The Holy Fire of Jerusalem
The Church of the Resurrection
in Jerusalem is guarded
by Franciscans and Orthodox brothers
Every year
With passover
There is the miracle of the Holy fire
For 2000 years now
It happens in the night
Preceding the Orthodox Easter
And we proclaim
all over the centuries
Christ is risen.
He is risen!
Biblical reference
In the first sermon ever preached in the history of the Christian Church, the Apostle Peter began his proclamation:
Men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man attended to you by God with mighty works and signs and wonders which God did to him in your midst, as you yourself know—this Jesus delivered up according to a definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised Him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it (Acts 2.22–24).
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Happy Easter to our Orthodox friends!
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Such a fascinating and an amazing article, it’s really an informative article. The holy fire ceremony is beautiful ceremony that draws many people to Jerusalem every year. So many persons haven’t actually heard about the holy fire ceremony, the ceremony is not well known because only orthodox churches attend it and are highly involved in it’s activities. I am not an Orthodox Church member but I really love the amazing ceremony and would really like to be there someday.
Yes… and many of all christian and non christian denomintions attend the ceremony. Since it is a very small church, many are staying outside to recieve the Holy Fire… a ceremony that can be found in all christian traditions in the night before Easter…
lumen Christi! The Light of Our Savior
Deo Gratias! Let us thank the Almighty
I have never heard of the holy fire before so i am very new to all this information..after watching the video on this article i was able to understand all that you have said…thanks a lot for sharing this awesome article and i must say it has really me understand more about the resurrection of Jesus our saviour.
Amen
The Light that came into the world
Not to condemn, but to save us
Happy Easter time david
Maria
Fascinating article. I was not aware of this ceremony before now but it is certainly a spectacle of faith that shows that Christ is risen from the tomb and his Holy Light remains. Do the candles remain burning after the ceremony and do the faithful keep them burning through the year?
Yes, they do!
The light is brought to all Eastern churches and it is a feast beyond words…
Christ is risen!
Fascinating information on The Holy Fire of Jerusalem as I had no idea that it was such an impressive event. The gathering at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher looks pretty inspiring. It’s nice to see the lights and peace is always a preferred sight. 2000 years is a significant number, and the Holy fire is a true miracle. Thank you for the information and for including a video as it paints a nice picture.
Yes.. it is the Holy Light!
Thank you,This has enlightened me today as I have never heard of The Holy Fire. I like the link you have added to the YouTube video where it explains more. It looks like such an important celebration after Easter so it was really good to see this insight.I was brought up a Catholic but interestingly had never heard of this before. Thank you for giving me a little more understanding.
The orthodox christians, with greek liturgy, are the keepers of the grave of Jesus for centuries now.
After the resurrection of Jesus, a church was build above His grave, known as the church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Since the day that Jesus rised from the grave the miracle of the Holy fire happened… in the catholic tradition, there is the celebration of light to celebrate this miracle as well with the blessing of the Light and the lightening of the Eastern candle!
The orthodox Easter occurs one week later than the roman Easter. Same goes for the feast of the magi.
According to tradition, the greeks, kept the same time table as Jesus…
With the Corona crisis, the event was cancelled for the public.
but we know that our Lord has no boundaries!
I had never heard of this ceremony before. While it is certainly interesting, as a Christian, I think it is very easy for people to get caught up and focused on the miracle of the fire instead of focusing on the risen Christ. I have to be honest, I’ll need to research this some more as I have some doubts about it’s authenticity. I feel a lot of times we rely on ceremonies that distract us from the true miracle of Resurrection Sunday. Thanks for the post!
Yes Steve, we believe in Christ, not because of miracles indeed…
and miracles help people like Thomas to believe…
The vigil of the Holy Saturday is one of the oldest in our christian history
waking with the faithful in memory of His Resurrection
Our faith is deeply rooted in the past, the faith of our fathers…
have a blessed Easter time
Maria
Very interesting article. I’ve never heard of the Holy Fire before. The video links were very informative and helpful in shedding light on the subject. Have you ever been to Jerusalem for this ceremony? What will happen this year since the Coronavirus lockdown prevents people from going? I know you said the ceremony is canceled, but do you think the Holy Fire will still come? I hope that the hearts of the people remain encouraged and will still reach out to each other via social media or phone calls etc. It is time for us to strengthen our ties with our families as well.
Thank you Lana…
Yes, I was in Jerusalem, at a different moment, for the feast of Sukkot. An experience beyond words… with faithful of all denominations…
During Covid, the ceremony of the Holy Light in the church of Resurection was cancelled for the public. The orthodox priests, however, did proceed with the Holy Office as they did along the centuries… and it did not prevent the miracle of Light to happen… A divine light in our night: christ is risen!
The almost complete lockdown of activity on our planet (3/4 of our population) was unseen…moment of peace, silence, reflexion and prayer also…
As long as the virus in not eradicated, there is no victory,it will come back, stronger than before, and there will be more lockdowns to prevent massive contamination.
Many churches and communities of faith could not gather those days for the same reasons.
Being in confinement they could only follow services that were live streamed or broadcasted.
I added several ones in the menu.
one of them is the service of Holy thursday in Rome at that time… very moving whith the Holy Father in an empty basilica addressing the priests… in Italy more than 60 priests lost their life because they stayed with the dying, trying to give them a decent burial… they had no masks, no protection…
Many doctors and nurses also died… it is a terrible human tragedy for many countries were health services were overwelmed beyond capacities… hence the lockdown in Europe… and we have not seen the end yet.
Stay blessed and keep faith
Maria
Ps
Make sure to read the veil of Turin
I am a Christian so I am acquainted and involved in the celebration of Easter every year. We , Baptists, have never been exposed to these events that take place in Jerusalem. I found the description of the event amazing. It is such a spectacle and it seems like most of the attendees knew exactly what to expect. Thanks for introducing the rituals and coming of the Holy Light. Based on the reaction of the crowd, it really does seem to be earth shattering as was described.
It sure is… and it strenghtens our faith in the risen Lord.
Have a blessed Easter time in the joy of Our Risen Lord
maria