The Holy Fire

[Narekatsi]

Has anyone had the opportunity to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem during Orthodox Easter and experience the lighting of candles with the Holy Fire? I personally haven't been able to arrange it. God willing, if WW3 does not occur, I hope to make it a reality in the near future.

If anyone here has experienced it, please share.

 

[Narekatsi]

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-holy-fire-miracle/

Before the ceremony, you buy from any one of the many vendors in the Old City a bound sheaf of thin beeswax candles — always 33. I held mine, and waited for the fire to be passed to me. Then, when my candles were blazing (see above), I passed my hand through the flame, back and forth, several times. I felt nothing.

I’m not kidding: I felt nothing. I moved my hand slowly, too. Nothing. A Serbian pilgrim and friend of mine allowed his flames to lick his bare face. Nothing happened to him.

 

[GoodShepherd]

I would love to make the pilgrimage some day, I grew up a Christian and I never heard of this event and it seems like most western Christians havent either so with the Easter celebrations that just happened in Jerusalem on Friday Its worth going on youtube and watching some clips of the Holy fire event.

Some history: Emperor Constantine the great orginally built a church over the entire area where Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected, it was destroyed by the Persions in the 6th century then in 1010 its was destroyed to its foundations by the muslims under Hakim (so much for Muslims honoring Christ as they claim), then finally the Crusaders rebuilt the church and there it stands.

Once the Crusaders tried to do the holy fire event but the fire didnt fall on the heterodox and instead ignited the candle of the Orthodox priest standing outside and also struck a pillar and cracked it.

Here is a good article to read about the event.

The Miracle of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem

 

[GoodShepherd]

http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/holyfire.aspx

 

[Narekatsi]

Not strictly on the Holy fire, Trent Horn made a good video recently on the location of the tomb of Christ (Church of the Holy Sepulchre):



Trent is Roman Catholic, but the video is a good/short history lesson.

 

[Kingdom]

 

[Rodion]

It’s funny how the Holy Fire only occurs for the canonical Orthodox Patriarch. What did God mean by this?

 

[Samseau]

It’s funny how the Holy Fire only occurs for the canonical Orthodox Patriarch. What did God mean by this?

From the article Sheperd linked:

Unknown in the West​

One can ask the question why the Miracle of the Holy Fire is hardly known in Western Europe. In the Protestant areas it may to a certain extent be explained by the fact that there is no real tradition for miracles; people dont really know in which box to place the miracles, and they dont take up much space in newspapers. But in the Catholic tradition there is vast interest for miracles. Thus, why is it not more known? For this it only one explanation suffices: Church politics. Only the Orthodox Churches attend the ceremony framing the miracle. It only occurs on the orthodox Easter date and without the presence of any Catholic authorities. By certain Orthodox this evidence proves the notion that the Orthodox Church is the only legitimate Church of Christ in the world, and this assertion obviously may cause certain apprehensions in Catholic circles.

 

[GoodShepherd]

Not strictly on the Holy fire, Trent Horn made a good video recently on the location of the tomb of Christ (Church of the Holy Sepulchre):



Trent is Roman Catholic, but the video is a good/short history lesson.

I was just thinking that while watching this, is it possible that the walls of Jerusalem were maybe extended in the last 2000 years? And this guy says yes

 

[KomnenAl]

It’s funny how the Holy Fire only occurs for the canonical Orthodox Patriarch. What did God mean by this?

The whole arrangment of the various Christian communities arraying themselves around the Orthodox Church in the Holy Sepulchre temple is very symbolic.

One thing I noticed, everybody is in the temple except the Protestants. They are in a different world, worshiping a "Christ" of their own making.