Blessed fire. Where does the Holy Fire come from? Chronicle of revelations of a miracle

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. With live broadcast of 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 its miraculous nature, and since then the Roman Catholic Church has been of the opinion that the Holy Fire is the "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 of 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

"Christ is Risen!" - "Truly Risen!" So we are used to hearing this Easter greeting of believers, filled with joy and happiness in honor of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Every year, in the spring, believers celebrate a holiday called Easter. Before the celebration, believers prepare very carefully, for some time they observe a strict fast, thereby repeating the feat of Christ, when He stayed in the desert for 40 days after baptism and was tempted by the devil.

On the last day of Lent, on Holy Saturday, a very unusual phenomenon occurs, which millions of Orthodox Christians are waiting for - this is the appearance of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. Many people know the extraordinary properties of this fire. It is believed that in the first minutes of its appearance, it does not burn, such a miracle is explained by the special Grace that comes down to us from heaven, some believers even wash their faces, hands and bodies with a wonderful flame, without causing themselves any harm.

Now, thanks to television and the Internet, the descent of the Holy Fire can be watched live from any corner of our planet, so you can watch a miracle without leaving for Jerusalem, but even seeing how this miracle happens, people do not stop asking the question, -

The convergence of the blessed fire in history

The historical mention of the convergence of fire begins at least from the 4th century, it is evidenced by:

• Saint Gregory of Nyssa
• Eusebius of Caesarea
• Sylvia of Aquitaine

There are descriptions of earlier evidence, for example:

• Gregory of Nyssa wrote that the Apostle Peter saw how, after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, His tomb was consecrated with a bright light.
• Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that in the second century, with the blessing of Patriarch Narcissus, it was ordered from the Siloam font to pour water into the lamps due to a lack of oil, then miraculously fire descended from the sky, from which the lamps ignited by themselves.
• The Latin traveler monk Bernard described in his diary that on Holy Saturday during the service they sang “Lord have mercy”, until an angel appears and lights a fire in the lamps.

Searching the pockets of the Patriarch

At a crucial moment, on the eve of the celebration, all the lamps and candles are extinguished in the temple - this is due to the historical past, due to the fact that at different times they tried to expose the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire for various reasons.

The Turkish authorities carried out the strictest search of Kuvuklia and the entire Temple complex. At the initiative of the Catholics, sometimes the pockets of the Patriarch were even searched to check for objects from which fire could be extracted.

Since then, before entering Kuvuklia, the Patriarch necessarily undresses, remaining only in one cassock, thus, as if proving that he has nothing with him. Of course, now, by and large, such actions are more of a ritual, but during the reign of the Arabs - a search of the patriarch and Kuvuklia was a mandatory element if something was suspected, or deceit - the death penalty was due. The Israeli authorities are now watching the procession.

• Before entering the Edicule of the Patriarch of Constantinople or Israel and the Armenian Catholicos, an oil lamp is placed on the Holy Sepulcher and a bunch of 33 candles is brought in. Their number is connected with the earthly life of Jesus Christ.
• After the patriarchs enter the cave, the door is closed behind them and a large wax seal is placed, which is additionally fixed with a red ribbon.
• The Patriarchs remain in the Tomb until the Holy Fire appears. The descent of the Holy Fire can be expected both for several minutes and for many hours. All this time, being in Kuvukliya, the Patriarch of Constantinople is kneeling and tearfully praying.

It is believed that if the fire does not come down in the last year of the Easter celebration, the temple will be destroyed, and all those who are in it will die.

The Holy Fire did not descend

By the way, the presence of two patriarchs in Edicule is also of a historical nature. In 1578, the Armenian priests agreed with the new head of Jerusalem on the right to transfer the receipt of the Holy Fire by them, and not by the Jerusalem Patriarch, to which consent was given.

On Holy Saturday 1579, the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the rest of the priests were forcibly not allowed into the temple, and they had to stay within its boundaries. The Armenian priesthood prayed to the Lord in the cave and asked him for the fire to descend. However, their prayers were not heard and the fire did not descend into the Tomb.

The Israeli patriarch and priests prayed on the street, it was then that the only descent of the Holy Fire outside the Temple took place, then one of the columns to the left of the entrance to the Temple cracked, and Fire descended from it!

With great joy, then the patriarch lit candles from this column, passing it to the rest of the believers. The Arabs immediately expelled the Armenians from the Tomb, and the Israeli patriarch was allowed to enter the temple.

Since then, it is the Patriarch of Israel or Constantinople who has been participating in the process of receiving the fire, while the Armenian Catholicos is only present during the descent.

In addition, in anticipation of the descent of the Holy Fire, monks and the rector of the Lavra Savva the Sanctified must be present in the temple. This has been observed since the pilgrimage of Abbot Daniel in the twelfth century.

Another important element is the presence of Orthodox Arab youth in the church. Some time after the sealing of the Tomb - Kuvuklia, the Arabs enter the Temple with shouts, stomp, drums, dances and prayer songs. With such actions, the Arab youth glorifies Christ and the Mother of God. They ask the Mother of God for mercy so that the Son would send them the Holy Fire. It is impossible to accurately determine the history of the emergence of such a special Arabic ritual, but nevertheless such a rite still exists.

Once, not so long ago, during the period of British rule over Israel, the governor tried to cut down on the Arab tradition, believing that such behavior is "wild" and it is not acceptable in the Holy Temple. However, that year the patriarch prayed for a long time in Kuvuklia, but the fire did not go down, then, by his own will, the patriarch ordered that the Arabs be allowed into the Temple, and only after Arab dances and chants did the fire come down.

After the patriarch enters the tomb, there is a trembling expectation. The expectation of believers before the descent of Fire is accompanied by another interesting phenomenon. The temple begins to light up with bright flashes and flashes, and, before the appearance of the Holy Fire, the intensity of the flashes increases. These outbreaks occur throughout the Temple and all parishioners are witnesses of this phenomenon.

The Holy Fire is delivered all over the world

Eyewitnesses say that sometimes it happened that the flame was kindled by itself on the candles of some parishioners, as well as on Orthodox lamps hanging near Kuvuklia.

The kindling of Fire occurs only during the prayer of the Orthodox Patriarch, such a phenomenon reminds sinners of Great Saturday, that Christ is Risen and conquered hell. In other words, the meaning of this sacrament and phenomenon can be interpreted as follows: Lost sinners who cannot know the truth, or are simply confused in their life path, the Lord testifies to them of his Resurrection on the land of Israel, as a miracle that can help sinners to believe and embark on the path salvation.

For those people who do not seek to embark on the true path of soul salvation, the Lord warns of his Second Coming and the Last Judgment. To his opponents, Jesus Christ proves His power over hell and victory over it, warning the infidels about the hellish torments that await them after the Last Judgment.

After some waiting, Fire appears in Kuvukliya, at this moment the bells begin to ring. From the southern window of the Tomb, the Armenian Catholicos passes the fire to the Armenians, through the northern window the patriarch passes the fire to the Greeks, after which, with the help of special, so-called runners, the Fire quickly spreads to all the parishioners in the Temple.

In our modern time, the Holy Fire is delivered all over the world with the help of special flights, by which it is brought to various countries. At airports, he is met with special honor and joy. The ceremony is attended by both high-ranking officials and the clergy and just believers who experience joy in their souls!

The Secret of the Holy Fire

This miraculous phenomenon at different times had many critics, some of them, due to their unhealthy curiosity or disbelief, tried to expose and prove the artificial origin of fire. Even the Catholic Church was among those who disagreed. In 1238, Pope Gregory IX disagreed about the miraculous work of the Holy Fire, asking the same question that does not lose its relevance today - Where does the blessed fire come from?

Some Arabs, not understanding the true origin of the Holy Fire, tried to prove that the Fire is allegedly obtained using any means, substances and devices, but they have no direct evidence, in addition, they did not even witness this miracle.

Modern researchers also tried to study the nature of this phenomenon. It is, of course, possible to produce fire artificially, spontaneous combustion of chemical mixtures and substances is also possible, but none of them is similar to the appearance of the Holy Fire, especially with its amazing property when it does not burn or scorch in the first minutes of its appearance.

There were attempts to receive the Holy Fire and representatives of other religious Christian denominations. These were the Armenians and in 1101 the Catholics, who at that time dominated Jerusalem after the first Crusade. Then all Christians who were not Latins were expelled, the Temple was captured, and on Holy Saturday 1101 the Fire did not come down! This suggests that Orthodox Christians must be present!

Once, even before the birth of Christ, the question arose before people who believe in different gods, which faith is the most correct: Faith in the True God or faith in various pagan gods? The prophet Elijah embarked on the path of reconciliation. He came up with the easiest way to prove it.

The Prophet invited various confessors to call on the name of their God, and from whose prayers an answer would be received in the form of a descent of fire, that is the true God. If Baal is God, then we will believe and follow Baal; if the Lord is God, then follow Him. People willingly accepted such an offer and offered prayers to their gods. And only the prayers of the prophet Elijah were answered, fire descended on the altar and burned it, then it became clear whose worship of God is true!

Here is the proof that the Holy Fire descends only through Orthodox prayers. Here it is, an undeniable miracle from God, which we observe from year to year on Great Saturday, on the eve of Easter! That is why the answer to the question - where does the blessed fire come from, there can be only one thing - this is a miracle, and whose, of nature or the Lord, has not yet been established exactly.

Scientists managed to get to the Holy Sepulcher and conduct research, the result 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, which every religion talks about.

In Orthodoxy, one of the testimonies of the miracles indicated in the Bible is the Holy Fire descending on the Holy Sepulcher on the eve of Easter. On Great Saturday, anyone can look at it - just come to the square in front of the Church of the Resurrection. But the longer this tradition exists, the more hypotheses are built by journalists and scientists. All of them refute the divine origin of fire - but can one of them be trusted?

History of the Holy Fire

The convergence of fire can be seen only once a year and in the only place on the planet - the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection. Its huge complex includes: Calvary, 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 tomb of the Lord - it is called Cuvuklia.

At ten o'clock in the morning of Great Saturday, all candles, lamps and other sources of light are extinguished in the temple every year. The highest church ranks personally monitor this: Kuvuklia passes the last test, after which it is sealed with a large wax seal. From that 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 over 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 headed by the patriarch: having bypassed Kuvuklia three times, he stops in front of her doors.

“The patriarch dresses in white clothes. With him, at the same time, 12 archimandrites and four deacons put on white vestments. Then clerics in white surplice with 12 banners depicting the Passion of Christ and His glorious Resurrection come out of the altar in pairs, followed by clergy with ripids and a life-giving cross, then 12 priests in pairs, then four deacons also in pairs, 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 transfer 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, while singing: “Thy Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and make us on earth glorify you with a pure heart” go from the Church of the Resurrection to the Kuvuklia and go around it three times. After the third circumambulation, the patriarch, the clergy, and the choristers stop with the banner-bearers and the crusader in front of the holy, life-giving tomb and sing the evening hymn: "Quiet Light," reminiscent of the fact that this litany was once part of the rite of evening worship.

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 officers search the Patriarch, after which he enters Kuvuklia. An Armenian archimandrite remains at the front door in order to offer prayers to Christ for the forgiveness of the sins of the human race.

“The patriarch, having stood at the door of the holy tomb, with the help of the deacons, takes off his miter, sakkos, omophorion and club and remains only in the vestment, stole, belt and handrails. The dragoman then removes the seals and cords from the door of the holy tomb and lets in his patriarch, who has the aforementioned bunches of candles in his hands. One Armenian bishop immediately follows him inside the cuvuklia, dressed in sacred clothes and also holding bunches of candles in his hands for the speedy transfer of the holy fire to the people through the southern opening of the cuvuklia in the chapel of the Angel.

When the Patriarch is alone, behind closed doors, the real sacrament begins. On his knees, the Holy One 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 see their result! Blue and red flashes appear on the walls, columns and icons of the temple, reminiscent of reflections during fireworks. At the same time, blue lights appear on the marble slab of the Coffin. The clergyman touches one of them with a cotton ball - and the fire spreads to her. The patriarch lights a lampada with a cotton wool and hands it over 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 buzzes and thunders from the cry of those people. And here tears are shed in streams from faithful people. Even with a stone heart, a person can then shed a tear. 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 ... hurries in spiritual joy to kindle them from the primary light, through the clergy deliberately appointed for this from the Orthodox and Armenian clergy, standing near the northern and southern openings of the cuvuklia and the first to receive holy fire from the holy tomb. From the numerous boxes, from the windows and cornices of the walls, similar bunches of wax candles descend on ropes, as the spectators, who occupy their 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 anything 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 usual properties. Several centuries ago, one of the pilgrims wrote:

“He lit 20 candles in one place and burned his brother with all those candles, and not a single hair writhed or burned; and having extinguished all the candles and then kindled them with other people, I kindled those candles, and I also kindled those candles on the third day, and then touching my wife with nothing, I didn’t singe a single hair, nor writhed.

Conditions for the appearance of the sacred fire

Among the Orthodox, there is a belief that in the year when the fire does not light up, the apocalypse will begin. However, this event has already happened once - then a follower of a different confession of Christianity tried to extract the fire.

“The first Latin Patriarch Arnopd of Choquet ordered the expulsion of heretic sects from their limits in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, then he began torturing Orthodox monks, seeking where they kept the Cross and other relics. A few months later, Arnold was replaced on the throne by Daimbert of Pisa, who went even further. He tried to expel all local Christians, even Orthodox Christians, from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and admit only Latins there, generally depriving the rest of the church buildings in or near Jerusalem. God's retribution soon struck: already in 1101, on Great Saturday, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Kuvuklia did not take place, until Eastern Christians were invited to participate in this rite. Then King Baldwin I took care of the return of the local Christians of their rights.

Fire under the Latin Patriarch and a crack in the column

In 1578, the clergy from Armenia, who had not heard anything about the attempts of their predecessor, tried to repeat them. They obtained permission to be the first to see the Holy Fire by forbidding the Orthodox Patriarch to enter the church. He, along with other priests, was forced to pray at the gate on the eve of Easter. The henchmen of the Armenian Church did not manage to see the miracle of God. One of the columns of the courtyard, in which the Orthodox prayed, cracked, and a pillar of fire appeared from it. Traces of its convergence can be observed by any tourist today. Believers traditionally leave notes in it with the most cherished requests to God.

A series of mystical events forced Christians to sit down at the negotiating table and decide that it is pleasing to God 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 hegumen and the monks of the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified, the Armenian Apostolic and Syrian Church. The last to enter the temple must be the local Orthodox Arabs. On Holy Saturday, they appear in the square with songs and dances, and then enter the chapel. In it, they say ancient prayers in Arabic, in which they turn to Christ and the Mother of God. This condition is also required 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 the Son to send Fire to George the Victorious, who is especially revered in the Orthodox East. They literally shout out that they are the most eastern, the most Orthodox, living where the sun rises, bringing candles with them to kindle the Fire. According to oral tradition, 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 his will to let the Arab youth. After they performed the ritual, the Fire descended"

Were attempts to find a scientific explanation for the Holy Fire successful?

It is impossible to say that the skeptics managed to defeat the believers. Among the many theories that have physical, chemical and even alien justification, only one deserves attention. In 2008, physicist Andrey Volkov managed to get into Kuvuklia 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 Kuvuklia, a device that fixes the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation detected a strange long-wave impulse in the temple, which no longer manifested itself. I do not want to refute or prove anything, but such is the scientific result of the experiment. There was an electric discharge - either lightning struck, or something like a piezo lighter turned on for a moment.

Physicist about blessed fire

The physicist himself did not set the goal of his research to expose the shrine. He was interested in the very process of convergence of fire: the appearance of flashes on the walls and on the lid of the Holy Sepulcher.

“So, it is quite 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 Andrei comments on what happened. It turns out that to unravel the mystery of the sacred Holy Fire is beyond the power of modern technology ...

From the early Middle Ages, a custom appeared. according to which, on the eve of Easter, the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church lit a fire in Jerusalem and blessed it in honor of the main holiday of believers. However, from the end of the first millennium, judging by the reports of religious historians of that time, there appeared a descent of the sacred fire, that is, that the fire on the eve of Easter is given to the believing God. Numerous testimonies of the convergence of fire date back to the 10th century, and not only Christians, but also historians wrote about this miracle. Initially, the fire was lit in the morning, and the rite itself is described in different ways, most often the appearance of lightning is mentioned. Only the place remains unchanged - the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Some eyewitnesses of the events of the X century wrote that the fire was brought directly by an angel.

Modern rite of convergence of fire

By the 19th century, the ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire acquired modern features. It was even enshrined in a special document issued by the government of the Ottoman Empire. This was done in order to avoid conflict between representatives of various Orthodox Christians, as well as Orthodox Christians with Muslims.

The keys to the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher have been kept for many generations in one Arab family, whose representative passes the keys to the patriarch once a year.

The service on the day of the convergence of fire is conducted by the Jerusalem Patriarch. Priests of other Orthodox churches, for example, the Armenian one, have the right to be with him. Priests put on festive white clothes, and then go around the procession around the temple, offering prayers. After that, the patriarch, together with a representative of the clergy, can go to a small ancient chapel, over which the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built. They take candles with them, which will later be lit from the Holy Fire. The patriarch offers a special prayer directly at the Holy Sepulcher. At this time, believers are waiting for the convergence of fire both in the temple itself and outside it. There is also a television broadcast in many countries, including Russia. After the appearance of fire, the patriarch lights candles from it, from which, in turn, anyone can light a fire. After the Holy Fire ceremony

Non-burning "blessed" fire in your apartment

Learn chemistry... :)

Initially, the ceremony dedicated to the so-called. The Holy Fire was held at night from Saturday to Sunday. Constant fights between believers forced the Muslim Jerusalem authorities to transfer the divine miracle from night time to daytime. Prof. AA Dmitrievsky, referring to prof. AA Olesnitsky, writes: “Once the feast of fire at the Holy Sepulcher was connected directly with Easter matins, but due to some disorders that occurred during this celebration, at the request of the local authorities, it was postponed to the previous day” (* _ *).
In ancient times, the first whistleblowers (devout Muslims) did not bother themselves with serious research work. They believed that fire appears with the help of a special device filled with compounds for spontaneous combustion.
This is how the 12th-century historian Ibn-al-Qalanisi described this technology “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 its accessories, 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 between neighboring lamps a stretched iron wire like a thread, continuously going from one to the other, and rub it with balsam oil, hiding it from their eyes, until the thread passes to all the lamps ”(* _ *).

According to Islamic writers, there is an agreement between Muslim authorities and priests on mutually beneficial cooperation and an honest distribution of funds received from the donations of pilgrims. So al-Jawbari (d. 1242) writes: "Al-Melik al-Mu" azzam, the son of al-Melik al-" Adil entered the Church of the Resurrection on the day of the Sabbath of light and said to the monk (assigned) to her: "I will not leave until I see this light descend." The monk said to him: "What is more pleasing to the king: is it wealth that flows to you in this way, or acquaintance with this (deed)? If I reveal to you the secret of it, then the government will lose this money; leave it hidden and get this great wealth" . When the ruler heard this, he understood the hidden essence of the matter and left it in its former position ”(* _ *).

Income from a miracle is really big, prof. Dmitrievsky writes: “... Palestine feeds almost exclusively on those gifts that are brought to it by worshipers of the holy sepulcher from Europe. Thus, the feast of the Holy Sepulcher is a feast of the happiness and prosperity of the country” (*_*). Muslims even thought of charging an entrance fee to an Orthodox church, a truly unique case. By the way, tickets are still being sold, only the profit goes to the Israeli treasury (*_*).
Approximately in the 13th century, the ceremony of finding BO underwent an important change, if earlier fire was expected outside of Kuvukliy and its appearance was judged by a white flash of light coming out from there, then after the 13th century they began to go inside Kuvukliy to gain fire. All past revelations talking about a special mechanism have lost their relevance. However, after such a change, the priests were very quickly caught by the hand of a meticulous Muslim researcher (Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1256)), who decided to independently find out how the fire appeared: “I lived in Jerusalem for ten years and went to the Temple of the Resurrection on their Passover and other days. I investigated how the lampada is lit on Sunday - the festival of light. (...) When the sun sets and it 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 has come down and Christ has mercy." . "(*_*).

In other words, fire is kindled from a lamp hidden in a niche behind the icon. Naturally, such a trifle did not touch the greedy hearts of the local rulers, and this exposure was simply forgotten. The presence of niches behind the icons is not a secret now, they can even be seen in the photo of pilgrims posing against the background of the slab of the Holy Sepulcher.

In principle, with a few exceptions, Muslims did not doubt the forgery in connection with the BO, only greed and other vices, the required funding allowed them to peacefully coexist with their religious competitors. On the rare occasions when fanaticism and pure faith prevailed, the Muslims did not bother to expose themselves, but simply destroyed the temple on the basis of only one suspicion, which, as fanatics know, is the queen of evidence (*_*).

The next accuser of the forgery with the BO was the Polotsk Archbishop Melety Smotrytsky. His rushing soul tried to try on Catholics and Orthodox, which led him to the union. The devil pulled him to strengthen the Orthodox faith to visit Jerusalem and join the sacrament of the appearance of the Holy Fire. In 1627, he writes to his former teacher, Patriarch Cyril Lukaris of Constantinople: “In [your] pr[econsecration], you probably remember that I once asked you why your predecessor Meletius, writing against the new Roman calendar and trying to prove the superiority of the old before a new one, cites various miracles to confirm his opinion, not excluding those that are no longer repeated, but does not at all mention this famous, annual miracle of Jerusalem? dignitaries, Protosyncell Hieromonk Leonty and Archdeacon Patriarch of Alexandria, that if this miracle really happened in our time, then all Turks would long ago have believed in Jesus Christ.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem, the very one who takes this fire, carries it out and distributes it to the people, spoke even more sharply about it. Thus, it is regrettable to say, our Orthodox co-religionists, regarding this miraculous fire, which once really appeared, and now, for our sins, has ceased to appear, prefer to be at one with heretics, such as Eutychians, Dioscorites and Jacobites, rather than with Catholics, who are the miracle of this they do not allow for very respectful, especially when they see what the Abyssinian heretics are doing at the tomb at that time. This is what worries me, these are the four worms that, having sunk into my soul during my stay in the East, still do not stop sharpening and gnawing it "(* _ *).
Throughout all the centuries of the existence of the miracle of God, Christians could not calmly perform this rite without stuffing each other's faces. This shame is even recorded in Mark Twain's book, "Simples Abroad": "Each Christian sect (with the exception of Protestants) under the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has its own special chapels, and no one dares to cross the boundaries of other people's possessions. It has long been and definitively proven that Christians are not able to peacefully pray all together at the tomb of the Savior" (* _ *).

Not only ordinary priests are fighting, but also the Greek patriarch and the Armenian archimandrite () who entered the Cuvuklia to wait for the fire. Because of this, the Israeli authorities decided that at the time of the appearance of the fire, an Israeli policeman should be present in order to maintain order in Kuvuklia, one of the videos shows how a policeman enters Kuvuklia first, then the Greek patriarch, and then the Armenian archimandrite ( Video, 1.20-1.28). In a word, they messed up.

It was the outrages in the temple that caused the loudest exposure of the Holy Fire.
In 1834, a fight in the temple escalated into a brutal massacre, in which the Turkish army had to intervene. About 300 pilgrims died (*_*). The English traveler left memories of a conversation with a local chief, Ibrahim Pasha, which describes the ruler’s determination to publicly expose this deceit, but also his fear that this action could be perceived as oppression of Christians on holy land (*_*)
About the actions taken by Ibrahim Pasha after 15 years, we learn from the diaries of a prominent scientist and leader of the Orthodox Church, the founder of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Jerusalem, Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky). Porfiry kept a diary, where he entered his impressions of historical events, reflections on abstract topics, descriptions of monuments and various trifles. They were published in 8 volumes by the Imperial Academy of Sciences at the expense of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society under the editorship of P. A. Syrku after the death of Uspensky, the third volume was published in 1896. Here is the exact quote:

“In that year, when the famous master of Syria and Palestine, Ibrahim, Pasha of Egypt, was in Jerusalem, it turned out that the fire received from the Holy Sepulcher on Great Saturday is not a fire of grace, but kindled, as any fire is kindled. This pasha took it into his head to ascertain whether the fire really suddenly and miraculously appears on the lid of the Sepulcher of Christ or is lit with a sulfur match. 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 appeared, and added that in the case of the truth, 5,000 pungs (2,500,000 piastres) would be given to them, and in the case of a lie, let them give him everything money collected from deceived fans, and that he will publish in all the newspapers of Europe about a 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. But from that time on, the Holy Sepulcher clergy no longer believed in the miraculous manifestation of fire. Having told all this, the metropolitan added that from God alone the cessation of (our) pious lies is expected. 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. We, - he continued, - notified Patriarch Athanasius, who then lived in Constantinople, about the harassment of Ibrahim Pasha, but in our message to him we wrote instead of “holy light”, - “holy fire”. Surprised by this change, the most blessed elder asked us: “Why did you start calling the holy fire differently?” We revealed to him the absolute truth, but added that the fire lit on the Holy Sepulcher from a hidden lamp is still a sacred fire received from a sacred place ”(* _ *).

In this entry, it is important to pay attention to the following points:
1. The confession was made in a close circle of the highest hierarchs of the Orthodox Church.
2. A direct participant in the events told Ouspensky what had happened. Eyewitness confession in forgery.
3. Ibrahim was threatened with aggravation of relations with Russia. Let me note that the Crimean War showed how dangerous it is for the authorities to interfere in the religious life of the Orthodox Church in the Holy Land.
4. “But from that time on, the Holy Sepulcher clergy no longer believe in the miraculous manifestation of fire.” So, the result of recognition was the loss of faith in the miracle of the Holy Sepulcher clergy. To which Bishop Porfiry himself was already a witness.
Nothing has changed in 500 years. All the same lamp behind the icon.
A few decades later, doubt spread beyond the borders of Palestine, as the well-known orientalist I. Yu. Krachkovsky writes in 1914:
“The best representatives of theological thought in the East also notice that interpretation of the miracle, which allows prof. A. Olesnitsky and A. Dmitrievsky to talk about “the celebration of the consecration of fire at the Holy Sepulcher” ”(* _ *).

The most complete Orthodox criticism of the BO was revealed by an outstanding figure in the Orthodox Church, Professor of the Leningrad Theological Academy ND Uspensky (a student of Dmitrievsky AA) and reported at a church meeting in an act speech on October 9, 1949. Having analyzed the ancient testimonies, Uspensky comes to the following conclusion:
“Your Eminence, Your Eminence, dear colleagues and dear guests! (...) We can agree with the explanation of Metropolitan Dionysius of Bethlehem, “that the fire lit on the Holy Sepulcher from a hidden lamp is still a sacred fire received from a sacred place”, and add to these words of the vicar of the Jerusalem Patriarch from himself that for us this fire is, was and will be sacred also because it preserves the ancient Christian and universal tradition ”().
A former professor of the Leningrad Theological Academy, who broke with religion and became one of the most prominent atheists and critics of religion, A. A. Osipov, left notes on the reaction to this report of the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Having studied ancient manuscripts and texts, books and testimonies of pilgrims,” writes A. A. Osipov about Uspensky, “he proved with exhaustive accuracy that there never was any “miracle”, but there was and is an ancient symbolic rite of burning by the clergy themselves over the coffin Icon lamps. (...) And as a result of all this, the late Metropolitan of Leningrad Gregory, also a man with a theological degree, gathered a number of theologians of Leningrad and said to them (many of my former colleagues probably remember): “I also know that this is only a legend ! What… (here he named the author of the speech and research by name) is absolutely right! But do not touch the pious legends, otherwise faith itself will fall!” (*_*).

Before continuing with the new revelations, I want to describe the sequence of actions during the ceremony.

1. Examine Kuvuklia (two priests and a representative of the authorities).


2. The entrance doors of Kuvukliy are sealed with a large wax seal.


3. The keeper of the coffin appears, who brings inside the Coffin a large lampada covered with a cap. The seal is removed in front of him and he enters Kvukliy, and after a few minutes he leaves.


4. A solemn procession appears, led by the Greek patriarch, it goes around Kuvukliy three times. The clothes of patriarchal dignity are removed from the patriarch and he, together with the Armenian archimandrite (and the Israeli policeman), enters the Kuvukliy.


5. After 5-10 minutes, the Greek patriarch and the Armenian archimandrite come out with fire (before that, they managed to distribute fire through the windows of Kuvukliy).

So, after the search and before entering the patriarch's Kuvukliy, a priest with a lamp (perhaps the same, inextinguishable one) enters there and puts it on the coffin (or in a niche behind the icon), which is uncertain.

As I have already noted, an Armenian archimandrite enters the Cuvuklia. Although in his recent interview this figure of the Armenian Church did not speak directly about the forgery, he noted an important fact.
“Tell me, how do you pray? Is this a special prayer according to the prayer book, or an impromptu prayer, the one that comes from the soul? How does the Greek Patriarch pray?
- Yes, a prayer is read according to the prayer book. But, in addition to the prayers from the prayer book, I also offer my heartfelt prayer. At the same time, we have a special prayer for this day, which I recite by heart. The Greek Patriarch reads his prayer from the book, this is also a special prayer for the ceremony of Light.
- But how do you read prayers from a prayer book if it is dark there?
- Yes. Because of the darkness, it is not easy to read "().
Indeed, it is impossible to read without light; there must be its source.
In order to correctly understand this hint, one can refer to the information disseminated by another priest of the Armenian Church, hegumen of the monastery of the Holy Archangels (AAC), hieromonk Gevond Hovhannisyan, who has been present at the fire consecration ceremony for 12 years, and is personally acquainted with the priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church, entering the Kuvuklia for consecration of fire together with the Greek patriarch. He's writing:
“By one in the afternoon, the doors of the Tomb are sealed with wax. Where are 2 priests: an Armenian and a Greek. By two o'clock, the doors are torn off and the Greeks bring in a closed (lit) Lampada and put it on the Coffin. After that, the procession of the Greeks around the Sepulcher begins, on the 3rd circle the Armenian archimandrite joins them and together they move towards the doors. The Greek Patriarch enters first, followed by the Armenian. And both enter the Tomb, where they both kneel down and pray together. After the first candle from a lit lamp, the Greek lights, and then the Armenian. Both go and serve candles to the people through the holes, the Greek comes out of the coffin first, followed by the Armenian, who is carried in his arms to our hegumen's room ”(). You can chat with Ghevond in his LiveJournal.
It remains to be stated that the Armenian Church, although it is a direct participant in the ceremony, does not support beliefs in the miraculous appearance of fire.
The words of Patriarch Theophilus about the Holy Fire are interesting:
"Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem: This is a very ancient, very special and unique ceremony Jerusalem Church. This ceremony of the Holy Fire takes place only here in Jerusalem. And this happens thanks to the very Tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ. As you know, this ceremony of the Holy Fire is, so to speak, an image (enactment), which represents the first Good News (the first good news), the first Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (the first resurrection). This representation- like all sacred ceremonies. Like on Good Friday we have a burial rite, don't we? How do we bury the Lord, etc.
So, this ceremony is taking place in a holy place, and all other Eastern Churches that share the Holy Sepulcher would like to take part in this. Such as Armenians, Copts, Syrians come to us and receive our blessing, because they want to receive the Fire from the patriarch.
Now, the second part of your question is actually about us. It is an experience which, if you like, is analogous to the experience a person has when he receives Holy Communion. What happens there also applies to the Holy Fire ceremony. This means that a certain experience cannot be explained, expressed in words. Therefore, everyone who takes part in this ceremony - priests or laymen, or laywomen - everyone has their own indescribable experience.
Protodeacon A. Kuraev commented on his words
“No less frank was his answer about the Holy Fire: “This is a ceremony that is a representation, like all other ceremonies of Holy Week. Just as once the Easter message from the Sepulcher shone and illuminated the whole world, so now in this ceremony we are making a representation of how the message of the Resurrection from Kuvukpiy spread throughout the world. Neither the word "miracle", nor the word "descent", nor the words "blessed fire" were in his speech. He probably couldn’t say more frankly about the lighter in his pocket ”(). A real political struggle unfolded around these words of the patriarch, including a new "interview" with Theophilus, where he confirms the miraculous nature of fire with quotations from articles by Russian apologists. Kuraev declared this material a fake. The details of this story are collected.

By the way, during the gift between the Armenian priest and the Greek patriarch, the Armenian’s candles were extinguished inside Kuvukliy and he had to light them with a lighter (*_*). So the rumors that the Armenians will not be able to get fire on their own are groundless.

Indirect evidence of the kindling of a fire from an already burning lamp is the text of the prayer of the patriarch, which he reads inside Kuvukliy. This text is analyzed in the article "The Myth and Reality of the Holy Fire" by Protopresbyter George Tsetsis:
“.. The prayer that the patriarch offers before lighting it in the holy Cuvuklia is completely clear and does not allow any misinterpretations.
The patriarch does not pray for a miracle.
He only "remembers" the sacrifice and the three-day resurrection of Christ and, turning to Him, says: "Reverently accepting this kindled (*******) fire on Your luminous Tomb, we distribute to those who believe in the true light, and we pray to You that You have revealed it with the gift of sanctification."
The following happens: the patriarch lights his candle from the inextinguishable lamp, which is located on the Holy Sepulcher. Just like every patriarch and every clergyman on the day of Easter, when he receives the light of Christ from the unquenchable lamp, which is on the holy throne, symbolizing the Holy Sepulcher ”(* _ *).

Wonderful flashes, non-burning fire, spontaneous combustion of candles.
Thanks to cinema, we can see everything that happens with our own eyes. Unlike the pilgrims who are in the crowd and it is difficult for them to distinguish anything, everything will be shown to us from the most advantageous positions, you can review interesting moments again, and even in slow motion. I have at my disposal 7 recordings of video broadcasts, two Orthodox films of not very good quality and a high-quality secular film about the Holy Fire. That is, 10 films about 9 ceremonies. At various forums where I participated in discussions about the Holy Fire, I asked for video materials proving the miraculous spontaneous combustion of candles or the non-burning properties of fire. Nobody has been able to do this.

Unburning fire.

Pilgrims in their testimonies write that the fire does not burn for a time that lasts from 5 minutes to several months. You can find testimonies in which pilgrims tell how the Holy Fire brought to Moscow (their temple) still did not burn, or how they washed themselves with the Holy Fire, visiting Jerusalem in winter. Basically, they write about the non-burning of the Holy Fire during the first 5 - 10 minutes. A huge number of videos watched of pilgrims washing with fire show that they simply move their hands through the fire, scoop fire with their hands, or drive fire in front of their faces and beards. The same is not difficult to repeat using a burning bunch of candles with a regular fire (as I do). By the way, the wicks of a candle with the blessed fire are lit quite easily, which would be strange if the fire were warm.

An interesting experiment was written by LiveJournal user Andronic (andronic) @ 2007-04-08 07:40:00:
“Yesterday, in the daily news on NTV, a few minutes after the condescension of the Holy Fire, Yevgeny Sandro, live, slowly moved his hand in the flame of a candle and confirmed that it practically does not burn. I became interested, and at midnight, when my wife, at the moment of the beginning of the procession (where I went with her “in company”), lit a Jerusalem thirty-three candle bundle in front of the church, I also put my hand into the fire, and also slowly shook it there. Although this flame was not lit from the Holy Fire, it did not immediately become hot for the hand. I repeated Sandro's trick a couple more times, and got so carried away that I did not notice how my actions attracted the attention of others who came to the Easter procession. The believers ran up, began to light their candles from our thirty-three candlestick, joyfully put their hands into its flame and shout “Do not burn! Doesn't burn!" Some tried to “catch up” the fire, like water, with their hands folded in a “dipper” and wash themselves with it. The influx of those wishing to join the miracle was so great that we could not move, and the procession left without us. Thus I unwittingly became responsible for the outbreak of religious enthusiasm. Curiously, the “gentleness” of fire towards those who partake of it, in a rather amusing way, depended on the degree of faith. The doubters cautiously raised their hands to the upper tip of the flame, and frightenedly pulled back. Enthusiastic ones (like me before that) boldly put their hands right into the center of the flame, where the temperature of the fire is much lower, and did not get burned. As a result, each received according to his faith "().

Of everything that I have seen, and this is about a hundred washings with the Holy Fire, I can repeat all the washings with fire, except for one. In only one video, the pilgrim held his hand over the Holy Fire for 2.2 seconds, which is difficult to repeat without a burn. My record is 1.6 seconds.
Two explanations for this case can be put forward, firstly, religious ecstasy reduces pain sensitivity. Many have seen how people in a state of religious insanity beat themselves with iron-tipped whips, crucify their bodies and do many other disgusting acts, while grace illuminates their faces. From here, pilgrims do not feel the burning properties of fire. The second explanation is a draft in the temple. Thanks to the wind, the flame is deflected and an air cushion is created between the hand and the fire, if you “catch the wind”, you can simulate holding your hand over the fire for 3 seconds.
I talked with many pilgrims who attended the ceremony, and not all of them testify to the unburning flame:

Hieromonk Flavian (Matveev):
"Unfortunately, it's on fire. In 2004, literally five minutes after receiving the Holy Fire (we didn’t even leave the church), my friend tried to “wash himself with fire.” The beard seems to be small, noticeably began to flare up. I had to yell at him to put it out. I had a video camera in my hands, so this sad incident remained documented. (...) He himself took an example from others, held his hand over the fire. Fire is like fire. It burns! (The post has been removed from the forum).

Solovyov Igor, Orthodox Christian (novice):
“I don’t know how much time has passed since the Holy Fire came down, but when the fire reached me and I tried whether it burned or not, I singed my hair on my arm and felt a burning sensation. (...) In my opinion, the burning sensation was normal. From our group, some people were quite close to the Holy Sepulcher, but none of them said that the fire does not scorch ”().

Alexander Gagin, Orthodox Christian:
“When the fire came down and was handed over to us (a few minutes later), it burned like a normal one, I didn’t notice anything special, I didn’t see men lowering their beards into the fire for a long time” ().

In the article “In defense of the Holy Fire”, Yu. Maksimov writes:
“If we look at least at the video footage posted on the network, we will see, for example, that in one case a pilgrim holds his hand in the flame for three seconds from a whole bunch of candles, in the second case, another pilgrim holds his hand over the flame for five seconds, but the third a frame where another elderly pilgrim holds his hand in the flame for five seconds ”().

However, in the video proposed in the text of the article, people just pass their hands through the fire, but do not hold body parts over the fire for 2 or 3 or 5 seconds. At the Orthodox forum of A. Kuraev, this moment was touched upon in a topic with the same name in the article, and the Orthodox Christian was the first to pay attention to this discrepancy when he bothered to check the words of Maximov (). It is amazing how an Orthodox apologist can present video fragments that do not match the caption in the article, and this can be easily found out, just watch the video. Why do people so easily accept words without validation?

Miraculous flashes.
There are dozens of journalists with special equipment for taking photographs in darkened rooms and hundreds of amateur photographers in the temple. Therefore, there are very, very many flashes. Usually on high-quality video, the flash trace is 1 - 2 frames and has a white or slightly bluish color. On 5 high-quality live broadcasts, and in a secular film, all flashes of light are just like that. On lower quality video, color may vary depending on defects in video settings, development quality, and video processing features. As a result, flashes on different videos will look different colors. The worse the quality of the video, the more varied in time and color the flash can be displayed on it. It is interesting that the criteria put forward by the apologists for the difference between a flash and a flash fit into the possibility of a "trace" of a conventional flash on video of different quality. Hence the impossibility, using the criteria of apologists, to distinguish a wonderful flash from a trace of a flash by color, especially after video processing. Thus, it is difficult to disprove or prove flashes based on video.

What do the testimonies left in the years when there were no cameras give?
It is especially interesting to compare the testimonies of modern pilgrims and the testimonies of pilgrims of 1800-1900, written in a language understandable to contemporaries and quite detailed. There is nothing in these testimonies about flashes of light in the temple during the ceremony. And for some reason, the whistleblowers do not try to explain them at all, as if they do not know about them, but only talk about the deception of lighting a fire in Kuvuklia. Although such flashes would be an even greater miracle.
Apologists for the miracle were able to find evidence that seemed to confirm flashes, for example, pilgrims before the 13th century said that the ignition of a fire was accompanied by a bright white flash. A single flash at the time of the appearance of the fire is explained by the peculiarity of the ceremony of that time - they did not enter the Kuvukliy inside and the ignition of the fire inside was accompanied by a bright flash. This is how the 12th-century Islamic historian Ibn al-Qalanisi, already quoted here, describes the substances for spontaneous combustion used in the ceremony:
“... 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 a brilliant radiance.”

"Blessed" fire in the hands

Cold fire - salicylic acid.

Potato + Fluoride Toothpaste + Salt = Holy Fire

Who and why needs deception with the so-called. blessed fire in Jerusalem