 Where and when does the miracle
occur?
The ceremony, which awes the souls of Christians, takes place in the Church of the
Resurrection in Jerusalem. The date
for Pascha is determined anew for every year. It must be a first Sunday
after the spring equinox and Jewish Passover.
Therefore, most of the time it
differs from the date of Catholic and Protestant Easter, which is determined
using different criteria. The Holy Fire is the most renowned miracle in the
world of Eastern Orthodoxy.
It has taken place at the same time, in the same
manner, in the same place every single year for centuries.
No other miracle
is known to occur so regularly and so steadily over time.
No other miracle is
known to occur so regularly and so steadily over time.
It happens in the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the holiest place on earth, where Christ
was crucified, entombed, and where He finally rose from the dead.
Ceremony of Holy Light
In order to be as close to the Sepulchre as possible, pilgrims camp next to
it. The Sepulchre is located in the small chapel called Holy Ciborium, which is
inside the Church of the Resurrection. Typically they wait from the afternoon of
Holy Friday in anticipation of the miracle on Holy Saturday. Beginning at around
11:00 in the morning the Christian Arabs chant traditional hymns in a loud
voice. These chants date back to the Turkish occupation of Jerusalem in the 13th
century, a period in which the Christians were not allowed to chant anywhere but
in the churches. "We are the Christians, we have been Christians for centuries,
and we shall be forever and ever. Amen!" - they chant at the top of their voices
accompanied by the sound of drums. The drummers sit on the shoulders of others
who dance vigorously around the Holy Ciborium. But at 1:00 pm the chants fade
out, and then there is a silence. A tense silence, charged from the anticipation
of the great demonstration of God's power for all to witness.
Shortly thereafter, a delegation from the local authorities elbows its way
through the crowd. At the time of the Turkish occupation of Palestine they were
Muslim Turks; today they are Israelis.
Their function is to represent the Romans
at the time of Jesus. The Gospels speak of the Romans that went to seal the tomb
of Jesus, so that his disciples would not steal his body and claim he had risen.
In the same way the Israeli authorities on this Holy Saturday come and seal the
tomb with wax. Before they seal the door, they follow a custom to enter the
tomb, and to check for any hidden source of fire, which would make a fraud of
the miracle.
How the miracle occurs
"I enter the tomb
and kneel in holy fear in front of the place where Christ lay after His death
and where He rose again from the dead... (narrates Orthodox Patriarch Diodor -
ed.) I find my way through the darkness towards the inner chamber in which I
fall on my knees. Here I say certain prayers that have been handed down to us
through the centuries and, having said them, I wait. Sometimes I may wait a few
minutes, but normally the miracle happens immediately after I have said the
prayers. From the core of the very stone on which Jesus lay an indefinable light
pours forth. It usually has a blue tint, but the colour may change and take many
different hues. It cannot be described in human terms. The light rises out of
the stone as mist may rise out of a lake — it almost looks as if the stone is
covered by a moist cloud, but it is light.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- front door pillars in Old City, Jerusalem
For the comple article (due to length not posted here in its entirety), click this link. It is worth the time reading. http://www.holyfire.org/eng/index.htm
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