Was there a descent of the Holy Fire? Holy Fire in Jerusalem
The Holy Fire descends once a year in Jerusalem on Orthodox Easter. The descent takes place on Holy Saturday (April 15, 2017) in Kuvuklia, in the chapel inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. For two thousand years now, Christians who celebrate their main holiday - the Resurrection of Christ (Easter) in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, have witnessed the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire.
Conversations about inexplicable things in the courtyard of this Temple, where all roads lead, are commonplace. It is on its territory that the main Christian shrines are concentrated - the place of execution, burial and resurrection of the Savior.
According to legend, the annual mysterious ignition of fire in the Holy Land is a sign of God’s mercy, which notifies the Lord’s care and gives believers hope that God will prolong the existence of the world for another year. In different years, the wait lasts from five minutes to several hours.
The prayer of tens of thousands of Christians for the descent of the Holy Fire will take place on the pre-Easter Holy Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The Holy Fire is considered a symbol of God's blessing to the human race. It is carried by pilgrims throughout the Orthodox world. The fire will be delivered to Russia by a 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 in 2017 date time where to watch
The descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem will be broadcast on television. The NTV channel will show this great miracle live on Russian TV. In accordance with the TV program, the live broadcast of the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem will begin on NTV at 13:15 Moscow time.
The convergence of the Holy Fire will be broadcast on Ukrainian television by Inter TV channel, the broadcast will begin at 12:45 (local time).
Descent of the Holy Fire 2017 live broadcast watch online
When will the Holy Fire 2017 arrive in Russia?
The delegation of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation will deliver the holy fire to Russia in special lamps, made according to the “Olympic” model, on a special flight from Jerusalem to Moscow. Everyone will be able to receive a particle of the Holy Fire right at the Vnukovo-1 airport, where the plane from the Holy Land will land presumably at 22.00 Moscow time. The Holy Fire will be brought to many cities in Russia, as well as to Russian parishes abroad.
During Bright Week (the first week after Easter), the Holy Fire can be received at the foundation’s office in Moscow at Pokrovka building 42, building 5 (from 9.00 to 18.00). Those interested must have their own lamps.
The Descent of the Holy Fire - how it happens
In our time, the descent of the Holy Fire occurs on Holy Saturday, usually between 13 and 15 hours Jerusalem time.
Approximately one day before the start of Orthodox Easter, a church ceremony begins. To see the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire, people have been gathering at the Holy Sepulcher since Good Friday; many stay here immediately after the procession of the Cross, which takes place in memory of the events of that day. By ten o'clock on Holy Saturday, all candles and lamps in the entire huge architectural complex of the Temple are extinguished. A lamp filled with oil, but without fire, is placed in the middle of the bed of the Life-Giving Sepulcher. Pieces of cotton wool are laid out throughout the bed, and tape is laid along the edges.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built on the site where the Tomb of Jesus Christ was. This is where the Holy Fire appears. In a crowd of pilgrims, it is difficult to calculate the distance from Golgotha to the last bedchamber of Christ, but it is 33 steps, which is equal to the years of Jesus’ earthly life.
Moreover, each believer has 33 candles. Those who did not take care of them in advance are forced to buy them directly in the temple from the monks at three times the price.
In turn, the guards check the chapel, lock the door and put a seal, which means there is no source of fire inside.
Meanwhile, young Arab Christians sitting on each other's shoulders loudly stir up emotions in the crowd. According to legend, in the year when Arab youth were forbidden to misbehave in the temple, the fire lingered for several days. So, young Arabs can now do whatever they want in the temple.
According to tradition, two clergymen enter the chapel. The hierarchs remain in very simple clothes without belts. This is due to the fact that when the Holy Land belonged to the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish guards could not believe in the miracle of Fire; they carefully checked the belts so that matches would not be hidden there. Now the inspection function has been inherited by Israeli policemen, who, moreover, take care that representatives of two competing faiths do not start to sort things out.
Shortly before the patriarch, the sacristan (assistant to the sacristan - the manager of church property) brings a large lamp into the cave, in which the main fire and 33 candles should burn - according to the number of years of the Savior’s earthly life.
Only after this the patriarch enters the Edicule and kneels in prayer.
After the patriarch enters the Edicule, the entrance is sealed, and the wait for the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire begins.
The carrying out of the Easter fire symbolizes the exit from the Tomb of the “True Light,” that is, the risen Jesus Christ. After the service, light appears inside the Edicule (Chapel over the Holy Sepulcher), and bells ring in the temple. Burning bunches of candles appear from the windows of the Edicule, served by the Greek Patriarch and the Armenian Archimandrite. The walkers light the fire from their candles, after which the fire quickly spreads throughout the temple.
Pilgrims leave notes with best wishes. When the fire subsides, it leaves no burns in the first few seconds.
Congratulations on Easter 2017 – SMS short funny poems Happy Easter 2017 – Short wishes for Easter to family, friends, acquaintances, friends in verses and pictures animation
Funny poems for Easter – Congratulations on Easter 2017 short SMS – Funny statuses about Easter – Beautiful Easter cards – Funny congratulations on Easter 2017 in pictures
Pleykast Christ is Risen 2019 – Pleykast Happy Orthodox Easter – Pleykast Happy Easter 2019 free music cards
Saturday before Easter, what not to do in 2019 - Holy Saturday of Holy Week of Lent, signs and customs - Saturday before Easter, what not to do and what can be done on this day
Animated cards for Easter 2019 – Christ is risen! Truly risen! – Beautiful GIFs of Happy Easter, Christ is Risen – Short SMS Happy Easter – Easter cards and pictures animation
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.
© photo: Sputnik / Alexander Imedashvili
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.
© photo: Sputnik / Alexey Kudenko
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.
© AFP / Ahmad Gharabli
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.
© photo: Sputnik / Valery Melnikov
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.
is a near-Earth object with a diameter of about 30 meters. It was discovered on August 29, 2006, when it was at a distance of 4.5 million km. from our planet. Scientists observed the celestial body for 10 days, after which the asteroid was no longer visible through telescopes.Based on such a short observation period, it is impossible to accurately determine the distance at which asteroid 2006 QV89 will approach Earth on 09/09/2019, since the asteroid has not been observed since then (since 2006). Moreover, according to various estimates, the object may approach our planet not on the 9th, but on another date in September 2019.
As for whether 2006 QV89 will collide with Earth on September 9, 2019 or not - the likelihood of a collision is extremely low.
Thus, the Sentry System (developed by the JPL Center for NEO Studies) shows that the probability of a body colliding with the Earth is 1:9100 (those. about one ten thousandth of a percent).
The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates the chance of an asteroid crossing its orbit with our planet as 1 in 7300 (0,00014 % ). ESA placed 2006 QV89 in 4th place among celestial bodies posing a potential danger to Earth. According to the agency, the exact time of “flight” of the body on September 9, 2019 is 10:03 Moscow time.
In both Orthodoxy and Catholicism, Easter always falls on Sunday.
Easter 2020 is preceded by Lent, which begins 48 days before the Holy Day. And after 50 days they celebrate Trinity.
Popular pre-Christian customs that have survived to this day include dyeing eggs, making Easter cakes and curd Easter cakes.
Easter treats are blessed in the church on Saturday, the eve of Easter 2020, or after the service on the day of the Holiday itself.
We should greet each other on Easter with the words “Christ is Risen,” and respond with “Truly He is Risen.”
This will be the fourth game for the Russian team in this qualifying tournament. Let us remind you that in the previous three meetings, Russia “at the start” lost to Belgium with a score of 1:3, and then won two dry victories - over Kazakhstan (4:0) and over San Marino (9:0). The last victory was the largest in the entire existence of the Russian football team.
As for the upcoming meeting, according to bookmakers, the Russian team is the favorite in it. The Cypriots are objectively weaker than the Russians, and the islanders cannot expect anything good from the upcoming match. However, we must take into account that the teams have never met before, and therefore unpleasant surprises may await us.
The Russia-Cyprus meeting will take place on June 11, 2019 In Nizhniy Novgorod at the stadium of the same name, built for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Start of the match - 21:45 Moscow time.
Where and what time do the national teams of Russia and Cyprus play:
* Venue of the match - Russia, Nizhny Novgorod.
* Game start time is 21:45 Moscow time.
For two thousand years, Christians who celebrate their main holiday - the Resurrection of Christ (Easter) in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, have witnessed the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is an architectural complex that includes Golgotha with the site of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the rotunda - an architectural structure with a huge dome, under which is located the Edicule ("royal bedchamber") - a chapel located directly above the cave where the body of Jesus was buried, the Catholicon - the cathedral Church of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the underground Church of the Finding of the Life-Giving Cross, the Church of St. Helen Equal to the Apostles, several chapels - small churches with their own altars.
The earliest mentions of the descent of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on the eve of the Resurrection of Christ are found among the holy fathers Gregory of Nyssa, Eusebius and Silvia of Aquitaine and date back to the 4th century. According to the testimony of the apostles and holy fathers, the Divine Light illuminated the Holy Sepulcher shortly after the Resurrection of Christ; The first witness to the miracle was the Apostle Peter.
One of the most ancient descriptions of the descent of the Holy Fire belongs to Abbot Daniel, who visited the Holy Tomb in 1106-1107.
At about 1 p.m., the litany itself begins (in Greek, “prayer procession”) of the Holy Fire. In front of the procession are banner bearers with 12 banners, behind them are young men, a crusader cleric, at the end of the procession is the Orthodox patriarch of one of the local Orthodox churches (Jerusalem or Constantinople), accompanied by the Armenian patriarch and clergy.
During the procession of the cross, the procession passes all the memorable places in the temple: the sacred grove where Jesus was betrayed, the place where Christ was beaten by Roman legionnaires, Golgotha, where he was crucified, the Stone of Anointing, on which the body of Jesus Christ was prepared for burial. Then the procession approaches the Edicule and circles it three times. After this, the Orthodox patriarch stops just before the entrance to the Edicule, he is unmasked - they take off his festive vestments, leaving him in only a white linen vestment (a long liturgical robe with narrow sleeves reaching to his toes), so that it can be seen that he is not bringing anything with him into the Savior’s burial cave , which could start a fire.
Shortly before the patriarch, the sacristan (assistant to the sacristan - the manager of church property) brings a large lamp into the cave, in which the main fire and 33 candles should burn - according to the number of years of the Savior’s earthly life.
Only after this the patriarch enters the Edicule and kneels in prayer.
After the patriarch enters the Edicule, the entrance is sealed, and the wait for the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire begins.
At this time, the lights in the temple turn off and tense anticipation sets in. All the people in the temple are patiently waiting for the patriarch to come out with Fire in his hands. The prayer and ritual continue until the expected miracle occurs. Over the years, the wait lasted from five minutes to several hours.
According to eyewitnesses, after the patriarch entered the Edicule, first occasionally, and then more and more, the entire air space of the temple was pierced by flashes of light. They have a bluish color, their brightness and size increase in waves. Little lightning flashes here and there. In slow motion, it is clearly visible that they come from different places in the temple - from the icon hanging above the Edicule, from the dome of the temple, from the windows and from other places, and fill everything around with bright light. A moment later, the entire temple turns out to be surrounded by lightning and glare, which snake down its walls and columns, as if flowing down to the foot of the temple and spreading across the square among the pilgrims. At the same time, the lamps located on the sides of the Edicule themselves are lit, then the Edicule itself begins to shine, and from the hole in the dome of the temple a wide vertical column of light descends from the sky onto the Tomb. At the same time, the doors of the cave open and the Orthodox patriarch comes out and blesses those gathered. The Patriarch of Jerusalem transmits the Holy Fire to believers, who claim that the fire does not burn at all in the first minutes after the descent, regardless of what candle and where it was lit.
Sometimes, according to eyewitnesses, lamps and candles in the hands of worshipers light up by themselves. Most people hold several candles in their hands (to then take them to their churches and distribute them to loved ones). Each of them is like a torch, so that soon the entire temple begins to literally shine with fire.
Later, lamps throughout Jerusalem are lit from the Holy Fire. Fire is delivered on special flights to Cyprus and Greece, from where it is distributed throughout the world. Recently, direct participants in the events began to bring the Holy Fire to Russia.
The Descent of the Holy Fire is a miraculous and still inexplicable phenomenon by scientists, which occurs annually on the eve of Easter. The flame that appears by itself, which was first seen by the Apostle Peter over two thousand years ago, today is a visible evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Where and how is the Holy Fire lit? When will the descent of the Holy Fire take place in 2018? What should humanity prepare for in the event that the fire does not go away?
Where and when does the Holy Fire descend?
The Holy Fire is a harbinger of the Holy Resurrection of Christ. According to tradition, it takes place on Easter Eve in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem, built in 335 AD. In 2018, the Holy Fire will descend on Saturday, April 7th. He appears by himself, through the prayer of the Greek Patriarch near the memorial plate of the Savior.
As for the time when the Holy Fire descends, it traditionally occurs at noon, within the range of 12:55 - 15:00 hours of the day. However, no one knows when the fire will appear. At one time he comes down after ten minutes, and at another - after the patriarch’s 2-hour prayer.
Centuries-old ritual traditions
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 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 of 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 Greek clergy with a three-fold circumambulation of the Edicule |
| 12:50 | Entrance to the Holy Sepulcher of the Patriarch and 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. They are the first to know whether the Sacred Fire has been lit and the first to have the opportunity to touch the flame, which does not burn.
The temple itself can accommodate no more than 8 thousand people, but there can be up to 70 thousand people willing to witness the miracle. For the rest, the territory adjacent to the temple is allocated. Each of the parishioners holds in their hands a bunch of 33 candles, which represent the earthly age of Jesus Christ.
The Patriarch of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church goes to the chapel of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ - Edicule in one cassock. Before this, this room is carefully checked by Israeli policemen to see if there are matches, lighters or other objects that could cause a fire.
While waiting for the descent of the Holy Fire in the temple:
- all light sources are extinguished,
- There is deathly silence.
At this time, pilgrims should pray and sincerely repent of their sins before the Lord.
When the Patriarch leaves the chapel, the first thing he does is lights the candles of representatives of each religious denomination. After this, the fire spreads among a crowd of thousands of pilgrims. It is often difficult for the police to restrain all those who want to get a piece of the flame faster than others, because according to legend, all worldly sins are forgiven first.
Some interesting facts about the Holy Fire:
- The descent of fire is symbolized by flashes in the form of blue fireballs near the dome of the temple.
- The fire does not burn either the body or the hair of a person for some time.
- The Holy Flame was never the cause of the fire.
- The wax of candles that were lit from the Holy Fire cannot be removed from clothing.
- The miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire still remains a mystery.
How and where can you see the descent of the Holy Fire?
You can witness the descent of the Holy Fire not only while in the Jerusalem temple. Such an amazing and inexplicable phenomenon is actively covered by media from all over the world.
In Russia in 2017, a live broadcast of the descent of the Holy Fire was carried out by the NTV channel. It is still unknown who will cover the upcoming event this year, but in any case, how the Holy Fire appears can be observed online via the Internet.
Video recordings of such an unusual and rare phenomenon in past years, as well as photos of eyewitnesses from the scene of the event, can be easily found on the Internet. Also, fragments of a video about the miraculous appearance of the Holy Light, as the Holy Fire is also called, will be shown on the same day on the evening news of all television channels without exception.
Spreading the Holy Fire around the world
Immediately after representatives of all churches and denominations have lit their lamps from the Holy Fire, they go to their countries in order to transfer a piece of the flame to all cities and villages of the state.
The fire is transported on a charter flight in a special capsule. Trying to make it by ten in the evening, when evening services begin in the main churches of the capital, representatives of confessions try to deliver the sacred flame to the place of service as quickly as possible.
They say that if the fire did not go down, it would be a terrible omen for all mankind. The Apocalypse and the Last Judgment will begin from which no one can hide. Then the Church of the Holy Sepulcher will be destroyed, and people living on Earth will die. Despite the fact that the Holy Fire appears from year to year, there is always the possibility that one day it will not descend...
Loading...
