When the Holy Fire descends in Jerusalem in 2018 directly depends on the date of Orthodox Easter. In 2018, Easter will be on April 8, which means thousands of believers around the world will expect the descent of the Holy Fire on the 7th. They say that if the fire does not go down in a certain year, it will be a symbol of the imminent end of the world. So, I would like to hope that this year in Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, fire will definitely appear.

If we return to history, it should be noted that the first evidence of the occurrence of this fire precisely on the territory of the city of Jerusalem, the holy land, appeared back in the fourth century. This has always happened since then in one place - in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. According to legend, it was in this cave that the body of Jesus Christ was located after the crucifixion and until the moment of his resurrection. So, that’s exactly what happened, on Holy Saturday, believers await the descent of the Holy Fire. If you were unable to get into the temple itself, it is difficult to do so, because there are more and more people wishing to do so every year, then you can watch the process of the descent of the fire online on the Internet or on television.

About the ceremony

The Descent of the Holy Fire is a whole ceremony that includes many rules and rituals. The ceremony begins about a day before Easter. This ceremony is called litany. At lunch, the patriarchs make a religious procession to the chapel, which is located in the very center of the temple. During the procession, a lamp is carried. It doesn’t burn yet and that’s where the fire appears later. Around the lamp there are 33 candles, which are a symbol of the years of Jesus Christ’s life on earth until the moment of the crucifixion.

The patriarch enters the chapel alone. He is wearing a minimum of clothing, and representatives of the Israeli police check and search the patriarch to ensure that he does not have any items with him that could cause fire. At the same time, in the temple itself, on the eve of Holy Saturday, all lamps, candles and other sources of fire are extinguished.

The lamp is installed by the patriarch directly in the center of the coffin bed. There is also cotton wool around the perimeter, and tape along the edges. After this, the police once again inspect the chapel, and then the main clergyman, who is already inside and searched, is sealed. Nobody knows where exactly the fire comes from. This secret has been preserved for more than a millennium. You can make it for the holiday table on Easter.

About obligatory rituals

The obligatory ritual that must be observed for the fire to appear is the presence of young people in the temple who ask the Mother of God and the Lord to grant fire. Eyewitnesses who were in the temple when the fire went down all unanimously say that flashes of bright light appear from nowhere right above the Holy Sepulcher.

It is impossible to determine exactly the time when the Holy Fire 2018 descends in Jerusalem and appears. But we know for sure that this always happens.

Following the conversation in the blog topic, I decided to do a little searching for information from different sources, and what do they promise if the Holy Fire does not descend?

First, about the origin of the event.

“There are references to the descent of heavenly fire in the Old Testament. There are several cases described there when the Lord sent fire from heaven as a sign that the sacrifice was pleasing to Him, that He accepted it. In the days of the New Testament, the very first information about the descent of the Holy Fire is found in Gregory of Nyssa, Eusebius and Sylvia of Aquitaine. They date back to the 4th century. Although there are earlier mentions. According to the testimony of the Apostles and Holy Fathers, the uncreated Light illuminated the Holy Sepulcher shortly after the Resurrection of Christ. One of the apostles, Peter, saw this. However, it is impossible to name a specific date. We can only say that the Fire began to descend from the time of the first Christians, and this is already more than two thousand years ago.
With this miracle, the Lord seems to confirm the favor and grace of God towards people. This is when God favors us, our prayers, our repentance.
It is extremely important whether the Holy Fire descends or not, because its descent is a symbol that life will continue, that God has blessed humanity. ”

There were three cases of fire not descending.
- In 1101, on Holy Saturday, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Edicule did not occur until Eastern Christians were invited to participate in this rite. Then King Baldwin I took care of returning their rights to local Christians.
- On Holy Saturday 1579, Orthodox Patriarch Sophrony IV and the clergy were not allowed into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They stood in front of the closed doors of the Temple from the outside. The Armenian clergy entered the Edicule and began to pray to the Lord for the descent of the Fire. But their prayers were not heard.
The Orthodox priests standing at the closed doors of the Temple also turned to the Lord with prayers. Suddenly a noise was heard, the column located to the left of the closed doors of the Temple cracked, Fire came out of it and lit candles in the hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. With great joy, the Orthodox priesthood entered the Temple and glorified the Lord. Traces of the descent of Fire can still be seen on one of the columns located to the left of the entrance.

According to traditions that have taken root over 2000 years, the obligatory participants in the sacrament of the descent of the Holy Fire are the abbot, the monks of the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified and local Orthodox Arabs.
On Holy Saturday, half an hour after the sealing of the Edicule, Arab Orthodox youth, screaming, stomping, drumming, sitting astride each other, rush into the Temple and begin singing and dancing. There is no evidence about the time when this ritual was established. The exclamations and songs of the Arab youth are ancient prayers in Arabic, addressed to Christ and the Mother of God, who is asked to beg the Son to send Fire, to St. George the Victorious, especially revered in the Orthodox East.
According to oral traditions, during the years of British rule over Jerusalem (1918-1947), the English governor once tried to ban “savage” dances. The Patriarch of Jerusalem prayed for two hours: The fire did not go down. Then the Patriarch ordered with his will to let in the Arab youth. After they performed the ritual, the Fire descended...
So what will happen if the Holy Fire does not descend? There are many legends and beliefs about what will happen if the Holy Fire does not descend.
Christian legend says that when the Holy Light does not appear in the Edicule, the end of the world will come.

The fire did not go down (above the evidence), and the prophecy was not fulfilled, why?
It turns out that the fire’s non-convergence is not enough, there must be three foreshadowing events to fulfill the prophecy.

1. The exact location of Noah's Ark will be revealed.

2. The 5000-year-old oak of Mamre will dry up (where Abraham met the Holy Trinity).

3. The Holy Fire will not descend.

According to the Ark . Presumably on Mount Ararat in Turkey, traces of it were discovered.

Mamre oak . Judging by the photos, it has dried up. Although they write that something has turned green there from the roots, there are no close photos, what leaves are not visible, and it doesn’t look like an oak tree.

About oak.
Mamrian, or, in the Russian religious tradition, the Mamrian oak (aka the Oak of Abraham, aka the Palestine oak, aka Russian oak (because it belongs to the Orthodox Russian Mission), also known as the oak grove of Mamre.), is considered the oldest tree under which, according to the Bible, Abraham received God: “ The Lord appeared to him at the oak grove of Mamre, when he was sitting at the entrance to the tent, during the heat of the day"(Genesis 18:1). The Mamvrian oak is marked by the glory of the Epiphany. It is believed that the age of this tree is about five thousand years. Moreover, religious texts report that Mamvrian oak has been growing since the creation of the world. Perhaps this oak is a symbol of the World Tree.

This is if with t.z. physical phenomena. But I think that “physics” is secondary. Yes, and allegories have a place here.
I remembered the legend about Prometheus (by the way, there is an opinion that he is one of the prototypes of Christ).

So what kind of fire did Prometheus bring to people? You can think sublimely and say - internal, spiritual, the light of reason, insights. Quite acceptable. Moreover, he stole it from the Gods.

You can think pragmatically and say that yes, he gave fire, but not the fire itself, but gave the secret of its production. But which one? I don’t think he taught people how to use improvised objects to knock out a spark. And if you remember that divine fire, then most likely it was about some kind of magical act that would “pierce the veil” and slightly nourish the souls from within with light divine Mind, and as proof that the action took place, in the space of the magical ritual the physical fire was concentrated and descended (manifested), which immediately after its manifestation was slightly different, but “cold”...
So... What kind of magical ritual is this? A question of questions. Most likely, the Messenger gave people a Word (spell, sound, “vibration”) that resonated with other conditions. Only by performing the ritual in all its subtleties and within a certain period of the space-time corridor, one could count on success.

Now about “what will happen if the Holy Fire does not descend.”

All IMHO. Since this fire is the Light of the divine mind, given to people for salvation, then its descent will not entail cataclysms and worldwide collapse, but what will happen is that people, deprived of their annual “feeding”, will begin to degrade mentally, and increasingly. And this will already lead to dire consequences, because “ the sleep of reason will give birth to monsters“... wars, strife, greed and other negative aspects... And yes... there will be some more, as was said: “ To everyone who has, more will be given and he will have an abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away "(Matthew 25:29) - this is about the Spirit (Mind). Therefore, there will be a gathering and harvest... of the Spirit.
But this will not affect the bodies... humanity will live the same way it lived, eat, drink and enjoy. What will be the impact of degradation? Yes, if there is a replacement of values, there will be a severe moral decline, disbelief and darkness in souls, etc...

“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 argued: 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: a representative of the Armenian Patriarchate, Samuil Agoyan, stated that the patriarchs themselves light wax candles from an oil lamp.

"MK" decided to conduct an experiment and create fire using a chemical method - 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 whether the Holy Fire itself is a miracle or the result of a chemical reaction - everyone decides for himself. 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 in 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.

There is a classic method that was used by magicians back in the 19th century. A piece of white phosphorus is dissolved in carbon tetrachloride, a volatile, poisonous liquid. A wick is dipped into the solution. After the carbon tetrachloride evaporates, the phosphorus ignites itself and lights the candle. Conveniently, 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 few 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 - under no circumstances 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 we definitely won’t be able 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 chemical nature is used by illusionists in their work.

A special composition is taken from dry boric acid, ethyl alcohol and sulfuric or hydrochloric acid,” one of the magicians said anonymously. - Stir and heat slightly. You can roll a ball of thread and soak it in this composition, and only then set it on fire.

An ester of boric acid is released, which burns with a slightly greenish flame. It doesn't burn or even heat. However, as soon as all the ether burns out, the alcohol begins to burn. And now its flame really burns.

To get fire, we mixed a solution of glycerin and potassium premanganate powder, in other words, potassium permanganate.

A few minutes after mixing, the mixture began to bubble, and then suddenly flared up with a blue flame.

It is not necessary to extinguish the fire with water: it is better to limit the access of oxygen by covering the glass with something, or use a fire extinguisher.

Published 04/15/17 12:01

Holy Fire 2017: when is the live broadcast, the history of the convergence, and much more, read the TopNews material.

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Tens of thousands of Christians around the world are praying these days for the descent of the Holy Fire on the pre-Easter Holy Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

According to Christian tradition, the Holy Fire miraculously appears in the Edicule - the chapel over the Holy Sepulcher. Its descent occurs annually on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

Live broadcast of the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem 2017 will be intkbbee available on the web.

The Holy Fire will be delivered to our country by a delegation of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, which in 2017 included the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

Descent of the Holy Fire 2017

The descent of the Holy Fire in 2017 will take place in the renovated Edicule Chapel, which has been restored for about a year. During the renovation, for the first time in 500 years, scientists removed the marble slab covering Christ's burial bed and studied it.

The Holy Fire symbolizes the miraculous light of the Resurrection of Christ, which the Apostle Peter spoke about. This fire appears in the Edicule every year precisely on the eve of Orthodox Easter, thanks to the prayers of the Orthodox clergy and tens of thousands of pilgrims in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and at its walls.

However, debates continue in society about whether the descent of the Holy Fire is an annual miracle or simply a traditional Easter religious rite of the Jerusalem Church.

At noon, the procession to the Holy Sepulcher begins from the Jerusalem Patriarchate, ending before the entrance to the Edicule. A large lamp is brought into it, in which a fire should be lit, and 33 candles (according to the number of years of the Savior’s earthly life).

The Patriarch of Jerusalem traditionally enters the Edicule wearing only a linen cassock, so that it can be seen that he is not carrying matches or anything else that can be used to make fire. After this, the entrance to the chapel is sealed, and a period of intense anticipation begins for the descent of the Holy Fire.

According to popular legend, if the fire does not go down, it will become a terrible omen for all mankind, and those who are in the temple will die.

The wait for a miracle lasts from several minutes to several hours. During this time, the lights in the temple are turned off, and believers hold unlit Easter candles (large holiday candles) in their hands. People pray, repent of their sins and ask the Lord to grant the Holy Fire. According to eyewitnesses, after some time inexplicable flashes of light appear in the temple, which seem to flow down the walls and columns, and from the hole in the dome of the temple a wide vertical column of light descends onto the Holy Sepulcher.

Soon the blessed fire appears in the Edicule, the patriarch comes out of the cave and passes the fire from candle to candle to the people gathered in the temple. It is noteworthy that at first the Holy Fire does not burn when touched, notes RIA Novosti.

Descent of the Holy Fire VIDEO

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 fire that descended has a unique property - it does not burn 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 an 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, fire is transferred from one bunch of candles to another, and a minute later the whole temple is on fire.

Miracle or trick

This wonderful phenomenon at different times had many critics who tried to expose and prove the artificial origin of fire. The Catholic Church was also among those who disagreed. 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 were made in the middle of the last century by Nikolai Uspensky, a professor at the Leningrad Theological Academy, 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 examined, 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.