Do Catholics have a convergence of the Holy Fire. Holy Fire: A miracle that annually reminds of the resurrected Jesus Christ. Fire appears in a miraculous or ordinary way
Every year, with the advent of Easter, the Orthodox public is seized with a craving for miracles. And once again such a miracle is shown to her - the descent of the Holy Fire. Broadcast to live federal Russian channels. The functionaries of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation organize the distribution of the Holy Fire on an all-Russian scale.
The fact that the Holy Fire is the work of human hands has been said more than once, starting from the early Middle Ages. The first debunkers of the miracle were, of course, Muslims who were interested in discrediting Christianity (and Muslims owned Jerusalem for a little less than twelve centuries - from 637 to 1917 with two breaks). Islamic theologians and travelers have left such testimonies.
Ibn-al-Kalanisi (mid-12th century): “When they are there for Easter ... they hang lamps in the altar and arrange a trick so that the fire reaches them through the oil of the balsam tree and accessories from it, and its property is the appearance of fire when combined with jasmine oil. It has a bright light and brilliant radiance. They manage to pass a stretched iron wire between adjacent lamps… and rub it with balsam oil, hiding it from their eyes… When they pray and the time of descent comes, the doors of the altar open… They enter and light many candles… Some of those standing try to bring the fire closer to the thread , he ... goes through all the lamps from one to another until he lights everything. Whoever looks at this thinks that fire has descended from heaven ... "
Al-Jawbari (first half of the 13th century): “The fact is that at the top of the dome there is an iron box connected to a chain on which it is suspended. It is fixed in the very vault of the dome, and no one sees it... And when the evening of the Sabbath of light comes, the monk rises to the casket and puts sulfur in it... and under it is fire, calculated until the hour when he needs the descent of light. He anoints the chain with balsam oil, and when the time comes, the fire ignites the composition at the junction of the chain with this attached casket. The balsam oil collects at this point and begins to flow down the circuit down to the lamp. The fire touches the wick of the lamp ... and lights it.
Ibn-al-Jawzi (mid-13th century): “I studied how the lamp is lit on Sunday - the feast of light ... When the sun sets and becomes dark, one of the priests takes advantage of inattention, opens a niche in the corner of the chapel, where no one sees him, lights his candle from one of the lamps and exclaims: “The light came down and Christ had mercy”…”
The “moving marble icon” mentioned by the governor Misail closes the “niche in the corner of the chapel”, about which Ibn al-Jauzi wrote six centuries earlier.
Of course, for a Christian, the testimony of a non-Christian is not expensive. But even in the Christian world, the attitude towards the miracle of the Holy Fire was also skeptical in places. In 1238, Pope Gregory IX refused to recognize his miraculous nature, and since then the Roman Catholic Church is of the opinion that the Holy Fire is "tricks of Eastern schismatics."
Orthodox hierarchs themselves avoid making statements about the nature of the Holy Fire, giving “ordinary people” an opportunity to speak out. But even people of a spiritual rank wrote about the man-made fire. So, the founder and first head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky), wrote down two stories: “Hierodeacon, having climbed into the chapel of the Sepulcher at a time when, according to common belief, the Holy Fire descends, he saw with horror that the fire was lit simply from the lamp which never goes out, and so the Holy Fire is not a miracle. He himself told me about this today, ”according to Hierodeacon Gregory, "The Book of My Genesis", part 1.
“When the famous master of Syria and Palestine, Ibrahim, Pasha of Egypt, was in Jerusalem ... This pasha took it into his head to make sure that fire really suddenly and miraculously appeared on the lid of the Tomb of Christ ... What did he do? He announced to the deputies of the patriarch that he liked to sit in the cuvuklia itself while receiving the fire and vigilantly watch how he was, and added that in case of truth they would be given 5,000 pungs (2,500,000 piastres), and in case of a lie, let them give to him all the money collected from deceived fans, and that he will publish in all the newspapers of Europe about the vile forgery. The governors of Petroarabia, Misail, and the Nazarene Metropolitan Daniel, and the Philadelphian Bishop Dionysius (now of Bethlehem) agreed to consult what to do. During the minutes of the meetings, Misail confessed that he was lighting a fire in a cuvuklia from a lamp hidden behind a moving marble icon of the Resurrection of Christ, which is right next to the Holy Sepulcher.
After this confession, it was decided to humbly ask Ibrahim not to interfere in religious affairs, and the dragoman of the Holy Sepulcher Monastery was sent to him, who made it look to him that it was of no use to his lordship to reveal the secrets of Christian worship and that the Russian Emperor Nicholas would be very dissatisfied with the discovery of these secrets. Ibrahim Pasha, having heard this, waved his hand and fell silent ... Having told all this, the Metropolitan added that God alone is expected to stop (our) pious lies. As he knows and can, so he will calm the peoples who now believe in the fiery miracle of the great Saturday. And we can’t even begin this revolution in the minds, we will be torn to pieces at the very chapel of the Holy Sepulcher ... ”- from the words Metropolitan Dionysius, "The Book of My Genesis", part 3.
We already have evidence Theophilus, Patriarch of Jerusalem- in whose jurisdiction is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. In April 2008, while receiving a delegation from the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, he, among other things, answered the question about the nature of the Holy Fire. This is how deacon Andrei Kuraev, who participated in the meeting, describes it: “His answer about the Holy Fire was no less frank: “This is a ceremony that is a representation, like all other ceremonies Holy Week. Just as once the Easter message from the tomb shone and illuminated the whole world, so now in this ceremony we make a representation of how the message of the resurrection from the cuvuklia spread throughout the world. Neither the word "miracle", nor the word "descent", nor the words "blessed fire" were in his speech. He probably could not have been more frank about the lighter in his pocket.
Why do the Fathers of the Church refuse to recognize the man-made nature of fire and continue to talk about "an unusual and wonderful phenomenon"? Apparently, they see a miracle as a means of strengthening faith and increasing the number of the flock. Meanwhile, true faith has no reasons and, as a result, does not need miracles as a means of strengthening. A few years ago, representatives of the Foundation for Christian Education and Mercy named after St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) turned to Patriarch Kirill with a request to give a "theological, liturgical and historical assessment of both the "fire of the Great Saturday" kindled in Jerusalem, and the widespread practice of its excessive veneration during the celebration of the Bright Resurrection of Christ." There was no answer.
The secret of the place.Edicule is not the Holy Sepulcher at all
Whatever the nature of the Holy Fire, it may be of value just because it was lit at the Holy Sepulcher. The problem, however, is that Kuvuklia is not the Holy Sepulcher at all.
As you know, after being taken down from the cross, the body of the Savior was placed in a cave located on a site that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, a friend of Pilate and a secret follower of Christ. Joseph bought this plot in the gardens outside the city wall for the future burial of his family members, but by the time of the crucifixion no one had yet been buried there.
In the year 41 - less than 10 years after the crucifixion of Jesus - Herod Agrippa started another expansion of Jerusalem. By the year 44, both the Holy Sepulcher and all the burials closest to it were inside the new - third - city wall. Since, according to the then Jewish ideas, the cemetery could not be located inside the city, the burials were moved to a new place, and the vacant territory began to be intensively built up.
In the year 66 - 33 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, the famous Jewish War began, which was an intricate combination of the liberation war of the Jews against the Romans and the civil war of the Jews among themselves - the secarii with the Zealots were engaged in mutual extermination, killing along the way everyone who fell under the arm. During civil strife, they burned most of Jerusalem. The Romans, who took the city, broke the little that remained. Even then, the location of the Holy Sepulcher could only be indicated very approximately. But this was not the end of the matter.
In 132, the Bar Kokhba uprising broke out. In 135 it was suppressed. Jerusalem was once again burned, and its population - including those who could keep the memory of the location of the Holy Sepulcher - was slaughtered. After that, under pain of death, Jews were forbidden to even approach the place where the city was located. The very name Jerusalem was forbidden. On its ruins, by order of the emperor Publius Elius Hadrian, a new city of Elia Capitolina began to be built. The area between the remains of the second and third walls was set aside for the construction of barracks. The area was leveled - the elevations were cut off, the recesses were covered, the space between the buildings was paved with stone. On the site where once - presumably - was the Holy Sepulcher, the temple of Venus was built, next to it was the central street of the new city - Cardo Maximus.
Was it possible after all this to find the burial place of Christ?
Empress Elena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, the founder of the Byzantine Empire, decided that it was possible. In 325, she organized excavations aimed at finding the Holy Sepulcher. In 326, a cave was discovered, which was decided to be considered the Holy Sepulcher.
On the site of the Holy Sepulcher, or rather, above this place, an impressive temple complex was built. But in 637, the Muslims captured Jerusalem. For more than three years they demonstrated incredible religious tolerance, but in 1009 the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was destroyed, and the Holy Sepulcher itself was completely destroyed: a small stone elevation with a niche - the same cave where the body of Christ once rested - was split into many stones, stones broken into rubble, rubble crushed into dust, dust scattered in the wind ...
Thus, it is not known whether Empress Elena found the place, and if so, it means that the real Holy Sepulcher was destroyed ten centuries ago.
Maxim Troshichev
The greatest miracle of the Christian world - the descent of the Holy Fire on Easter - has been striking the minds of people for centuries. And all this time, attempts are being made to debunk the miracle, to accuse the Orthodox of hoax. How serious these attempts were, is evidenced by the fact that all kinds of checks were undertaken not only by Muslims, but, oddly enough, by Catholic Christians. In today's festive "Vertograd" we are publishing a study by the candidate of geographical sciences I.N. Rubanov, which consists of two parts. The first one speaks of the inconsistency of criticism Easter miracle. In the second - about some little-known facts that accompany the miracle and sweep away any doubts about its truth.
For historical reasons, none of the Christian denominations had to write so much about the Holy Fire and think so thoroughly about the essence of what is manifested, as Roman Catholic Church.
Representatives of the Roman Church testified about the miracle of the Holy Fire at the dawn of Christianity. One of the first evidence is contained in the notes of the western pilgrim Sylvia of Aquitaine (4th century). The Latin monk Bernard (circa 865) writes in his itinerary: “On Holy Saturday, which is the eve of Easter, the service begins early and after the service is completed, “Lord, have mercy!” until, with the coming of the Angel, the Light is kindled in the lamps hanging over the Tomb.
The falling away of the See of Rome from the Universal Church began in the 9th century and finally ended in the 11th century. In 1099, Jerusalem was conquered by the crusaders and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher came under papal control. The ceremony of the appearance of the Holy Light of that time is described in detail in one of the most authoritative historical documents of the Middle Ages - the testimony of the Russian abbot Daniel, who managed to become an eyewitness of a miracle thanks to a warm welcome from the Latin king Baldwin I, who reigned in Jerusalem.
In his notes, along with criticism of the fictions about the Holy Fire, he notes how the Orthodox lamps at the Holy Sepulcher themselves lit up: “By the grace of God, those three kandila (Greek, from the monastery of Savva the Sanctified and Russian. - Ed. ) ignited ... and the Fryazian (Catholic Franciscans. - Ed. ) the shackles are hung up the essence of grief, and those shackles did not flare up even then.
At this time, Catholics were still taking part in the ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire and, simultaneously with led by the Orthodox service in the temple. However, none of them entered the Kuvuklia, where the Fire flared up, before its appearance. The Eastern Orthodox Church was represented by the monks of the monastery of Sava the Sanctified, whose presence was considered obligatory.
If the deniers Christ's Resurrection Muslims tried to prevent the descent, the Roman clergy sought to get rid of the presence of Orthodox "heretics" at the descent of the Holy Fire, and in general in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that previously belonged to them.
In 1187, the followers of the papacy were expelled from Jerusalem and lost sole control over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the leadership of the Roman Church seems to have drawn certain conclusions. In 1238, Pope Gregory IX, in one of his letters, officially opposed the interpretation of the "rite" of the Holy Fire as miraculous. As one of the Catholic researchers of the issue, Olga Basiy, writes, “due to the spread of a misunderstanding of this rite.” Unfortunately, it is not known what changes have occurred in the understanding of this rite, with the exception of the local Catholics who have ceased to participate in it.
From that moment until the 20th century, the Holy Fire for the Roman Church, as it were, ceased to exist, the general public during this period did not know anything about it.
Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, who was present nine times at the descent of the Holy Fire, notes with regret: “Catholics take a neutral position: it is pointless, impossible, it is better to refute the fact of the descent of the Holy Fire. And they deliberately hush up the existence of this miracle, because nothing else remains for them. It was the same in apostolic times: after all, the apostles were forbidden to speak of the name of Jesus. It was impossible to prove the falsity of His teaching, it was only possible to forbid the pronunciation of His name.
Pilgrim Lev Tikhonov writes: “In Jerusalem, I heard from local Orthodox residents that Catholics are the only one of the “apostolic” churches ... that ignores the convergence of the Holy Fire and considers everything that happens to be “tricks of Eastern schismatics.” Indirect confirmation of this is the English-language Franciscan guide to the Holy Land that I read, describing all archaeological finds, all shrines and all customs up to the patriarchal procession from Bethany in the Week of Vay. In the same way, in the bookstore of Franciscan scholars, where I bought it, which I ransacked quite thoroughly, not a single publication mentioned the descent of the Holy Fire.
Nevertheless, the Catholics who were in Jerusalem learned about what was happening.
Famous traveler to the holy places of the XIX century. A. S. Norov narrates: “I really wanted to get along with the Latin monks in a friendly manner. Conversing once with them in spiritual sorrow about the strife dividing Christian Churches in Jerusalem, I heard complaints from their abbot against the Greeks: he reproached them, among other things, for the Holy Fire; he added that he was talking to me about being a European. I answered that if he takes it for a rite, then even in this case this rite has been consecrated for centuries, and that the Roman Church has no right to such a reproach; that Italy is briefly familiar to me, that I will also treat him as a European, about the ritual performed in Naples in the church of St. Then the abbot exclaimed: “Ma questo e un vero miracolo!” (this is a real miracle!) and did not heed any objections. “If this is so,” I said to him, “then let me believe more in the miracle that takes place on the Sepulcher of the Savior Himself.”
It is curious to note that the described miracle aroused completely different feelings in one of its direct witnesses. The French Orthodox pilgrim Varvara Brun de Saint Hippolyte (19th century) writes:
"On<...>(diverse pilgrims awaiting the descent of the Holy Fire. - Ed. ) watched with curiosity Catholic monks and Jesuits, among whom was our Russian prince Gagarin, who 18 years ago had transferred to the Latin Church ...
In anticipation of a sign from heaven, everything is silent, but not for long ... Here again is anxiety - they are shouting, rushing about, praying, worrying ... Our mission was at the pulpit above royal doors; I could see the reverent expectation of His Grace Cyril. I also looked at Prince Gagarin, who was standing in the crowd. I could clearly see his face: it expressed sadness; Gagarin peered intently at Kuvuklia.
Suddenly, a bunch of lighted candles is shown from the side hole... At the top of Kuvukliya, everything is lit: lamps, chandeliers... Everyone screams, rejoices, crosses themselves, weeps with joy; hundreds, thousands of candles transmit Light one to another. Vanity... Arabs burn their beards, Arab women bring Fire to their naked necks. In this cramped place Fire pierces the crowds; but there was no example of a fire in such a case. It is impossible to describe the general delight, it is impossible to depict a picture: this is an indescribable miracle! .. Everyone was crying for joy ... I accidentally looked at Prince Gagarin - I see: his tears are flowing in a hail and his face is shining with joy ... As with this expression in one and the same person to combine his yesterday's sermon on Golgotha, which he delivered in French and concluded as follows: “Now it remains to wish one thing - that we all become Catholics and submit to the Pope.”
However, during the XII-XX centuries. Catholics were still present at the Litany of the Holy Fire, but their function was to control the Orthodox. Back at the beginning of the 20th century, during the British Mandate, they, together with the Armenian Gregorians, searched Kuvuklia and the Patriarch. An eyewitness testified: “Even in the distant past, this was carefully observed: the Turkish authorities carried out a strict search inside the chapel; on the slander of Catholics, they even reached the revision of the pockets of the clergy metropolitan, the vicar of the Patriarch ... "
Sometimes hostility extended to ordinary believers. So, one of the Russian pilgrims of the XIX century. wrote: “Troubles could be expected from the Arabs of the Catholic confession, who inspired disbelief in the grace of Heavenly fire. The Catholic clergy always tries to incite them against the Orthodox, and a rare celebration passes without a riot through the Catholic Arabs.
The Orthodox, on the other hand, reproached the representatives of Catholicism for being the only Christian denominations represented in Jerusalem that do not recognize the miracle of the Holy Fire. “There are many Muslims in the temple. They believe that the Holy Fire comes from Heaven, and only Catholics refuse to acknowledge it.”
But nevertheless, the respectful attitude towards the Holy Fire of the representatives of the Roman Church, who served in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was preserved at that time. To this day, the fire descended into Great Saturday, is carefully preserved and all the lamps in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are lit only from him. This rule is also observed by Catholics. And even at the beginning of the 20th century, the Latin clergy, who owns part of the temple, humbly accepted the Holy Fire from the Orthodox Patriarch. So, Archimandrite Savva Achilleos, a multiple eyewitness of the descent, wrote: “When the service of the Holy Fire is performed on Great Saturday, all the Gentiles are present: Armenians, Catholics, Copts, Syrians ... Gentiles with great humility on this day approach the Head Orthodox Church. They recognize him as the representative of the true Orthodox faith and as the Head of the Jerusalem Church, the first bishop and founder of which was St. Jacob, brother of God. The spirit of humility is expressed on their faces. They humbly pay tribute and honor to the Patriarch. Only under such conditions do they receive the Holy Fire from the hands of the Patriarch.”
Since the 20th century and especially its last decades, the informatization of society has significantly changed the situation - many ordinary Catholics learned about the Holy Fire firsthand, it has become more difficult for the conservative Catholic press to bypass the events taking place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday. At the same time, the absence or, more precisely, the duality of the official position of the papacy on this issue determines the exceptional breadth of opinion of representatives of Catholicism. In cases where the decency of public figures of the Roman Church and the knowledge of the audience leave much to be desired, one can hear outright slander. In one of the broadcasts of the Catholic radio channel "Sofia" (01/06/1997), the renovationist hegumen Innokenty (Pavlov) declared the miracle of the Holy Fire "some kind of pious legend about some kind of descent." The provincial abbot practicing on the radio channel, without any doubt, is well aware of this miracle that happens annually (Fr. Abbot is a well-known erudite and “brilliant connoisseur of church history”), but, despite this, lies for the sake of the world ecumenical community.
The Catholic publicist Olga Basiy, in the article “Once again about the Holy Fire,” tried to present the miracle as an ordinary church ceremony, carried out “both in the West and in the East.” Meanwhile, she was forced to mention the miraculous side of the "rite": "Spread folk beliefs that fire spontaneously ignites from the rock or descends from the sky. For us, it is surprising not even that the “popular belief” has been repeatedly recorded on videotape, but that Mrs. Bassius, it seems, should also include Pope Urban II, who publicly said before the participants in the crusade, to the category of those seduced and deceived by “belief”: “Indeed, in this temple (of the Holy Sepulcher) God rests: in this temple He died for us and was buried. Until now, He does not cease to manifest His miracles there, for in the days of His Holy Passion, when all the lights are extinguished over His Tomb and in the temple, suddenly extinguished lamps ignite. Whose heart, no matter how petrified, is not softened by such a manifestation? Apparently, after a millennium, the Pope received an answer to his question ...
Despite the above criticism, many representatives of the Roman Catholic Church recognize the Holy Fire as a miracle coming from God.
It is impossible without respect to mention the Catholic researcher Niels Hvidt, who regularly talks about the Holy Fire on the pages of the press of the Roman Church. In his book Miracles Between Heaven and Earth, he laments: “...why is the miracle of the Holy Fire poorly known to Western Catholics?” - and assures the doubters: “The best argument against claims of fraud ... are the thousands of testimonies of pilgrims who over the centuries have described blue lightning that they saw outside Kuvuklia, candles lighting up by themselves right in front of their eyes for no reason. ".
Often representatives of the Roman Church notice: to believe or not to believe in a particular miracle is a personal matter, which cannot interfere with salvation. “Agree, even evil Catholics with their inquisitorial barracks manners cannot consider a person deprived of a chance of salvation just because he does not believe in another crying statue of the Madonna from plaster or in myrrh-streaming from a photocopy” (Sysoev Pavel Yuryevich, Catholic).
Finally, it is said that a miracle alone cannot be the foundation of Christianity and proof of its truth.
However, realizing that true miracles cannot be the foundation of faith, we have the right to think about why and why the Lord sends them down to us, what they testify to and what they mean, especially if the circumstances of their appearance are conducive to such reflections. After all, the apostles themselves called true miracles and signs evidence from God (Acts 2:22; Heb. 2:4). Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming like those about whom the evangelists wrote: “He did so many miracles before them, and they did not believe in Him” (John 12, 37), “for they did not understand [the miracle]... because their heart was petrified” (Mark 6:52).
The greatest miracle of the Christian world - the descent of the Holy Fire on Easter - has been striking the minds of people for centuries. And all this time, attempts are being made to debunk the miracle, to accuse the Orthodox of hoax. How serious these attempts were, is evidenced by the fact that all kinds of checks were undertaken not only by Muslims, but, oddly enough, by Catholic Christians. In today's festive "Vertograd" we are publishing a study by the candidate of geographical sciences I.N. Rubanov, which consists of two parts. The first one speaks of the inconsistency of criticism of the Easter miracle. In the second - about some little-known facts that accompany the miracle and sweep away any doubts about its truth.
For historical reasons, none of the Christian denominations had to write so much about the Holy Fire and think so thoroughly about the essence of what was manifested as the Roman Catholic Church.
Representatives of the Roman Church testified about the miracle of the Holy Fire at the dawn of Christianity. One of the first evidence is contained in the notes of the western pilgrim Sylvia of Aquitaine (4th century). The Latin monk Bernard (circa 865) writes in his itinerary: “On Holy Saturday, which is the eve of Easter, the service begins early and after the service is completed, “Lord, have mercy!” until, with the coming of the Angel, the Light is kindled in the lamps hanging over the Tomb.
The falling away of the See of Rome from the Universal Church began in the 9th century and finally ended in the 11th century. In 1099, Jerusalem was conquered by the crusaders and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher came under papal control. The ceremony of the appearance of the Holy Light of that time is described in detail in one of the most authoritative historical documents of the Middle Ages - the testimony of the Russian hegumen Daniel, who managed to become an eyewitness of a miracle thanks to the warm welcome from the Latin king Baldwin I, who reigned in Jerusalem.
In his notes, along with criticism of the fictions about the Holy Fire, he notes how the Orthodox lamps at the Holy Sepulcher themselves lit up: “By the grace of God, those three kandila (Greek, from the monastery of Savva the Sanctified and Russian. - Ed. ) ignited ... and the Fryazian (Catholic Franciscans. - Ed. ) the shackles are hung up the essence of grief, and those shackles did not flare up even then.
At this time, Catholics still took part in the ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire and, simultaneously with the Orthodox, conducted their service in the temple. However, none of them entered the Kuvuklia, where the Fire flared up, before its appearance. The Eastern Orthodox Church was represented by the monks of the monastery of Sava the Sanctified, whose presence was considered obligatory.
If the Muslims who denied the Resurrection of Christ tried to prevent the descent, the Roman clergy sought to get rid of the presence of Orthodox "heretics" at the descent of the Holy Fire, and in general in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that had previously belonged to them.
In 1187, the followers of the papacy were expelled from Jerusalem and lost sole control over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the leadership of the Roman Church seems to have drawn certain conclusions. In 1238, Pope Gregory IX, in one of his letters, officially opposed the interpretation of the "rite" of the Holy Fire as miraculous. As one of the Catholic researchers of the issue, Olga Basiy, writes, “due to the spread of a misunderstanding of this rite.” Unfortunately, it is not known what changes have occurred in the understanding of this rite, with the exception of the local Catholics who have ceased to participate in it.
From that moment until the 20th century, the Holy Fire for the Roman Church, as it were, ceased to exist, the general public during this period did not know anything about it.
Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, who was present nine times at the descent of the Holy Fire, notes with regret: “Catholics take a neutral position: it is pointless, impossible, it is better to refute the fact of the descent of the Holy Fire. And they deliberately hush up the existence of this miracle, because nothing else remains for them. It was the same in apostolic times: after all, the apostles were forbidden to speak of the name of Jesus. It was impossible to prove the falsity of His teaching, it was only possible to forbid the pronunciation of His name.
Pilgrim Lev Tikhonov writes: “In Jerusalem, I heard from local Orthodox residents that Catholics are the only one of the “apostolic” churches ... which ignores the convergence of the Holy Fire and considers everything that happens to be “tricks of Eastern schismatics.” An indirect confirmation of this is the English-language Franciscan guide to the Holy Land that I read, describing all the archaeological finds, all the shrines and all the customs up to the patriarchal procession from Bethany on the Week of Vay. In the same way, in the bookstore of Franciscan scholars, where I bought it, which I ransacked quite thoroughly, not a single publication mentioned the descent of the Holy Fire.
Nevertheless, the Catholics who were in Jerusalem learned about what was happening.
Famous traveler to the holy places of the XIX century. A. S. Norov narrates: “I really wanted to get along with the Latin monks in a friendly manner. Conversing with them one day in spiritual sorrow about the strife dividing the Christian Churches in Jerusalem, I heard complaints from their abbot against the Greeks: he reproached them, among other things, for the Holy Fire; he added that he was talking to me about being a European. I answered that if he takes it for a rite, then even in this case this rite has been consecrated for centuries, and that the Roman Church has no right to such a reproach; that Italy is briefly familiar to me, that I will also treat him as a European, about the ritual performed in Naples in the church of St. Then the abbot exclaimed: “Ma questo e un vero miracolo!” (this is a real miracle!) and did not heed any objections. “If this is so,” I said to him, “then let me believe more in the miracle that takes place on the Sepulcher of the Savior Himself.”
It is curious to note that the described miracle aroused completely different feelings in one of its direct witnesses. The French Orthodox pilgrim Varvara Brun de Saint Hippolyte (19th century) writes:
"On<...>(diverse pilgrims awaiting the descent of the Holy Fire. - Ed. ) watched with curiosity Catholic monks and Jesuits, among whom was our Russian prince Gagarin, who 18 years ago had transferred to the Latin Church ...
In anticipation of a sign from heaven, everything is silent, but not for long ... Here again is anxiety - they are shouting, rushing about, praying, worrying ... Our mission was on the pulpit above the royal gates; I could see the reverent expectation of His Grace Cyril. I also looked at Prince Gagarin, who was standing in the crowd. I could clearly see his face: it expressed sadness; Gagarin peered intently at Kuvuklia.
Suddenly, a bunch of lighted candles is shown from the side hole... At the top of Kuvukliya, everything is lit: lamps, chandeliers... Everyone screams, rejoices, crosses themselves, weeps with joy; hundreds, thousands of candles transmit Light one to another. Vanity... Arabs burn their beards, Arab women bring Fire to their naked necks. In this cramped place Fire pierces the crowds; but there was no example of a fire in such a case. It is impossible to describe the general delight, it is impossible to depict a picture: this is an indescribable miracle! .. Everyone was crying for joy ... I accidentally looked at Prince Gagarin - I see: his tears are flowing in a hail and his face is shining with joy ... As with this expression in one and the same person to combine his yesterday's sermon on Golgotha, which he delivered in French and concluded as follows: “Now it remains to wish one thing - that we all become Catholics and submit to the Pope.”
However, during the XII-XX centuries. Catholics were still present at the Litany of the Holy Fire, but their function was to control the Orthodox. Back at the beginning of the 20th century, during the British Mandate, they, together with the Armenian Gregorians, searched Kuvuklia and the Patriarch. An eyewitness testified: “Even in the distant past, this was carefully observed: the Turkish authorities carried out a strict search inside the chapel; on the slander of Catholics, they even reached the revision of the pockets of the clergy metropolitan, the vicar of the Patriarch ... "
Sometimes hostility extended to ordinary believers. So, one of the Russian pilgrims of the XIX century. wrote: “Troubles could be expected from the Arabs of the Catholic confession, who inspired disbelief in the grace of Heavenly fire. The Catholic clergy always tries to incite them against the Orthodox, and a rare celebration passes without a riot through the Catholic Arabs.
The Orthodox, on the other hand, reproached the representatives of Catholicism for being the only Christian denominations represented in Jerusalem that do not recognize the miracle of the Holy Fire. “There are many Muslims in the temple. They believe that the Holy Fire comes from Heaven, and only Catholics refuse to acknowledge it.”
But nevertheless, the respectful attitude towards the Holy Fire of the representatives of the Roman Church, who served in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was preserved at that time. To this day, the Fire that descended on Great Saturday is carefully preserved and all the lamps in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are lit only from it. This rule is also observed by Catholics. And even at the beginning of the 20th century, the Latin clergy, who owns part of the temple, humbly accepted the Holy Fire from the Orthodox Patriarch. So, Archimandrite Savva Achilleos, a multiple eyewitness of the descent, wrote: “When the service of the Holy Fire is performed on Holy Saturday, all the Gentiles are present: Armenians, Catholics, Copts, Syrians ... Gentiles with great humility on this day approach the Head of the Orthodox Church . They recognize him as a representative of the true Orthodox faith and as the Head of the Jerusalem Church, the first bishop and founder of which was St. Jacob, brother of God. The spirit of humility is expressed on their faces. They humbly pay tribute and honor to the Patriarch. Only under such conditions do they receive the Holy Fire from the hands of the Patriarch.”
Since the 20th century and especially its last decades, the informatization of society has significantly changed the situation - many ordinary Catholics learned about the Holy Fire firsthand, it has become more difficult for the conservative Catholic press to bypass the events taking place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday. At the same time, the absence or, more precisely, the duality of the official position of the papacy on this issue determines the exceptional breadth of opinion of representatives of Catholicism. In cases where the decency of public figures of the Roman Church and the knowledge of the audience leave much to be desired, one can hear outright slander. In one of the broadcasts of the Catholic radio channel "Sofia" (01/06/1997), the renovationist hegumen Innokenty (Pavlov) declared the miracle of the Holy Fire "some kind of pious legend about some kind of descent." The supernumerary abbot practicing on the radio channel, without any doubt, is well aware of this annual miracle (Fr. Abbot is a well-known erudite and “brilliant connoisseur of church history”), but, despite this, he lies for the sake of the world ecumenical community.
The Catholic publicist Olga Basiy, in the article “Once again about the Holy Fire,” tried to present the miracle as an ordinary church ceremony, carried out “both in the West and in the East.” Meanwhile, she was forced to mention the miraculous side of the "rite": "Folk beliefs spread that fire ignited spontaneously from the rock or descended from the sky." For us, it is surprising not even that the “popular belief” has been repeatedly recorded on videotape, but that Mrs. Bassius, it seems, should also include Pope Urban II, who publicly said before the participants in the crusade, to the category of those seduced and deceived by “belief”: “Indeed, in this temple (of the Holy Sepulcher) God rests: in this temple He died for us and was buried. Until now, He does not cease to manifest His miracles there, for in the days of His Holy Passion, when all the lights are extinguished over His Tomb and in the temple, suddenly extinguished lamps ignite. Whose heart, no matter how petrified, is not softened by such a manifestation? Apparently, after a millennium, the Pope received an answer to his question ...
Despite the above criticism, many representatives of the Roman Catholic Church recognize the Holy Fire as a miracle coming from God.
It is impossible without respect to mention the Catholic researcher Niels Hvidt, who regularly talks about the Holy Fire on the pages of the press of the Roman Church. In his book Miracles Between Heaven and Earth, he laments: “...why is the miracle of the Holy Fire poorly known to Western Catholics?” - and assures the doubters: “The best argument against the claims of fraud ... are the thousands of testimonies of pilgrims who over the centuries have described blue lightning that they saw outside Kuvukliya, candles lighting up by themselves right in front of their eyes for no reason. ".
Often representatives of the Roman Church notice: to believe or not to believe in a particular miracle is a personal matter, which cannot interfere with salvation. “Agree, even evil Catholics with their inquisitorial barracks manners cannot consider a person deprived of a chance of salvation just because he does not believe in another crying statue of the Madonna from plaster or in myrrh-streaming from a photocopy” (Sysoev Pavel Yuryevich, Catholic).
Finally, it is said that a miracle alone cannot be the foundation of Christianity and proof of its truth.
However, realizing that true miracles cannot be the foundation of faith, we have the right to think about why and why the Lord sends them down to us, what they testify to and what they mean, especially if the circumstances of their appearance are conducive to such reflections. After all, the apostles themselves called true miracles and signs evidence from God (Acts 2:22; Heb. 2:4). Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming like those about whom the evangelists wrote: “He did so many miracles before them, and they did not believe in Him” (John 12, 37), “for they did not understand [the miracle]... because their heart was petrified” (Mark 6:52).
On the eve of one of the main Christian holidays People from all over the world come to Jerusalem to see how the blessed Paschal fire descends. On this day, in Orthodox calendar, pilgrims are eager to see the miracle of the Lord with their own eyes, wash themselves with the sacred flame and receive God's blessing.
The Holy Fire is a self-igniting flame on the Holy Sepulcher, which is then taken out to the people by priests, and the patriarch lights lamps and candles with it, thus symbolizing the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his exit from the grave. Fire, or Light (as the participants in the ceremony call it by analogy with the True Light - the resurrected Savior), appears in the process of conducting a special ritual dedicated to the celebration of Easter.
Jerusalem is famous for the fact that every year for almost two millennia, the Holy Fire descends in it. This takes place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - a majestic structure built in the 4th century over the place of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ. Currently, it has been restored and adapted to the needs of modern confessions and the magnificent ceremony of the descent of the holy flame.
Written evidence of self-igniting fire corresponds to the time of the construction of the temple - the 4th century, but they also mention convergence that occurred much earlier. According to legend, the Apostles of Christ were the first to see the miraculous light shortly after his resurrection. The next people to whom the Holy Fire appeared were a holy monk and an Orthodox patriarch, this happened in the 1st and 2nd centuries.
The sign of the Lord took on a regular character after the construction of Kuvuklia (a chapel located above the cave where Jesus was buried) and a special sacrament that promoted the convergence of fire.
The Ceremony Preceding the Miracle and Its Appearance
Litany (a ceremony dedicated to the descent of the flame) begins the day before Easter. Most important points controlled by the police and representatives of other faiths. This is done to prevent manual ignition of the fire.
| Key milestones of the Litany | Action goals |
| All lamps and candles are extinguished in the temple. | The temple is plunged into darkness. |
| Specially authorized representatives of the authorities in the city of Jerusalem carefully check all the premises of the temple. | Check for unextinguished sources of fire. |
| A lamp is brought into Kuvukliya. | This lamp will subsequently be lit by the sacred Light. |
| The chapel is being sealed. | This is done in order to avoid falsification of the miracle. |
| The procession of Greek priests led by the Patriarch begins. | This takes place around noon on Holy Saturday. |
| Arab youths run into the temple. | They emotionally, with a loud expression of their feelings, ask the Lord to light a fire. |
| A procession enters under the vaults of the building. | The procession consists of hierarchs of confessions celebrating the Resurrection of Christ, Orthodox and Armenian Patriarchs, and other clergy. |
| Patriarchs are undressed to their undergarments so that all those present can see that they do not carry sources of fire with them. | Patriarchs enter Edicule. |
| Priests and parishioners pray | Everyone is waiting for the moment when the Patriarch announces that the Holy Fire is descending. |
| From the flame that descended from heaven, they light the lamp, previously brought into the chapel, and then the candles that are in people's hands. | This completes the rite. All Jerusalem rejoices after another miracle. |
The phenomenon of fire is seen not only by those who are inside Kuvuklia. Those standing in different corners of the temple can also watch the miracle approach. Indeed, some time before this, the air begins to sparkle and light up with the light of small lightnings that do not harm people.
The fire that descended immediately after its appearance does not burn, and you can even have time to wash yourself with it before it acquires its usual properties.
Reasons for the appearance of a miracle only to Orthodox Christians
Many people, and especially representatives of other religious movements, the question arises why the flame descends exactly on . Particular interest in this arose after documented cases when Orthodox were expelled from the temple and not allowed to conduct the Litany, or restrictions were imposed on the process of the ceremony. As a result of such actions, the fire either did not descend until the intervention of true believers, or did not appear in its usual place, but where it prayed Orthodox Patriarch with priests and parishioners.
Versions in favor of Orthodoxy.
- Light descends on the Orthodox, because Orthodoxy stands for “right” and “glory”, that is, the correct glorification of God, the correct faith, for which He rewards Christians.
- Only the old Julian calendar, according to which Orthodox Christians pray and celebrate Easter, is correct, which affects the time of the fire.
- Only the Patriarch and the priests know the sequence of the Litany. Only they believe in the Lord so much that they are worthy for a miracle to happen.
However, the phenomenon of the convergence of fire is also of interest to skeptical people who have made their conclusions about why flames can only receive Orthodox priests. They believe that everything is explained quite simply: only this church considers it necessary to falsify miraculous signs for its own benefit and gain even more followers.
Its representatives have many opportunities to imitate the gathering of fire: from the simplest (the Patriarch ignites the flame in Kuvuklia with his own hands) to more complex ones, for example, hidden lamps or verified techniques with threads stretched through the temple, treated with a special composition and fire sources connected to them, taken out of temple. And Jerusalem earns fabulous money from this show every year, and it is in the interests of the government not to interfere with arranging “holy signs” for a gullible people, skeptics believe.
Despite the many observers of the process of convergence of fire and the research of scientists, there is still no consensus on the origin of the holy flame. The reason that the fire is only an Orthodox believer has not been solved either. And at this time, while the study of the phenomenal phenomenon is underway, believers every year observe a miracle that testifies to the power of the Lord, wash themselves with holy light and rejoice at the Bright Resurrection of Christ.
A few weeks before Easter, disputes usually begin about exactly how the Holy Fire will appear in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher: it will come down miraculously from heaven or ignite from a match in the hands of the Jerusalem Patriarch. This time, a big scandal was caused by the revelations of an Armenian priest, who said in an interview to Israeli journalists that the whole thing was in a "special lamp." About why the Holy Fire kindles serious passions among believers - in the material of RIA Novosti.
Miracles are not "for fun"
"Stop filming, he's lying!" - a Greek temple attendant intervenes in the conversation of the Armenian priest Samuil Agonyan with journalists, covering the camera with his hands. But the Armenian continues to tell how he noticed three times that the patriarch lights bundles of wax candles from an oil lamp and there is nothing mystical in this. "God works miracles, but not for the amusement of people," concludes the interlocutor of Israeli TV.
The ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire takes place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher every year on the eve of Orthodox Easter - on Holy Saturday. According to the most common version, the fire miraculously ignites as a result of the prayers of the Jerusalem Patriarch and thousands of believers inside the temple, in the most sacred place for Christians - Kuvuklia, a chapel built over the Holy Sepulcher itself (a stone bed where the body of Christ rested after death on the cross and burial) .
However, there are other versions of the origin of fire. For example, the Patriarch of Jerusalem allegedly secretly carries a lighter with him. Or, in Kuvuklia, a lamp with a ready fire is hidden a week before Easter. Or, according to some legends, this secret lamp was miraculously lit somewhere in the 5th century, and since then the clergy have kept it burning. In other words, the Holy Fire did miraculously descend, but only once.
"What if not a miracle?"
Historian-orientalist Mikhail Yakushev has been present at the ceremony every year since 2003. And he has no doubt that the Holy Fire is a miracle.
"If it were not a miracle, I would even say, not God's providence, then I would not have participated in this twenty times. Anyone who got to this event experiences awe, joy, delight and constantly strives to go there again, although extremely difficult,” he admits.
And he cannot describe the experience during the ceremony otherwise than with the word "delight". “Especially when at first the whole temple freezes in anticipation of fire, and then finally it appears,” adds Yakushev.
Hieromonk Feodorit (Senchukov), a well-known resuscitator in Moscow, was also present more than once in the main church of Christianity on Holy Saturday and categorically disagrees with the version of Father Samuil Agonyan.
"Of course, it can be assumed that this fire comes from the lighter of the Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus. But flashes appear on the temple walls before the descent of Fire, and in the most unexpected places, and they were described long before the invention of flashbulbs. With my own eyes I saw how they suddenly ignite by themselves candles. And I consider impossible the popular idea that a person buys them in a shop, goes to a temple and, immediately before the descent of Fire, specially smears them with white phosphorus (a flammable substance. - Note ed.). The Holy Fire is really a miracle, "- says Father Theodoret.
It is noteworthy that the Patriarch of Jerusalem enters Cuvuklia in one linen cassock. To be clear, he does not carry matches or anything else that can light a fire. The door to the chapel is then sealed in the presence of the Israeli police.
Other story
In the Armenian Apostolic Church, they generally look at the history of the origin of the Holy Fire differently.
Latin and Arabic sources mention the miracle of self-ignition of lamps at the Holy Sepulcher since the 7th century. The Armenian Church connects the tradition of the Holy Fire with its founder, St. Gregory the Illuminator, who lived much earlier.
By doctrine Armenian Church, Gregory, not considering himself worthy to enter the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, went to the surrounding caves and prayed for a long time. In response to his prayer on Saturday, the day before Easter, all the candles and lamps were miraculously lit at the Tomb. It was after this that he was called the Enlightener.
Scandal before Easter
The statement of the representative of the Armenian Church about lighting the fire in Kuvukliya from a banal burning lamp caused a negative reaction in Russia, where the solemn bringing of the Holy Fire to the night Easter service has been considered one of the culminating moments of the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ for many years. So, the press secretary of Patriarch Kirill, priest Alexander Volkov, directly left what was said "on the conscience of the clergy of the Armenian Church." And the deputy head synodal department on the relationship of the Church with society and the media, Vakhtang Kipshidze called Agonyan's act unacceptable.
“For us, when the entire Orthodox world is preparing for Easter, attempts to scandalize the topic of the Holy Fire convergence cause great disappointment. Orthodox world it is a spiritual event involving millions of believers. The intention to compromise this centuries-old tradition is unacceptable and has as its indirect result a disruption of the state of prayer in which Orthodox believers are in preparation for bright holiday Resurrection of Christ," Kipshidze emphasized.
However, the current scandal should not be surprising, says orientalist Mikhail Yakushev. It's all about resentment - the Holy Land, alas, is not able to accommodate all Christians, so they argue with each other. Especially when it comes to being present and serving in the most holy place for the Christian world - at the Holy Sepulcher.
“When I worked there as a diplomat, Patriarch Diodorus allowed the presence of an Armenian priest in the chapel of the Angel (part of the Kuvuklia in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. - Ed.). And this was perceived in the Armenian Church as an established tradition. But after the death of Diodorus in 2000, with Patriarch Iriney, representatives of the Armenian Church were again stopped being allowed in, which caused clashes up to a fight," recalls Yakushev.
As you know, the East is a delicate matter. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Christian denominations of Jerusalem unanimously staged a "strike" against the Israeli authorities, closing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for three days. And now Christians are temperamentally quarreling with each other because of the Holy Fire. However, history has repeatedly proven that believers will hug each other on the Easter holiday.
