it from the fire we are used to. Not only does it not burn, but it also does not burn for a period of time sufficient to say “Lord, have mercy” approximately forty times and during continuous washing with it. human face(without removing the hand with candles). Holy Fire heats, but does not burn! It should be noted that candles are easily lit by Fire and the Fire, which does not burn a person, spreads throughout the Temple due to the ignition of candles - one from the other. From the Patriarchal Candles, the Fire spreads throughout the entire Temple within a few minutes. Naturally, pilgrims with burning bundles of candles are in emotional delight, paying very little attention to the behavior of their neighbors. But the Fire does not set fire to any hanging parts of clothing (kerchiefs, belts) or long hair of women! The age of most pilgrims, as a rule, is above average; they spend almost a day in the Temple, but heat strokes and fainting are not observed. In the entire history of the descent of Fire there has not been a single fire.
4. The presence of a joint appearance of all the above-described miraculous phenomena precisely on Holy Saturday on the eve of the holiday Orthodox Easter (in accordance with the Alexandrian Paschal, which is currently adhered to only by the Orthodox Churches). We can say that the phenomena observed during the descent of the Holy Fire partially occur in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and in ordinary times. According to the testimonies of the monks who perform obedience directly at the Edicule, bluish flashes can be seen in the Temple not only on Holy Saturday. But these are one-time flashes. Numerous outbreaks with a short time interval occur only on Holy Saturday, from approximately 12 to 16-17 hours. The spontaneous lighting of lamps, also sometimes observed on other days, may be due to these flashes. But in ordinary times, such spontaneously igniting fire does not have the property of not burning. It seems that any attempts to reproduce the descent of the Holy Fire in a laboratory built in close proximity to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher will be forced to face the problem of reproducing the above-mentioned miraculous property of fire. With a lot of work, it is possible to recreate the chemical composition of the drops, and with the help of special modern equipment, artificially recreate intense flashes of light (most likely accompanied by sound or thunder), but this property of Fire will never be reproduced! And the incident that occurred in 1579, when Fire descended from a column, indicates that the above description is a description of only the most common properties of the descent of Fire. But the Fire itself can descend in another way. It is impossible not to see that the descent of Fire on Holy Saturday on the Holy Sepulcher is the result of a direct Divine (in the language of science - transcendental) influence. The Lord has commanded every year for more than two thousand years that Fire should descend at the site of His suffering on the Cross and earthly death, and He commands it on the day before His Resurrection.
The descent of the Holy Fire is observed only on the eve of Orthodox Easter, on Orthodox calendar And only according to the prayers of the Orthodox Patriarch; The fire is going down only on the candles of the Orthodox Patriarch, that is indisputable evidence of the undoubted truth and divine grace of Orthodoxy- unlike many other denominations that only call themselves Christian. History remembers two cases when representatives of other Christian denominations tried to receive Fire. The unsuccessful attempt of the Armenian clergy to obtain Fire has already been mentioned. In 1101, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, who owned Jerusalem at that time, independently tried to obtain the Fire. The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Edicule did not happen until Orthodox Christians were invited to participate in this rite. “The first Latin Patriarch Arnold of Choquet started unsuccessfully: he ordered the expulsion of the heretical sects from their territory in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, then he began to torture Orthodox monks, trying to find out where they kept the Cross and other relics. A few months later, Arnold was succeeded on the throne by Daimbert of Pisa, who went even further. He attempted to expel all local Christians, even Orthodox Christians, from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and admit only Latins there, completely depriving the rest of the church buildings in or near Jerusalem. God's retribution soon struck: already in 1101 on Holy Saturday, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Edicule did not happen until Eastern Christians were invited to participate in this rite. Then King Baldwin I took care of returning their rights to local Christians" ( Stephen Runciman. Eastern schism. M.: Nauka, 1998. pp. 69-70).
And since then, none of the non-Orthodox has tried to repeat such attempts, fearing failure and the shame that inevitably follows.
H The sight of the Holy Fire is one of the few miracles of Orthodoxy, in principle accessible to everyone who wants to know the truth: “come and see!” Any doubter, having paid 600-700 dollars (this is the price of a standard tourist trip to the Holy Land - Jerusalem, Tiberias - for 7 days), is fully able to personally verify the authenticity of the fact and all the above-described details of the descent of the Holy Fire. A miracle occurs in front of the whole world, “all progressive humanity” (and is even regularly broadcast on Russian television and on the Internet on the website of the Jerusalem Orthodox Patriarchate). But how many people respond with their hearts to this obvious call, obvious to everyone?.. Once upon a time, many hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, before His redemptive suffering and Resurrection, the inhabitants of Israel (and through them - before all humanity) faced the question of who was right: the servants of the True God or the servants of the pagan gods ? This was the case when a dispute arose between the servants of the idol of Baal and the prophet of God Elijah (see 1 Kings 18, 21-39). And after much debate, Elijah offered them a simple way to check who was right. We, people of the 21st century, can rightly call this method an experimental method - in accordance with the exact criteria of the experimental method accepted in modern science. The proposal was this: “Let each of us call on the name of his God, and the God who gives the answer through fire is the true God. And if the Lord is God, then let us follow Him, and if Baal is God, then let us follow Baal.” And then, by the grace of God, it was revealed who the true God is and who is His true admirer, because the fire came down then only through the prayer of the prophet Elijah and burned the sacrifice, the wood, and the stone altar itself, which the priests of Baal encroached on were a complete fiasco. And then it became clear to everyone where true worship of God was.
The situation of the descent of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher every year practically reproduces this experimental situation that took place many hundreds of years before the Nativity of Christ. And here there are many praying representatives of different faiths, and here there is a true minister true God, through whose prayer (and only through his prayer!) Fire miraculously descends, possessing supernatural properties. But aren’t there now ministers of other faiths trying to dispute their right to receive fire from God, as was the case under Elijah? Due to the fact that such attempts, as history shows, always end in failure, and there is no one else willing to take risks and be disgraced... God is unchangeable, this is clearly evidenced by the biblical Old Testament text: I am the Lord your God, and I will not change(Mal. 3, 6). And just as then, in the distant times of Elijah, God, unchangeable in nature, gives an answer to questioning humanity, the answer to the question of where true faith is, gives an answer through fire. The answer is not false, just as the answerer himself is not false - The Lord is the truth(Jer. 10, 10). And anyone who accepts the biblical text as truth must, by virtue of his faith in the unchangeable God and faith in the authenticity of the mentioned story about the descent of fire from heaven through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, with logical necessity, draw the conclusion that fire is sent by God only through the prayer of His true minister. But, as a rule, no one draws this conclusion... In that ancient history about the descent of fire through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, perhaps the most amazing thing was not even the miracle of its descent itself, but the fact that, having at first received with delight the miraculous testimony of the true God, the Israelites almost immediately fell back into apostasy. The children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, destroyed Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword; I am left alone, but they are looking for my soul to take it away(3 Kings 19:10) - this is how the prophet Elijah complains to God about them only a short time after the miracle of the descent of the fire. This is what is most striking in all this ancient history.
A similar picture remains in our time - the joy of rejoicing at the descent of the Holy Fire is replaced by a retreat into the darkness of lies for the majority of witnesses of its descent in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre... The Fire descends, leaving fallen and blind humanity unrequited, unrequited in the face of the Righteous Judge. They did not accept the love of the truth for their salvation(2 Thess. 2:10) - this is the pattern of behavior of the human race drowning in sins, and even an obvious miracle of God cannot do anything with this vicious pattern, a conscious and arbitrary pattern...
From the editors of the magazine "Holy Fire": In defense of the miracle of the Holy Fire, see the articles
Scientists managed to get to the Holy Sepulcher and conduct research, the results of which shocked believers.
Regardless of whether a person considers himself a believer or not, at least once in his life he was interested in real evidence existence higher powers that every religion talks about.
In Orthodoxy, one of the evidences of miracles indicated in the Bible is the Holy Fire descending on the Holy Sepulcher on the eve of Easter. On Holy Saturday, anyone can see it - just come to the square in front of the Church of the Resurrection. But the longer this tradition exists, the more hypotheses journalists and scientists build. All of them refute the divine origin of fire - but can you trust at least one of them?
History of the Holy Fire
The descent of fire can be seen only once a year and in the only place on the planet - the Jerusalem Temple of the Resurrection. Its huge complex includes: Golgotha, a cave with the Cross of the Lord, a garden where Christ was seen after the resurrection. It was built in the 4th century by Emperor Constantine and the Holy Fire was seen there during the first service on Easter. Around the place where this happened, they built a chapel with the Holy Sepulcher - it is called Edicule.
At ten o'clock on the morning of Holy Saturday, all candles, lamps and other light sources in the temple are extinguished every year. Higher church ranks they personally monitor this: the last test is the Edicule, after which it is sealed with a large wax seal. From this moment on, the protection of holy places falls on the shoulders of the Israeli police (in ancient times, the Janissaries handled their duties Ottoman Empire). They also put an additional seal on top of the seal of the Patriarch. What is not proof of the miraculous origin of the Holy Fire?
Edicule
At twelve o'clock in the afternoon, a procession of the cross begins to stretch from the courtyard of the Jerusalem Patriarchate to the Holy Sepulcher. It is led by the patriarch: having walked around the Edicule three times, he stops in front of its doors.
“The Patriarch dresses in white robes. With him, 12 archimandrites and four deacons put on white vestments at the same time. Then clerics in white surplices with 12 banners depicting the passion of Christ and His glorious resurrection come out of the altar in pairs, followed by clerics with ripids and a life-giving cross, then 12 priests in pairs, then four deacons, also in pairs, with the last two of them in front of the patriarch they hold bunches of candles in their hands in a silver stand for the most convenient transmission of the holy fire to the people, and, finally, the patriarch with a staff in his right hand. With the blessing of the patriarch, the singers and all the clergy, while singing: “Thy Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and grant us on earth to glorify You with a pure heart,” go from the Church of the Resurrection to the Edicule and circle it three times. After the third circumambulation, the patriarch, clergy and singers stop with the banner bearers and the crusader in front of the holy life-giving tomb and sing the evening hymn: “Quiet Light,” recalling that this litany was once part of the rite of the evening service.”
Patriarch and Holy Sepulcher
In the courtyard of the temple, the Patriarch is watched by thousands of eyes of pilgrims-tourists from all over the world - from Russia, Ukraine, Greece, England, Germany. The police search the Patriarch, after which he enters the Edicule. An Armenian archimandrite remains at the entrance doors to offer prayers to Christ for the forgiveness of the sins of the human race.
“The Patriarch, standing before the doors of the holy tomb, with the help of the deacons, takes off his miter, sakkos, omophorion and club and remains only in the vestment, epitrachelion, belt and armbands. Dragoman then removes the seals and cords from the door of the holy tomb and lets the patriarch inside, who has the aforementioned bundles of candles in his hands. Behind him, one Armenian bishop immediately goes inside the edicule, dressed in sacred robes and also holding bunches of candles in his hands to quickly transfer the holy fire to the people through the southern hole of the edicule in the chapel of the Angel.”
When the Patriarch is left alone, behind closed doors, the real sacrament begins. On his knees, His Holiness prays to the Lord for the message of the Holy Fire. His prayers are not heard by people outside the doors of the chapel - but they can observe their result! Blue and red flashes appear on the walls, columns and icons of the temple, reminiscent of reflections during a fireworks display. At the same time, blue lights appear on the marble slab of the Coffin. The priest touches one of them cotton ball- and the fire spreads to her. The Patriarch lights the lamp using cotton wool and hands it to the Armenian bishop.
“And all those people in the church and outside the church say nothing else, only: “Lord, have mercy!” they cry unremittingly and shout loudly, so that the whole place hums and thunders from the cry of those people. And then tears flow in streams faithful people. Even with a heart of stone, a person can then shed tears. Each of the pilgrims, holding in his hand a bunch of 33 candles, according to the number of years of the life of our Savior ... hastens in spiritual joy to light them from the primary light, through clergymen from the Orthodox and Armenian clergy specially appointed for this purpose, standing near the northern and southern holes of the edicule and the first to receive holy fire from the holy tomb. From numerous boxes, from windows and wall cornices, similar bundles of wax candles are lowered on ropes, as the spectators occupying places at the top of the temple immediately strive to partake of the same grace.”
Transfer of the Holy Fire
In the first minutes after receiving fire, you can do anything with it: believers wash themselves with it and touch it with their hands without fear of getting burned. After a few minutes, the fire turns from cold to warm and acquires its normal properties. Several centuries ago, one of the pilgrims wrote:
“He lit 20 candles in one place and burned his candle with all those lights, and not a single hair curled or burned; and having extinguished all the candles and then lit them with other people, he lit those candles, and on the third day I lit those candles, and then I touched my wife with nothing, not a single hair was scorched or curled.”
Conditions for the appearance of the sacred fire
There is a belief among Orthodox Christians that in the year when the fire does not ignite, the apocalypse will begin. However, this event already happened once - then a follower of a different denomination of Christianity tried to remove the fire.
“The first Latin Patriarch Harnopid of Choquet ordered the expulsion of the heretical sects from their territory in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, then he began to torture Orthodox monks, trying to find out where they kept the Cross and other relics. A few months later, Arnold was succeeded on the throne by Daimbert of Pisa, who went even further. He attempted to expel all local Christians, even Orthodox Christians, from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and admit only Latins there, completely depriving the rest of the church buildings in or near Jerusalem. God's retribution soon struck: already in 1101 on Holy Saturday, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Edicule did not happen until Eastern Christians were invited to participate in this rite. Then King Baldwin I took care of returning their rights to local Christians.”
Fire under the Latin Patriarch and a crack in the column
In 1578, clergy from Armenia, who had not heard anything about the attempts of their predecessor, tried to repeat them. They obtained permission to become the first to see the Holy Fire, prohibiting the Orthodox Patriarch from entering the church. He, along with other priests, was forced to pray at the gate on Easter Eve. The minions of the Armenian Church never managed to see the miracle of God. One of the columns of the courtyard, in which the Orthodox prayed, cracked, and a pillar of fire emerged from it. Traces of its descent can still be observed by any tourist today. Believers traditionally leave notes in it with their most cherished requests to God.
A series of mystical events forced Christians to sit down at the negotiating table and decide that God wanted to transfer the fire into the hands of an Orthodox priest. Well, he, in turn, goes out to the people and gives the sacred flame to the abbot and the monks of the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified, the Armenian Apostolic and Syrian Church. Local Orthodox Arabs must be the last to enter the temple. On Holy Saturday they appear in the square singing and dancing, and then enter the chapel. In it they say ancient prayers in Arabic, in which they turn to Christ and Mother of God. This condition is also mandatory for the appearance of fire.
“There is no evidence of the first performance of this ritual. The Arabs ask the Mother of God to beg her Son to send Fire to St. George the Victorious, especially revered in the Orthodox East. They literally shout that they are the most eastern, the most Orthodox, living where the sun rises, bringing with them candles to light the Fire. According to oral traditions, during the years of British rule over Jerusalem (1918-1947), the English governor once tried to ban “savage” dances. The Patriarch of Jerusalem prayed for two hours, but to no avail. Then the Patriarch ordered with his will to let in the Arab youth. After they performed the ritual, the Fire descended"
Have attempts to find a scientific explanation for the Holy Fire been successful?
It is impossible to say that skeptics managed to defeat believers. Among the many theories that have physical, chemical and even alien justification, only one deserves attention. In 2008, physicist Andrei Volkov managed to get into Edicule with special equipment. There he was able to make the appropriate measurements, but their results were not in favor of science!
“A few minutes before the removal of the Holy Fire from the Edicule, a device recording the spectrum electromagnetic radiation, detected a strange long-wave pulse in the temple, which no longer manifested itself. I don’t want to refute or prove anything, but this is the scientific result of the experiment. An electrical discharge occurred - either lightning struck, or something like a piezo lighter turned on for a moment.”
Physicist about the Holy Fire
The physicist himself did not set the goal of his research to expose the shrine. He was interested in the very process of the descent of fire: the appearance of flashes on the walls and on the lid of the Holy Sepulcher.
“So, it is quite likely that the appearance of Fire is preceded by an electrical discharge, and we, measuring electromagnetic spectrum in the temple, they tried to catch him.”
This is how Andrey comments on what happened. It turns out that modern technology cannot solve the mystery of the sacred Holy Fire...
This miracle occurs every year on the eve of Orthodox Easter in the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection, which covers with its huge roof both Golgotha, the cave in which the Lord was laid down from the cross, and the garden where Mary Magdalene was the first of the people to meet His resurrection. The temple was erected by Emperor Constantine and his mother Queen Helena in the 4th century, and evidence of the miracle dates back to this time.
That's how it goes these days. At approximately noon, a procession led by the Patriarch leaves the courtyard of the Jerusalem Patriarchate. The procession enters the Church of the Resurrection, heads to the chapel erected over the Holy Sepulcher, and, having walked around it three times, stops in front of its gates. All the lights in the temple have been extinguished. Tens of thousands of people: Arabs, Greeks, Russians, Romanians, Jews, Germans, British - pilgrims from all over the world - watch the Patriarch in tense silence. The Patriarch is unmasked, the police carefully search him and the Holy Sepulcher itself, looking for at least something that can produce fire (during Turkish rule over Jerusalem, Turkish gendarmes did this), and in one long flowing tunic, the Primate of the Church enters. Kneeling in front of the Tomb, he prays to God to send down the Holy Fire. Sometimes his prayer lasts a long time... And suddenly, on the marble slab of the coffin, fiery dew appears in the form of bluish balls. His Holiness touches them with cotton wool, and it ignites. With this cool fire, the Patriarch lights the lamp and candles, which he then takes into the temple and hands over to the Armenian Patriarch, and then to the people. At the same moment, tens and hundreds of bluish lights flash in the air under the dome of the temple.
It’s hard to imagine the jubilation that filled the crowd of thousands. People shout, sing, the fire is transferred from one bunch of candles to another, and a minute later the whole temple is on fire.
At first it has special properties- it does not burn, although everyone has a bunch of 33 candles burning in their hand (according to the number of years of the Savior). It is amazing to watch how people wash themselves with this flame and run it through their beards and hair. Some more time passes, and the fire acquires natural properties. Numerous police forces people to put out the candles, but the rejoicing continues.
The Holy Fire descends into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher only on Holy Saturday - the eve of Orthodox Easter, although Easter is celebrated every year on different days according to the old Julian calendar. And one more feature - the Holy Fire descends only through the prayers of the Orthodox Patriarch.
Once another community living in Jerusalem - the Armenians, also Christians, but who apostatized from holy Orthodoxy back in the 4th century - bribed the Turkish authorities so that the latter would allow them, and not the Orthodox Patriarch, into the cave on Holy Saturday - the Holy Sepulcher .
The Armenian high priests prayed for a long time and unsuccessfully, and the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, together with his flock, cried on the street near the locked doors of the temple. And suddenly, as if lightning struck the marble column, it split, and a pillar of fire came out of it, which lit the candles of the Orthodox.
Since then, none of the representatives of numerous Christian denominations has dared to challenge the Orthodox right to pray on this day in the Holy Sepulcher.
In May 1992, for the first time after a 79-year break, the Holy Fire was again delivered to Russian soil. A group of pilgrims - clergy and laity - with a blessing His Holiness Patriarch carried the Holy Fire from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem through Constantinople and all Slavic countries to Moscow. Since then, this unquenchable fire has been burning on Slavyanskaya Square at the foot of the monument to the holy teachers. Slovenian Kirill and Methodius.
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For nearly two thousand years, Orthodox Christians have been celebrating their greatest holiday - the Resurrection of Christ (Easter) in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
Every time, everyone who is inside and nearby the Temple witnesses the descent of the Holy Fire on Easter.
The 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 presented himself to the Sepulcher and the light in vain was horrified in the tomb,” 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 .
The litany (church ceremony) of the Holy Fire begins approximately one day before the start of Orthodox Easter. Pilgrims begin to gather in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, wanting to see with their own eyes the descent of the Holy Fire. Among those present there are always many heterodox Christians, Muslims, and atheists; the ceremony is monitored by the Jewish police. The temple itself can accommodate up to 10 thousand people, the entire area in front of it and the enfilade of surrounding buildings are also filled with people - the number of people willing is much greater than the capacity of the temple, so it can be difficult for pilgrims.
A lamp filled with oil, but without fire, is placed in the middle of the bed of the Life-Giving Sepulcher. Pieces of cotton wool are laid out throughout the bed, and tape is laid along the edges. Thus prepared, after inspection by the Turkish guards, and now by the Jewish police, the Edicule (Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher) is closed and sealed by the local Muslim key keeper.
Before the descent, the temple begins to be illuminated by bright flashes of the Holy Light, small lightning flashes here and there. In slow motion you can clearly see that they are coming from different places the temple - from the icon hanging over the Edicule, from the dome of the Temple, from the windows and from other places, and flood everything around with bright light. In addition, here and there, between the columns and walls of the temple, quite visible lightning flashes, which often pass through standing people without any harm.
A moment later, the entire temple turns out to be surrounded by lightning and glare, which snake down its walls and columns, as if flowing down to the foot of the temple and spreading across the square among the pilgrims. At the same time, the candles of those standing in the temple and in the square are lit, and the lamps located on the sides of the Edicule are lit (with the exception of 13 Catholic ones). 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 most vivid description dates back to 1892, where a wonderful picture of the ignition of the Holy Fire is given from the words of the Patriarch. He said that sometimes, entering the Edicule, and not having time to read the prayer, he already saw how the marble coffin slab was covered with small multi-colored beads, 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 with it the wick flared up, like gunpowder. The slab is first covered with cotton wool. According to eyewitnesses, this is sometimes done by non-believers to eliminate doubts on this matter.
There is also other evidence. The Metropolitan of Trans-Jordan, who received the Holy Fire more than once, said that when he entered the Edicule, the lamp standing on the Tomb was burning. And sometimes - no, then he fell and with tears began to ask for mercy from God, and when he rose, the lamp was already burning. From it he lit two bunches of candles, carried them out and gave the fire to the people waiting for him. But he himself never saw the fire light up.
After the Patriarch leaves the Edicule, or rather he is taken to the Altar, the people rush inside the Tomb to venerate. The whole slab is wet, as if it had been wet by rain." Excerpt taken from the book: Holy Fire over the Holy Sepulcher, 1991.
According to eyewitnesses, the fire does not burn for the first minutes after the descent. Here's what they write:
“Yes, and I, a sinful slave from the Metropolitan’s hands, lit 20 candles in one place and burned my candles with all those candles, and not a single hair curled or burned; and having extinguished all the candles and then lit them from other people, I warmed those candles, so and on the third day, those candles lit up, and I didn’t touch it with anything, not a single hair was singed, not a curl was made, and I’m damned, not believing that heavenly fire and the message of God, and so three times he lit his candles and extinguished, and before the Metropolitan and before all the Greeks, he said goodbye to the fact that he had blasphemed God’s power and called heavenly fire, which the Greeks do with sorcery, and not God’s creation; and the Metropolitan blessed me with all his forgiveness and blessings." The life and journey to Jerusalem and Egypt of Kazan resident Vasily Yakovlevich Gagara (1634-1637).
"Father Georgy films everything with a video camera, takes photographs. I also take a few pictures. We have ten packs of candles prepared with us. I extend my hand with candles to the burning bundles in people’s hands, I light them. I scoop up this flame with my palm, it is large, warm, light - light yellow, I hold my hand on fire - it doesn’t burn! I bring it to my face, the flame licks my beard, nose, eyes, I feel only warmth and a gentle touch - it doesn’t burn!!!" Priest from Novosibirsk.
“It’s amazing... At first, the Fire doesn’t burn, it’s just warm. They wash themselves with it, rub it over the face, apply it to the chest - and nothing. There was a case when one nun’s apostolate caught fire, and there was no trace left. Another burned through her cassock. She carried it home with a hole, but when I came, there was no hole.” Archimandrite Bartholomew (Kalugin), monk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1983.
“I try to take Fire in my palm and find that it is material. You can touch it, in your palm it feels like a material substance, it is soft, neither hot nor cold.” Parishioner of the Church of St. Nicholas in Biryulyovo Natalia.
The people who are in the temple at this time are overwhelmed with an indescribable and incomparable in its depth feeling of joy and spiritual peace. According to those who visited the square and the temple itself when the fire descended, the depth of feelings overwhelming the people at that moment was fantastic - eyewitnesses left the temple as if born again, as they themselves say, spiritually cleansed and cleared of sight.
Many non-Orthodox people, when they first hear about the Holy Fire, try to reproach the Orthodox: how do you know that it was given specifically to you? What if he was received by a representative of another Christian denomination? However, attempts to forcefully challenge the right to receive the Holy Fire from representatives of other faiths have happened more than once.
The most significant incident occurred in 1579. The owners of the Temple of the Lord are simultaneously representatives of several Christian Churches. The priests of the Armenian Church, contrary to tradition, managed to bribe Sultan Murat the Truthful and the local mayor to allow them to individually celebrate Easter and receive the Holy Fire. At the call of the Armenian clergy, many of their co-religionists came to Jerusalem from all over the Middle East to celebrate Easter alone. The Orthodox, together with Patriarch Sophrony IV, were removed not only from the edicule, but also from the Temple in general. There, at the entrance to the shrine, they remained to pray for the descent of the Fire, grieving over their separation from Grace. The Armenian Patriarch prayed for about a day, however, despite his prayer efforts, no miracle followed. At one moment, a ray struck from the sky, as usually happens during the descent of Fire, and hit the column at the entrance, next to which the Orthodox Patriarch was located. Splashes of fire splashed out from it in all directions and a candle was lit by the Orthodox Patriarch, who passed on the Holy Fire to his co-religionists. This was the only case in history when the descent took place outside the Temple, actually through the prayers of the Orthodox, and not the Armenian high priest. “Everyone rejoiced, and the Orthodox Arabs began to jump for joy and shout: “You are our one God, Jesus Christ, our one true faith is the faith of Orthodox Christians,” writes monk Parthenius. At the same time, in the enfilades of buildings adjacent to the temple square there were Turkish soldiers. One of them, named Omir (Anvar), seeing what was happening, exclaimed: “One Orthodox faith, I am a Christian” and jumped down onto the stone slabs from a height of about 10 meters. However, the young man did not crash - the slabs 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 convent 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 ordered him, as a warning about what happened at the Easter ceremony, to always follow 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.
Holy Fire - greatest miracle God's for all people. For believers - indescribable bliss and joy in Christ, for non-believers - the opportunity to see and believe!
“There are many substances that can spontaneously combust.”
The descent of the Holy Fire is a great Easter miracle. This year, on April 7, thousands of pilgrims will be waiting for his appearance, as always, in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. However, for many years, skeptics have argued: is fire really of divine origin, or is it the work of human hands? The latest scandal associated with the exposure of this miracle occurred almost a month before Easter: a representative of the Armenian Patriarchate, Samuil Agoyan, stated that the patriarchs themselves light wax candles from an oil lamp.
"MK" decided to conduct an experiment and create fire using a chemical method - without matches, lighters or other attributes that the priest definitely cannot carry with him.
Let us note right away: we do not want to offend anyone’s feelings with this text and do not set ourselves the goal of disproving the divine origin of fire. If a certain phenomenon can be imitated with the help of a trick or experiment, this does not mean that the phenomenon itself is a trick. We show that with the help of simple chemical manipulations you can reproduce something similar, get fire. But whether the Holy Fire itself is a miracle or the result of a chemical reaction - everyone decides for himself. In the end, everyone will be given according to their faith.
What do we know about the environment in which the fire descends? It is known that this is a closed phenomenon - only one person enters the chapel over the Holy Sepulcher, the Patriarch of the Jerusalem Greek Orthodox Church. Even those who stand directly next to the walls of the edicule cannot see what is happening inside. It is also known that the patriarch, before he goes inside to pray for the descent of the fire, is searched: he should not have any matches or lighters with him.
Fire - ordinary, human - can be obtained in different ways. Mechanical: for example, by friction, or using a magnifying glass, glasses or binoculars, or even making a lens out of ice. However, it is unlikely that the priest will be able to carry some kind of device with him - then it would be easier to actually hide the lighter. The best way to simulate sudden spontaneous combustion of a candle is to use chemical methods.
Eat classic way, which was used by magicians back in the 19th century. A piece of white phosphorus is dissolved in carbon tetrachloride, a volatile, poisonous liquid. A wick is dipped into the solution. After the carbon tetrachloride evaporates, the phosphorus ignites itself and lights the candle. Conveniently, spontaneous combustion does not occur immediately - there is just enough time to move the candle or lamp to the right place.
There are many substances that can spontaneously ignite, for example alkali metals,” a professor at the Russian Chemical Technical University named after A. Mendeleev Dmitry Mustafin. - If you take a piece of potassium or sodium and throw it into water, it will start to burn. In addition, alkali metal carbides burn. Quite a few active metals, especially if they are crushed into powders, aluminum, zinc, cobalt, all spontaneously ignite in air. Some immediately, others after some period of time. You can mix two substances - an oxidizing agent and a reducing agent. If you take saltpeter or potassium permanganate and mix it with alcohol, the mixture should catch fire.
You can’t just buy white phosphorus or other self-igniting substances in a store. We chose the simplest and relatively safe way to create fire - mixing glycerin and potassium permanganate, known as potassium permanganate. We warn you: do not repeat this experience at home. This should only be done in areas specially designed for this purpose (for example, chemical laboratories) and only with a fire extinguisher at the ready.
Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizing agent. Upon reaction it decomposes to atomic oxygen, which oxidizes glycerol. The reaction is exothermic, that is, it is accompanied by a strong release of heat and ignition of the suspension.
Simple glycerin from the pharmacy will not work. In fact, it is not even glycerin, but glycerol - an 85% solution. This concentration of the active substance is not enough: the solution boils, but does not burn. Therefore, we bought a 99.5% glycerin solution at a specialized chemical store. Potassium permanganate, in turn, is simply not sold in pharmacies - only by prescription. We got it from our own old stocks.
The experiment should only be carried out in glass or porcelain dishes - in no case in plastic and preferably not in metal. We will not reveal the secret of “how much to weigh in grams”. Glycerin is poured into a glass container (in concentrated form - a viscous transparent liquid). Potassium permanganate powder is added - there is no need to dilute it before this. After some time, the reaction begins sharply - everything seethes, boils and burns with a bright bluish flame. We placed a candle nearby, the wick of which was lit by chemical fire.
It is clear that no glassware will be brought into the edicule, and it is unlikely that members of the clergy are quietly chemistry in the corner. But there is a similar method, where instead of glycerin they take concentrated sulfuric acid. The components taken in a certain ratio are used to make a paste. She's not large number- literally a match head or less - is applied to the wick of a candle, which lights up after some time. To be sure, you can attach a tiny piece of paper to the wick. Alas, when we experimented with glycerin, we needed a fairly large volume of potassium permanganate, which would definitely not be possible to apply to the candle unnoticed.
There is one more property of the Holy Fire - it does not burn in the first minutes, and pilgrims can even wash themselves with it. Similar phenomenon chemical nature illusionists use in their work.
