The blessed fire has gone out. Descent of the Holy Fire

The descent of the Holy Fire in 2017 will occur on April 15. Every year for two thousand years, Christians wait with bated breath for the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem.

Descent of the Holy Fire 2017 - watch online, time and date of live broadcast

The descent takes place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This complex includes not only Golgotha ​​(the place where Jesus Christ was crucified), but also a rotunda - a structure with a huge dome. There is a chapel under the dome. It is located directly in front of the cave where, according to the covenants, the body of Jesus Christ was buried. Now on the territory of the Holy Sepulcher there are several operating monasteries, many galleries and premises. This is a truly majestic architectural complex.

The descent of the Holy Fire always takes place on Holy Saturday, on the eve of Easter. This miraculous phenomenon is observed every year by Christians around the world. It is still unknown why and how the appearance of the Holy Fire occurs, but it is expected all over the world.

The Holy Fire descends approximately between 13 and 15 hours Jerusalem time. This time coincides with the Moscow time zone. Some TV channels will broadcast live; a video of the Descent of the Holy Fire in 2017 can be seen online.

Descent of the Holy Fire 2017 video

A day before Easter, solemn church ceremonies begin in churches, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. People come to see the miracle of the descent of Fire on Good Friday; huge queues form. At ten o'clock on Saturday morning, all candles and lamps in the Temple are extinguished. A lamp is installed in the middle of the bed of the Life-Giving Sepulcher. It is filled with oil, but not set on fire. Cotton wool is laid over the entire bed, and tape is laid along the edges.

After this, the Edicules are checked for the presence of a source of fire. Then the entrance to the Edicule is closed and sealed with a wax seal. From 13 o'clock the litany begins, people and church ministers expect a sacred miracle.

Every year, the ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire takes place at the Holy Sepulcher in the temple located in Jerusalem - the only city in the world that is the center of the fusion of the three most widespread world religions. The process of the direct appearance of the Sacred Fire takes place in the Edicule (small chapel), decorated with pink-yellow marble. The entrance to the Edicule is through double-leaf wooden doors. It is the domed chapel that is the birthplace of the Holy Light.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is the holy place where Jesus rested, after which his Resurrection took place. The appearance of the Sacred Fire a short time after the Resurrection of Jesus is a symbol of the remission of sins, victory over evil and darkness. Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to attend the ceremony to see this miracle with their own eyes. The temple and its surrounding area can accommodate a limited number of people. But everyone will be able to witness the Descent of the Fire, because the ceremony of the Descent of the Holy Fire from Jerusalem is broadcast online throughout the world. The action can be watched on television and on the Internet.

Catholics, Protestants, Syrians, copra and other people of other faiths accept the Descent of Fire with great respect and humility. During the ceremony, their faces show a spirit of submission. Thus, they pay tribute to honor and respect to the Orthodox faith in the person of the Patriarch. Before receiving the Holy Fire from the hands of the Patriarch, non-Christians kneel before him and kiss his finger. right hand. Even in Islam, watching the Descent of the Holy Fire is not considered a sin, so many Muslims travel to Jerusalem to directly participate in the ceremony.

Preparation for the Descent of the Holy Fire

A few hours before the ceremony, a cordon is set up in the area adjacent to the Temple. People who come to the ceremony are searched by police to identify prohibited items. Also being searched are journalists who gathered near the Temple to report on Christian miracle. The Patriarch and other clergy are also searched, checking their clothing and ceremonial paraphernalia. All premises of the temple and areas adjacent to it are thoroughly searched. The main focus is on searching for explosives. After all, there are a large crowd of people, especially on a day religious holiday, always carries the risk of terrorist attacks and riots.

The domed chapel with the Holy Sepulcher is subject to special inspection. After a police inspection, the doors of the chapel are locked and sealed by representatives of the city mayor's office. The key that opens and closes the doors of the domed chapel is kept in one of the Arab families. The head of this family was at one time appointed custodian of this shrine. The responsibilities of this person include ensuring the safety of the key and issuing it to the Patriarch once a year for the ceremony.

How does the ceremony of the Descent of the Holy Fire take place?

There is a solemn and silent atmosphere in the Temple. First, young people enter the chapel, on whose shoulders the same young people sit. They are the first to be entrusted with asking the Fire for the Descent into the Edicule. Then the Patriarch and clergy, dressed in light festive clothes, make a procession of the cross, going around the chapel with the Holy Sepulcher three times. The Patriarch enters the Temple, reading special prayer and being in one cassock. In his right hand he holds a lamp with oil, in the other - 33 candles, personifying the age of the crucified and risen Christ. It is in the lamp that the Holy Fire should arise.

A lamp with oil is installed in the center of the Temple, and special cotton wool with ribbons is laid out around it. When exactly the Holy Fire will appear, no one knows. Sometimes it takes half an hour, and in some cases the Fire descends only after 2-3 hours of prayer. But people are ready to wait for a miracle for hours.

The waiting itself takes place in complete silence. At the same time, all sources of electric lighting in the temple are extinguished. The beginning of the Descent of the Sacred Fire is marked by the appearance of sparkling discharges that can be observed in different parts Edicules. After this, the discharges reach the lamp installed in the center of the Temple and light it. Tradition prohibits lighting candles from the lamp until the Patriarch leaves the domed chapel. When His Holiness emerges from the Edicule, pilgrims can light their candles from the Holy Fire. Anyone who wishes to take a handful of Divine Light with them can do so without hindrance. Thus, billions of particles of the Holy Fire scatter to the most remote corners of our planet.

To the territory Russian Federation The Holy Fire will be delivered in 2017 by a special delegation headed by Vladimir Yakunin. The Holy Fire will be delivered to Russia on April 15, for the Patriarch’s Easter service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. He will be brought on a special flight and handed over to Patriarch Kirill.

During the first minutes after the Descent, Fire does not burn the skin when you touch it, but, on the contrary, gently envelops, renews, and heals. During the silent wait and the process of the Descent of Fire, people more than once observed the accompanying amazing phenomena. For example, on one Holy Saturday among clear skies For several minutes, thunder was heard and lightning flashed, and inside the Temple people felt their faces covered with small raindrops. Christians believe that the descended Fire is endowed with unearthly power and is capable of performing real miracles: bestowing strength, eliminating troubles and illnesses.

There are known cases when, after the Descent of Fire, the blind began to see, the deaf began to hear, and the dumb returned to the gift of speech. Many people who attended the ceremony in the Jerusalem Temple were cured of serious chronic illnesses.

What will happen if the Holy Fire does not descend?

Orthodox Christians are sure that if the Fire does not descend, it means that the current year will be the last in the existence of all people living on Earth. In other words, the world will end. Experts refute this version, because there have been cases in history when the fire did not go away, for example in 1579 and 1101. The descent of the Holy Fire is the personification of the fact that people will be protected all year Higher Powers. Due to the fact that the Fire that descended on Holy Saturday is Divine, its absence cannot lead to the onset of world cataclysms and, as a consequence, the end of human existence. Knowledgeable people they say that if the Fire does not descend, society will begin to degrade mentally, which will lead to serious negative consequences. For the scripture says that it is the sleep of a muffled mind that can give birth to monsters. This means that world upheavals, wars, revolutions, uprisings, and strife will begin. Greed, anger and violence will dominate the Earth. It is not for nothing that the Holy Scripture also says that everyone who has will be rewarded and multiplied a hundredfold, and from those who do not have, more than what they have will be taken away.

For more than 2000 years, the Sacred Fire has been descending to Earth, as if recalling the death and resurrection of Christ. The Holy Fire is the Light Divine Mind, which is given to humanity for salvation. Many believers call this miracle a sign from the Lord sent straight from Heaven.

Easter is approaching - one of the significant holidays of Orthodox Christians; in 2017 it falls on April 16. But the day before, on Holy Saturday, it has become a tradition to wait in Jerusalem at the Holy Sepulcher for the descent of the Holy Fire.

So, the Holy Fire in Jerusalem 2017: the history of the event, how the ceremony takes place and much more - further in the article. Please note why in many churches the sacrament is not performed on the day of the holiday.

The Holy Fire has been known to people for thousands of years. It was first mentioned in the 4th century. The witnesses were the Apostles and holy fathers. They claimed that before the resurrection of Jesus, unusual light illuminated the Holy Sepulcher after he was resurrected.

Reasons to see the Holy Fire

Most Christians dream of being in Jerusalem on this day. After all, it is believed that if you see the fire or are at least present in the temple, then all sins will be forgiven. There are a lot of people who want to go, but the temple can only accommodate about 10 thousand people.

This is interesting! Not only Christians, but also people who profess Islam dream of seeing and taking with them the Holy Fire.

People of different nationalities and religions gather here. On the way to the temple, you will have to go through a military formation, who carefully inspect pilgrims so that no one carries explosives, in order to avoid a terrorist attack.

Ceremony of welcoming the Holy Fire

The ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem 2017 is a real miracle. But everything happens gradually. First, a religious procession takes place, with a tour of memorial places associated with the name of Jesus Christ, led by clergy. The procession is closed by patriarchs from the local church and Armenia, as well as priests.

The procession reaches the chapel near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is called the cuvuklia. Then everyone walks around it three times. The local and Armenian patriarchs, in full view of everyone, are examined by the mayor of the city and the head of Jerusalem so that they cannot bring sources of fire with them. After the inspection, both patriarchs enter the edicule, and behind them the door is sealed with wax and red ribbon.

Important! A little earlier, a lamp is placed in the middle of the bed of the Holy Sepulcher, oil is poured into it, but not set on fire. Then cotton wool is placed everywhere, the edges are framed with tape.

The lights in the temple go out. People hold candles tied together in their hands, pray, and ask the Lord for the Holy Fire. The wait is always different. Sometimes the wait takes a few minutes, and sometimes the Holy Fire waits for hours. No one knows how long to wait for the Holy Fire in Jerusalem in 2017.

Note! Sometimes miracles can happen before the fire appears. The pilgrims heard the rumble of thunder, although the sky was cloudless or rain was dripping on them right in the temple.

Performing a great miracle

But most long-awaited miracle still considered the Holy Fire. No one knows where it will come from, every year it will appear in different ways: it may appear above the dome of the temple or on the altar, or slide down the walls like a snake. Believers seem to grab the fire, lighting their candles; many touch it with their hands. Surprisingly, it does not burn the body within 10 minutes.

At the moment of the descent of the fire, the temple begins to be illuminated by the Holy Fire, thanks to small lightning. They pass almost through people without harming them. The fire temperature reaches 45-50 degrees. In this turmoil, sick people try to heal themselves with fire. Eyewitnesses say that they manage to regain health lost during long years: the blind receive their sight, the crippled become healthy, incurable wounds heal.

If it is not possible to visit Jerusalem, then the Descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem 2017 is always broadcast online on television. And everyone has the opportunity to come into contact with this event and see a miracle. This miraculous fire is transported to different countries by plane, which is how he ends up in Russia. You know, it's not just Sunday.

This is interesting! Typically, exactly 33 candles are used to light the Holy Fire. This is not a random number, because Jesus Christ lived with people for just that many years.

Many skeptics are trying to deny that such a fire really exists, although it has been known about it for thousands of years, and it has become reliable historical event. At the same time, this fire is a great symbol of the acquisition of divine light. This is a miracle that gives people hope for goodness and faith.

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 descending fire has unique property— it doesn’t burn you 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 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 miraculous phenomenon in different times there were many critics who tried to expose and prove the artificial origin of fire. Among those who disagreed was Catholic Church. 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.

“There are many substances that can spontaneously combust.”

The descent of the Holy Fire is a great Easter miracle. This year, on April 7, thousands of pilgrims will be waiting for his appearance, as always, in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. However, for many years, skeptics have been arguing: is fire really of divine origin, or is it the work of human hands? The latest scandal, associated with the exposure of this miracle, occurred almost a month before Easter: the representative of the Armenian Patriarchate, Samuil Agoyan, stated that the patriarchs themselves light wax candles from an oil lamp.

"MK" decided to experiment and get fire chemically- without matches, lighters or other attributes that the priest definitely cannot carry with him.

Let us note right away: we do not want to offend anyone’s feelings with this text and do not set ourselves the goal of disproving the divine origin of fire. If a certain phenomenon can be imitated with the help of a trick or experiment, this does not mean that the phenomenon itself is a trick. We show that with the help of simple chemical manipulations you can reproduce something similar, get fire. But is it a miracle? holy fire or result chemical reaction- everyone decides for themselves. In the end, everyone will be given according to their faith.

What do we know about the environment in which the fire descends? It is known that this is a closed phenomenon - only one person enters the chapel over the Holy Sepulcher, the Patriarch of the Jerusalem Greek Orthodox Church. Even those who stand directly next to the walls of the edicule cannot see what is happening inside. It is also known that the patriarch, before he goes inside to pray for the descent of the fire, is searched: he should not have any matches or lighters with him.

Fire - ordinary, human - can be obtained different ways. Mechanical: for example, by friction, or using a magnifying glass, glasses or binoculars, or even making a lens out of ice. However, it is unlikely that the priest will be able to carry some kind of device with him - then it would be easier to actually hide the lighter. The best way to simulate sudden spontaneous combustion of a candle is to use chemical methods.

Eat classic way, which was used by magicians back in the 19th century. A piece white phosphorus dissolved in carbon tetrachloride, a volatile, toxic liquid. A wick is dipped into the solution. After the carbon tetrachloride evaporates, the phosphorus ignites itself and lights the candle. It is convenient that spontaneous combustion does not occur immediately - there is just enough time to move the candle or lamp to the right place.

There are many substances that can spontaneously ignite, for example alkali metals,” a professor at the Russian Chemical Technical University named after A. Mendeleev Dmitry Mustafin. - If you take a piece of potassium or sodium and throw it into water, it will start to burn. In addition, alkali metal carbides burn. Quite a lot of active metals, especially if they are crushed into powders, aluminum, zinc, cobalt, all spontaneously ignite in air. Some immediately, others after some period of time. You can mix two substances - an oxidizing agent and a reducing agent. If you take saltpeter or potassium permanganate and mix it with alcohol, the mixture should catch fire.

You can’t just buy white phosphorus or other self-igniting substances in a store. We chose the simplest and relatively safe way to create fire - mixing glycerin and potassium permanganate, known as potassium permanganate. We warn you: do not repeat this experience at home. This should only be done in rooms specially designed for this purpose (for example, in chemical laboratories) and only with a fire extinguisher at the ready.

Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizing agent. When reacting, it decomposes to atomic oxygen, which oxidizes glycerol. The reaction is exothermic, that is, it is accompanied by a strong release of heat and ignition of the suspension.

Simple glycerin from the pharmacy will not work. In fact, it is not even glycerin, but glycerol - an 85% solution. This concentration of the active substance is not enough: the solution boils, but does not burn. Therefore, we bought a 99.5% glycerin solution at a specialized chemical store. Potassium permanganate, in turn, is simply not sold in pharmacies - only by prescription. We got it from our own old stocks.

The experiment should only be carried out in glass or porcelain dishes - in no case in plastic and preferably not in metal. We will not reveal the secret of “how much to weigh in grams”. Glycerin is poured into a glass container (in concentrated form - a viscous transparent liquid). Potassium permanganate powder is added - there is no need to dilute it before this. After some time, the reaction begins sharply - everything seethes, boils and burns with a bright bluish flame. We placed a candle nearby, the wick of which was lit by chemical fire.

It is clear that no glassware will be brought into the edicule, and it is unlikely that members of the clergy are quietly chemistry in the corner. But there is a similar method where concentrated sulfuric acid is used instead of glycerin. The components taken in a certain ratio are used to make a paste. A small amount of it - literally a match head or less - is applied to the candle wick, which after some time lights up. To be sure, you can attach a tiny piece of paper to the wick. Alas, when we experimented with glycerin, we needed a fairly large volume of potassium permanganate, which definitely wouldn’t be possible to apply to the candle unnoticed.

There is one more property of the Holy Fire - it does not burn in the first minutes, and pilgrims can even wash themselves with it. A similar phenomenon of a chemical nature is used by illusionists in their work.