Day 208 – Miracle of the Holy Fire

Today is Easter in the Christian Orthodox tradition. This is a large body of churches loosely organized together in a common theology, mostly found in eastern and southern Europe, parts of Russia, and Greece. This”Eastern Orthodox Church,” which today has about 230 million followers, claims true Catholicism, which in effect means the complete, whole, and true Christian faith. Easter has been celebrated on two different dates by the two major factions of Christianity since the great schism between Rome and Constantinople in the 11th century. The Orthodox Church sets the date for Easter, or what is called Pascha based on different criteria. It is the first Sunday after the spring equinox and Jewish Passover. It is possible that the traditional Easter Sunday and the Orthodox Easter can fall on the same day. The last time that occurred was in 2017.

I bring this up because I am always fascinated with how the human family persists and survives despite all of our many differences. Last night, I watched a movie that displayed some horrific scenes from World War I, in which several major countries, all predominately Christian by faith, were locked into an intense struggle in France. The German, French, and British armies collided at the Battle of Sommes. This battle lasted at least six months and was probably the worst human conflict in history. There were 3 Million soldiers, and at least 1/3 of that number died or were seriously wounded. As I watched that show, I was wondering how we humans can allow ourselves to get to this point. We are capable of so much, yet we find ourselves locked into the most ugly and desperate situations.

This has not changed. As I write this article, active human conflicts are happening everywhere on our planet. The war in Ukraine still rages on, and now our attention is focused on the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. This is not the only conflict and struggle going on in the world. We tend not to see all the details from throughout the globe. There is escalating tension in North Korea, The South China Sea, and a civil war happening in Myanmar. The troubles in Afghanistan did not just disappear when the United States pulled all military support, and conflict rages all throughout that region. Central Africa is under constant threat of violent extremism, civil war, and territorial disputes. The same applied to areas in Central America.

So last night, I was discouraged by our continued display of conflict amongst our fellow human family members. So I woke up this morning looking for something that could give me hope for our future, and that is when I landed on the Miracle of the Holy Fire. Easter begins in the Eastern Orthodox Church when the Patriarch from Constantinople visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Holy Saturday. Inside the Church is another Church, called the Church of the Resurrection, which is supposedly built on the very tomb in which Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. This tradition has been happening for thousands of years, in which the local authorities (Israeli Police in this instance) visit the tomb, check the tomb for any fire-making substances, and then seal the door with wax. Then, at the right time, the Patriarch enters the tomb with unlit candles (33 of them to be exact) and waits for the Miracle of the Holy Fire.

Like clockwork, a holy flame appears at the precise moment of the resurrection, and the Patriarch lights the candles. He then exits, and thousands of pilgrims erupt into cheers and extend for their candles and lamps to be lit by this same fire. I have seen people board airplanes with special lanterns that keep this fire burning so they can make their way back to their Church somewhere else in the world and extend this miraculous fire. The skeptic will say that the Holy Fire is not a miracle at all but rather a lighter in the pocket of one of the support personnel. Critics will claim that this is all unnecessary pomp and ceremony and really does not signify any manifestation of the divine. I look at this completely different.

Miracle or no miracle, the fact that humans can still gather together at a holy site like this and worship in harmony if only for one day, is a miracle by itself. Especially considering all the conflict surrounding Jerusalem right now, people still have the ability to come together and participate in this miracle. Dignitaries from all over the world come to participate, and throngs of pilgrims all celebrate and worship together. So yes, once again, the Holy Flame was lit, and the lights of candles and lamps were carried off to homes, churches, and other locations. For just a brief moment, the fighting stopped, and people remembered who we were and who we could become. So I felt a little better watching this live on YouTube. Everyone gathered together, holding out their candles and lamps and cheering at this shared hope that this miracle of forgiveness and love could spread to the entire planet.