The Holy Fire is, according to the conviction of Orthodox Christians, a miracle occurring annually on the Holy Saturday afternoon in the Jerusalem church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Sacred Fire is said to have no natural origin, and it can not be blown in its first minutes.
After the Jerusalem Patriarch has been searched for matches, fire stones, or other means of ignition, he enters the Holy Sepulcher.
The fire arises only at the Orthodox Easter (according to other indications it sometimes also descends at other times) and only in the presence of the Jerusalem Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church (or of a deputy). The ceremony includes the hierarchies of the various Christian confessions and some tens of thousands of Christians.
According to popular belief, the end of the world does not come in the year when the Holy Fire does not descend.
Since 1993 the Holy Fire has been brought by plane to Russia on Holy Saturday. There is also an annual special flight to Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and another to Armenia, where the Holy Fire at the airport is hosted with the honor of a head of state, and from there to the Greek metropolises and the Armenian Catholicos and the Romanian metropolises .
: Easter Night # The Sacred Fire in the Grave Church Edit source text Weblink Edit source text
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