Holy fire descended in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem Bashny.Net

The Holy fire is considered sacred to believers, and its appearance on the eve of Orthodox Easter through the prayers of the Orthodox clergy and pilgrims, despite the regularity, referred to as a miracle. Before Patriarch Theophilus in one cassock went to the Edicule, where he prayed for the Holy fire, all the candles and lamps in the temple were extinguished.





The fire appeared, as in previous years, in the Edicule — the chapel inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, over the stone bed on which rested on Holy Saturday buried the body of Christ. It was there in the centuries-old tradition of praying for the Holy fire Orthodox Patriarch. According to the ancient ceremony, before entering the Edicule robes of Patriarch Theophilos III and the chapel were carefully examined for the presence of any artificial means of obtaining fire.



The waiting period after entry of the Patriarch into the Edicule lasts different time, but in recent years, generally not more than half an hour. This year, believers waited for the coming of fire no more than 10 minutes. The parishioners in the Packed Church, excited about the appearance of the Holy fire, began to wash his face (the first time the fire has the amazing property that it does not burn) and congratulate each other with Easter. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was attended by many Russian-speaking pilgrims from Russia, Ukraine and other countries, so often the arches of the temple resounded with shouts of "Christ is risen!"



The delegation of St. Andrew Foundation (FAP), headed by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of FAP and the center of national glory, President of OAO "RZD" Vladimir Yakunin and vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Bishop Savva of Voskresensk, will deliver the Holy fire a special flight to Moscow in airport Vnukovo-1, where everyone can get a piece of the fire.



The fire will be carried in lamps, made according to the pattern of the Olympic. The plane from the Holy land will land presumably at 22.30 Moscow time. Then the leadership of the delegation will give the fire Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where about 23.00 GMT will begin the Easter service. According to the established tradition, the Holy fire and go in a number of diocesan centres of the Russian Orthodox Church. Including Saint Petersburg, Tallinn, Arkhangelsk, Barnaul, Belgorod, Volgograd, Voronezh, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Kostroma, Krasnoyarsk, Kursk, Lipetsk, Magadan, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Orel, Perm, Ryazan, Pskov, Saratov, Stavropol, Tambov, Tula, Cheboksary, Yaroslavl, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Rostov-on-don, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Yakutsk.

This year the fire will also be especially solemnly delivered in Simferopol, Sevastopol and Rome — Orthodox Church of the Holy Martyr Catherine.





The tradition of the ceremony of the descent of the Holy fire the earliest mention of the descent of the Holy fire on the eve of the Resurrection (Easter) dates back to the fourth century. In our days the ceremony of receiving the Holy fire (litany) begins early in the morning and consists of a series of rituals, including inspection and sealing Edicule. Used to do the Turkish guards, and now the police.



Elders Orthodox Arab youth, sitting on the shoulders of each other and chanting "no faith other than the Orthodox, Christ — true God", asking the Lord to give believers the Holy fire. It is believed that Savior and accept that, unrestrained, childish but upright treatment.



Inside the temple also held a solemn procession to the Armenian, Coptic and Syrian clergy. They are traditionally accompanied by Kawase — the guards in the Turkish form, which from ancient times were hired to protect the Christian processions. As you move through the crowd Kawase knock the special staffs on the stone slabs of the temple. Their actions, along with the noisy behavior of the Orthodox Arabs, create a unique atmosphere of the holiday ritual.



At noon on the Patriarchate of Jerusalem begins the Procession to the Holy Sepulchre, which ends in front of the Edicule. It makes a great lamp in which to ignite the fire and 33 candles (on number of years of Christ's earthly life). Traditionally, the Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the Shrine in one plain cassock is to be seen that he carries with him to the cave of matches or anything else, whereby you can make fire. Then entrance to the chapel is sealed and comes tense silence waiting for the Holy fire. The people there is a legend: if fire does not descend, it would be a terrible omen for all mankind, and those who are in the Church will perish.



As a rule, waiting for a miracle can last from several minutes to several hours. At this time in the Church extinguished the light. Holding an unlit Paschali (large holiday candles), attending worship, confess sins and ask the Lord to give the Holy fire. According to witnesses, some time later, in the temple appear inexplicable flashes of light that seem to flow down the walls and columns down and out of the hole in the dome of the temple on the tomb of the Lord descends a vertical wide column of light.

Soon appears the Edicule in the Holy fire, what cheers show standing next to her believers, the Patriarch of Jerusalem and reports the fire (from candle to candle) gathered in the temple. Believers standing in the forefront, light their candle and fire lightning passed from one person to another. Sometimes, according to witnesses, the lamps and candles in hand praying light up by themselves. Most are holding several candles, each of which is similar to a torch, so that soon the whole temple is literally starting to Shine fire. People covers euphoria — a wash and Holy fire.

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