The descent of the Holy Fire in the year. If the Holy Fire does not descend, then what will happen? Have attempts to find a scientific explanation for the Holy Fire been successful?

“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 been arguing: 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.

There is a classic method that 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. It is convenient that 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 lot of 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 rooms specially designed for this purpose (for example, in chemical laboratories) and only with a fire extinguisher at the ready.

Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizing agent. When reacting, 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 concentrated sulfuric acid is used instead of glycerin. The components taken in a certain ratio are used to make a paste. A small amount of it - literally a match head or less - is applied to the candle wick, which after some time lights up. 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 definitely wouldn’t 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. A similar phenomenon of a chemical nature is used by illusionists in their work.

A special composition is taken from dry boric acid, ethyl alcohol and sulfuric or hydrochloric acid,” one of the magicians said anonymously. - Stir and heat slightly. You can roll a ball of thread and soak it in this composition, and only then set it on fire.

An ester of boric acid is released, which burns with a slightly greenish flame. It doesn't burn or even heat. However, as soon as all the ether burns out, the alcohol begins to burn. And now its flame really burns.

To get fire, we mixed a solution of glycerin and potassium premanganate powder, in other words, potassium permanganate.

A few minutes after mixing, the mixture began to bubble, and then suddenly flared up with a blue flame.

It is not necessary to extinguish the fire with water: it is better to limit the access of oxygen by covering the glass with something, or use a fire extinguisher.

On Holy Saturday, tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world flock to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to wash themselves with its blessed light and receive God's blessing.

Not only Orthodox Christians, but also representatives of various faiths are excitedly awaiting the greatest miracle.

For many hundreds of years, people have been trying to understand where the Holy Fire comes from. Believers are sure that this is a real miracle - God's gift to people. Scientists do not agree with this statement and try to find an explanation for this phenomenon from a scientific point of view.

Holy Fire

According to many testimonies, both ancient and modern, the appearance of the Holy Light can be observed in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher throughout the year, but the most famous and impressive is the miraculous descent of the Holy Fire on Holy Saturday, on the eve of the Holy Resurrection of Christ.

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 and others), as well as representatives of other non-Christian religions.

The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher has been known since ancient times; the fire that descended has a unique property - it does not burn in the first minutes.

The first witness to the descent of the fire was the Apostle Peter - having learned about the Resurrection of the Savior, he hurried to the tomb and saw an amazing light where the body had previously lay. For two thousand years this light has descended every year on the Holy Sepulcher as the Holy Fire.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was erected by Emperor Constantine and his mother Queen Helena in the 4th century. And the earliest written mentions of the descent of the Holy Fire on the eve of the Resurrection of Christ date back to the 4th century.

The temple with its huge roof covers 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.

Convergence

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, but there is an interesting feature - the Holy Fire descends only through the prayers of the Orthodox Patriarch.

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 in a minute the whole temple is on fire.

Miracle or trick

This wonderful phenomenon at different times had many critics who tried to expose and prove the artificial origin of fire. The Catholic Church was also among those who disagreed. In particular, Pope Gregory IX in 1238 disagreed about the miraculous nature of the Holy Fire.

Not understanding the true origin of the Holy Fire, some Arabs tried to prove that the Fire was allegedly produced using any means, substances and devices, but they had no direct evidence. At the same time, they did not even witness this miracle.

Modern researchers have also tried to study the nature of this phenomenon. In their opinion, it is possible to produce fire artificially. Spontaneous combustion of chemical mixtures and substances is also possible.

But none of them are similar to the appearance of the Holy Fire, especially with its amazing property of not burning in the first minutes of its appearance.

Scientists and theologians, representatives of various faiths, including the Orthodox Church, have repeatedly stated that the lighting of candles and lamps in the Temple from the supposed “sacred fire” is a falsification.

The most famous statements in the middle of the last century were made by professor of the Leningrad Theological Academy Nikolai Uspensky, who believed that in the Edicule 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 at this time.

At the same time, Uspensky argued that “the fire lit on the Holy Sepulcher from a hidden lamp is still sacred fire, received from a sacred place.”

Russian physicist Andrei Volkov allegedly managed to take some measurements at the Holy Fire ceremony several years ago. According to Volkov, a few minutes before the removal of the Holy Fire from Edicule, a device recording the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation detected a strange long-wave pulse in the temple, which no longer appeared. That is, an electrical discharge occurred.

In the meantime, scientists are trying to find scientific confirmation of this phenomenon, and in contrast to the complete lack of evidence of the skeptics’ statements, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire is an annually observed fact.

The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire is available to everyone. It can be seen not only by tourists and pilgrims - it takes place in front of the whole world and is regularly broadcast on television and the Internet, on the website of the Jerusalem Orthodox Patriarchate.

Every year, several thousand people present in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher see: the Patriarch, whose clothes were specially inspected, entered the Edicule, which had been checked and sealed. He came out of it with a burning torch of 33 candles and this is an indisputable fact.

Therefore, the answer to the question of where the Holy Fire comes from can only be one answer - it is a miracle, and everything else is just unconfirmed speculation.

And in conclusion, the Holy Fire confirms the promise of the Risen Christ to the apostles: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

It is believed that when the Heavenly Fire does not descend on the Holy Sepulcher, this will be a sign of the onset of the power of the Antichrist and the imminent end of the world.

The material was prepared on the basis of open sources.

Descent of the Holy Fire in 2018: date, time, where to watch

The Holy Fire is something that almost the whole world waits for every year. Its descent takes place right on the eve of Easter, and not only Christians and believers are eager to see it. After all, every person knows that if Fire has appeared, then everything will be fine on Earth for another year. It is believed that if the Holy Fire does not arise at least once, then a big disaster will soon occur. That is why people wait with bated breath for this miracle to appear.

The ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire, which has existed for more than a thousand years, is strictly regulated and prescribed down to the smallest detail.

10:15 Walking around the Edicule (chapel) in a procession led by the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem

11:00 Closing and sealing of the marble Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher

11:30 Emergence of emotional Arab Christian youth

12:00 Arrival at the Temple of the Greek Patriarch

12:10 Appeal from representatives of the Armenian clergy, as well as the Coptic and Syriac Orthodox churches to the Patriarch

12:20 A closed lamp is brought into the Holy Sepulcher, in which a fire should flare up

12:30 Procession of the cross of the Greek clergy with a three-fold circumambulation of the Edicule 12:50 Entrance to the Holy Sepulcher of the Patriarch and the Armenian Archimandrite

12:55 – 15:00 Exit of the Patriarch with the Sacred Fire Traditionally, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem is filled with pilgrims from different parts of the world.

Where can you see the Holy Fire

Such a phenomenon as the Holy Fire, as historians and representatives of the Christian church say, arose about two thousand years ago. You can see how it flares up in only one place. In Jerusalem there is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was built where the cave is located where the coffin with the body of the Savior was placed. It was there that believers first saw this inexplicable miracle, and it is there that the Fire appears every year. Therefore, about ten thousand people gather in this temple every year to see everything with their own eyes. Other believers observe this phenomenon only on television. Therefore, many questions arise about when the descent of the Holy Fire will take place in 2018. The date, time, where to watch the broadcast - all this interests people, because many believe that even if you are not in the temple, but see the flame flaring up on TV, you can receive the blessing of the Lord.

It is worth saying that when exactly Fire appears, no one can say. The fact is that this inexplicable phenomenon occurs at different times every year. But, as a rule, it happens on Holy Saturday. This time it falls on April 7th. If we talk about time, then from the very morning the believers, together with the church ministers, gather at the temple so as not to miss such a significant event. In addition, the procession and several other religious rituals are held first. And often the Holy Fire can only be seen in the late afternoon. It is first given to all believers in the temple, and then sent in lamps to churches located in other countries.

Where to watch live broadcasts of the Descent of the Holy Fire

Every year, several TV channels broadcast live from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But most often the occurrence of this miracle is shown in the recording. The film crew records the entire ceremony, then the best moments are selected, and all this is edited into an hour or an hour and a half program. It is then often shown on Sunday.
But if you want to see everything in real time, then you can turn on the NTV channel. The live broadcast will begin at 13.15 Moscow time on April 7th. You can also watch the appearance of Fire on the Internet. Some resources will also broadcast online.
As for Channel One and Russia TV channel, they will not broadcast this event, but will show a broadcast from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior at 19.30.

The descent of the Holy Fire is a very bright event that all people rejoice at. As those who managed to observe the phenomenon with their own eyes say, often candles and lamps in their hands light up by themselves, flashes appear in the place where the tomb of Christ stood, and dew also appears on the cotton wool that is laid out in the temple. Such miracles certainly deserve attention!

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 of the existence of 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. The highest church dignitaries personally monitor this: the last test is the Edicule, after which it is sealed with a large wax seal. From this moment on, the protection of holy places falls on the shoulders of the Israeli police (in ancient times, the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire handled their duties). They also put an additional seal on top of the seal of the Patriarch. What is not proof of the miraculous origin of the Holy Fire?

Edicule

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

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

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 with a 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 here the tears of the faithful people flow in streams. 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, since 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 whatever you want 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 address Christ and the 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 of electromagnetic radiation detected a strange long-wave pulse in the temple, which no longer appeared. I don’t want to refute or prove anything, but this is the scientific result of the experiment. 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 likely that the appearance of Fire is preceded by an electrical discharge, and we, by measuring the electromagnetic spectrum in the temple, tried to catch it.”

This is how Andrey comments on what happened. It turns out that modern technology cannot solve the mystery of the sacred Holy Fire...

Published 04/15/17 12:01

Holy Fire 2017: when is the live broadcast, the history of the convergence, and much more, read the TopNews material.

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Tens of thousands of Christians around the world are praying these days for the descent of the Holy Fire on the pre-Easter Holy Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

According to Christian tradition, the Holy Fire miraculously appears in the Edicule - the chapel over the Holy Sepulcher. Its descent occurs annually on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

Live broadcast of the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem 2017 will be intkbbach available on the web.

The Holy Fire will be delivered to our country by the delegation of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, which in 2017 included the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

Descent of the Holy Fire 2017

The descent of the Holy Fire in 2017 will take place in the renovated Edicule Chapel, which has been restored for about a year. During the renovation, for the first time in 500 years, scientists removed the marble slab covering Christ's burial bed and studied it.

The Holy Fire symbolizes the miraculous light of the Resurrection of Christ, which the Apostle Peter spoke about. This fire appears in the Edicule every year precisely on the eve of Orthodox Easter, thanks to the prayers of the Orthodox clergy and tens of thousands of pilgrims in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and at its walls.

However, debates continue in society about whether the descent of the Holy Fire is an annual miracle or simply a traditional Easter religious rite of the Jerusalem Church.

At noon, the procession to the Holy Sepulcher begins from the Jerusalem Patriarchate, ending before the entrance to the Edicule. A large lamp is brought into it, in which a fire should be lit, and 33 candles (according to the number of years of the Savior’s earthly life).

The Patriarch of Jerusalem traditionally enters the Edicule wearing only a linen cassock, so that it can be seen that he is not carrying matches or anything else that can be used to make fire. After this, the entrance to the chapel is sealed, and a period of intense anticipation begins for the descent of the Holy Fire.

According to popular legend, if the fire does not go down, it will become a terrible omen for all mankind, and those who are in the temple will die.

The wait for a miracle lasts from several minutes to several hours. During this time, the lights in the temple are turned off, and believers hold unlit Easter candles (large holiday candles) in their hands. People pray, repent of their sins and ask the Lord to grant the Holy Fire. According to eyewitnesses, after some time inexplicable flashes of light appear in the temple, which seem to flow down the walls and columns, and from the hole in the dome of the temple a wide vertical column of light descends onto the Holy Sepulcher.

Soon the blessed fire appears in the Edicule, the patriarch comes out of the cave and passes the fire from candle to candle to the people gathered in the temple. It is noteworthy that at first the Holy Fire does not burn when touched, notes RIA Novosti.

Descent of the Holy Fire VIDEO