Holy Fire in Bishkek
“Holy Fire!”
It sounds like something Robin might say to Batman in the 1960’s TV programme. In fact it’s more serious than that, to the Orthodox faithful. Indeed, to them it represents a miracle.
Each year, on Holy Saturday, (the day before Orthodox Easter), a ceremony takes place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This is the place where tradition has it that Jesus was buried after being taken down from the Cross.
The faithful gather, some of them may well have been waiting all night since the Good Friday commemoration of the crucifixion. Before noon they start chanting prayers and hymns, many of which date back to the time of the Ottoman Empire.
Various leaders of the Orthodox communities process around the church. Once the procession has ended, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem recites a special prayer, removes his robes and enters alone into the sepulchre. Before entering, however, he is examined by authorities, (it used to be Turkish Ottoman soldiers, but it the search is now conducted by Israeli officials), to prove that he does not carry anything with which to light the fire.
Inside the chamber he waits. Sometimes, according to the current Patriarch, he may have to wait a few minutes whilst the congregation outside chants “Kyrie eleison”, (“Lord, have mercy”), but normally, he says, the miracle happens immediately after he has said the prayers. The Holy Fire spontaneously descends on 33 white candles which have been tied together by the Patriarch while he is alone inside the chamber.
According to the Patriarch, “From the core of the very stone on which Jesus lay an indefinable light pours forth … It usually has a blue tint, but the colour may change and sometimes it covers just the stone, whilst in other years it lights up the whole sepulchre, so that people who stand outside the tomb can see.”
The fire gives light, but does not burn. According to the Patriarch: “I have never had my beard burnt in all the sixteen years I have been Patriarch in Jerusalem and have received the Holy Fire.” Indeed believers claim that they can “wash” n the flames without being burned or even singed for about half an hour following its appearance.
Some members of the congregation in the body of the church, outside the chamber, even claim that their candles spontaneously ignite, but usually they have wait until the patriarch emerges and recites some further prayers before lighting candles which are then distributed amongst members of the congregation.
The tradition has evolved for the flame to be carried to orthodox communities throughout the world. With the aid of airplanes, this is much easier these days and a priest carried a flame form the Holy Fire from Jerusalem to Moscow from whence it was conveyed to Tashkent and from there to Bishkek. The journey took three days and on Tuesday, at three o’clock in the morning, it arrived here. The service of distribution to the faithful began on Thursday.
Although there are apparently earlier references to the event, it is said that the miracle has occurred regularly every year since 1106, except on certain occasions when non believers, (including Armenians and Catholics), have attempted to usurp it. Of course, the miracle has been the subject of much controversy, especially as the miracle failed to occur when the Orthodox priests were prohibited from taking part, and one Pope even declared it as a “fraud”.
There are, however, thousands of people who claim to have witnessed the events in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem over the years, and even videos taken in the church of the ceremony which show the reactions of the congregation who definitely seem to think something miraculous has occurred, along with lights appearing at the time of the spontaneous ignition of the flame.
A short video of the faithful receiving the flame, and lighting candles from it, in the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Bishkek can be found here, “Holy Fire from Jerusalem to Bishkek”. We had fun watching it because Tatiana and Lisa, from the office, appear in it fleetingly.
The text is in Russian and says: “Lit at the Temple of the Holy Sepulchre on the eve of Easter Day, the Holy Fire arrived today in Bishkek. In the Holy Resurrection Cathedral, it was distributed to the Orthodox Kyrgyzstanis, and lighted candles and lamps with the holy fire “spread out” throughout the capital. Those who are fortunate enough to attend the descent of fire in Jerusalem, argue that in the first minutes after the fire they can “wash” because the fire does not burn”.
.
Bishkek