Orthodox Easter: the miracle of light

The Eastern Orthodox Christian Easter falls on a different date than the Western Christian world. The difference in date is the difference between the calendars each church follows. The Eastern Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar while the Western church follows the Gregorian calendar and the difference in dates could vary from 1 to 4 weeks.

This year the Orthodox Easter Sunday falls on the 2^nd of May and traditionally on the day before Easter, the Saturday, a miraculous fire appear at the tomb of Jesus, the Holy Sepulchre church at Jerusalem which is believed and revered by Christians as the location of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

The miracle of the fire has been going on for over 1600 years. It is not a destructive fire as it does not burn. The ray of the sun light that rocket in through a hole on the church dome is believed to light a fire deep inside the crypt on the slab where Jesus was laid. The Orthodox patriarch lights a candle from the fire and the same fire is shared with all the worshippers and sent ceremoniously to different churches across the world. The Holy Light is transported by aircraft to all countries where Orthodoxy is the predominant faith — namely Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine.

Other denominations of Christians and scientists have disputed the credibility of the fire pointing out the candle that is lit is coated with Naphtha or white phosphorus which get lighted automatically when the sun light warms it. Whatever be the reasons the ‘Miracle of the Fire’ is an established tradition of the Orthodox Church where Easter is the biggest festival of the year symbolizing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Last year due to Pandemic restrictions imposed all over the world the ceremony was conducted with almost no one at Holy Sepulchre. This year the effort of systematic vaccination of the population has improved the lock down situation and worshippers who are already tested and pre-quarantined visited the shrine in large numbers. The death of 45 worshippers in a Jewish Orthodox festival the day before the Miracle of the Fire in the old city of Jerusalem where the Holy Sepulchre church is had added a melancholic air the to the normally festive occasion.

Reference:

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/crowds-gather-holy-fire-ceremony-jerusalems-holy-sepulchre-2021-05-01/

https://greekreporter.com/2021/05/01/holy-light-arrives-from-jerusalem-to-athens-to-mark-easter/