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- Holy Fire is the main miracle of Easter: how does it light up and why doesn't it burn
Holy Fire is the main miracle of Easter: how does it light up and why doesn't it burn
Every year, on the eve of Orthodox Easter, believers witness the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. How the ceremony will take place this year, why Orthodox Christians are still arguing about where the Sacred Fire comes from, and whether they should be afraid that it will not come down, is in the Izvestia article.
The ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire in 2026
The Holy Fire descends annually in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem. Preparations for the ceremony begin a day before Easter. In Kuvuklia (from Greek. — "bedchamber") — the chapel in which the Holy Sepulchre is located — all candles and lamps are extinguished, leaving one unlit on the Coffin itself. After that, the entrance to the chapel is closed and sealed. The key is traditionally kept in a Muslim family from generation to generation.
The litany ceremony itself ("prayer procession" in Greek) begins on Holy Saturday afternoon, usually at 13:00 Jerusalem time. In addition to the primate of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, the Armenian Patriarch, who is part of the Kuvuklia with him, priests of the Coptic and Syriac Orthodox Churches, pilgrims and Arab Orthodox youth participate in it.
First, the clergy, led by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, marches through the shrines associated with the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ, after which they circumambulate the Kuvuklia three times. The participants have bundles of 33 candles in their hands, symbolizing the Savior's age.
At the entrance, from which the seal is removed, the patriarch is exposed: they take off his festive robes and leave him in one white cassock. According to an ancient custom, he is also searched so that he cannot carry anything with him.
The Patriarch enters the Kuvuklia, where he performs a special prayer. After receiving the Holy Fire, he passes it through the holes in the walls to the priests, then to the Armenian Patriarch, who is waiting in the Angel chapel (in the entrance room of the Kuvuklia), after which he goes out to the faithful, lighting their candles with fire. It is believed that the flame does not burn in the first minutes, so many pilgrims pass it over their face and hands.
It is unknown when this rite appeared. It was first mentioned by the monk Bernard in the middle of the 9th century.
How is the ceremony going now
Every year, the Holy Fire ceremony attracts thousands of believers from all over the world. However, this year it will be held in a limited format.
The holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem will remain closed to pilgrims and tourists, the Israeli police announced on March 30. Later, the country's authorities announced that media representatives would not be allowed to attend the ceremony "due to the security situation" and the military conflict in the Middle East.
The descent of the Holy Fire can be seen live. In 2026, the live broadcast of the Easter service from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is taking place for the 36th time. The Liturgy is led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. You can watch the service on the Izvestia website, as well as on the air of federal TV channels.
For the first time, live broadcasts of the Easter service became available in 1991, when they were simultaneously shown by several TV channels. The church initially hoped that the broadcasts would help attract people far from religion to the service and arouse interest in the temple through the entertainment and solemnity of the service.
Today, the display of church services, especially on major Orthodox holidays, has become a common practice. Modern technologies allow believers to participate in the celebration remotely, even if they cannot attend the temple in person.
The meaning and origin of the phenomenon of the Holy Fire
The question of the origin of the Holy Fire has been a long-standing controversy not only among believers, but also among the clergy. To this day, some people call the descent of fire a miracle, while others consider it man-made.
Vladislav Beregovoy, head of the missionary department of the Pesochenskaya diocese, suggests that this is a ceremony where a fire is already lit. In a conversation with Izvestia, the priest emphasized that he had voiced his personal opinion, not the position of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to him, there has been a controversy on this issue for a long time.
— The Greeks and the People of Jerusalem, when talking about this sacrament, use the words "consecration ceremony," which most likely implies the lighting of a fire and its consecration. In any case, whatever the origin of this fire, after reading the prayers it becomes holy. It's the same as holy water, which becomes special, great, clear water at Baptism, or bread, which becomes prosphora, Father Vladislav believes.
For believers, in his opinion, it is not so much the method of origin of the fire that is important, as the reading of the prayer for its consecration by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Such sacraments (the consecration of water, bread, and fire) are quite ancient church rituals based on the words of the Gospel. Visible and understandable evidence to ordinary people that fire becomes holy after reading a prayer is its amazing property of not burning a person for the first few seconds.
Another interlocutor of Izvestia, Hieromonk Theodoret (Sergey Senchukov), holds a different point of view.
— There are a lot of revelations now. Someone is talking about some kind of lamp, someone is talking about some kind of lighter. I personally believe in the supernatural origin of the Holy Fire," he said.
Hieromonk attended the ceremony in Jerusalem many times and personally saw how the Holy Fire "descended" onto candles that ignited themselves. Moreover, these were not any special candles, but ordinary ones, which are sold in shops in front of the temple. The priest also spoke about the flashes of light on the walls of the temple, which were described by the first pilgrims many centuries ago.
— If we can talk about some kind of outbreaks now, then in the eighth century they definitely could not have been faked, — he is sure.
Hieromonk Theodoret confirmed that the Holy Fire does not burn at first and only after a while acquires the properties of ordinary fire. At the same time, like Vladislav Beregovoy, he urged not to give excessive importance to his origin.
— No matter how this Light is obtained, its meaning is important. It is the Light of Christ that enlightens everyone, as we say at the liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. That is, the Lord gives us his uncreated light so that we can partake of it," he concluded.
Superstitions around the ceremony
As a rule, waiting for the Holy Fire to descend takes from several minutes to several hours. One of the most famous beliefs associated with this ceremony is that if the Holy Fire does not descend on Holy Saturday, the world will end or the Antichrist will rule the earth. Vladislav Beregovoy considers this a "sectarian superstition."
— There is not a hint in the Holy Scriptures that the end of the world and the Second Coming of the Savior are somehow connected with the descent of the Holy Fire. There are many signs, from the impoverishment of love to the ascendancy of a single ruler over the whole world, but not a word has been said about the Holy Fire, he stressed, asking to "put these folk insinuations out of your mind" and not believe "in all sorts of nonsense."
"He [the Holy Fire] cannot help but descend," the priest added (probably for those who still have doubts).
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