The Sacred Fire announces a new Easter in Jerusalem
2022-04-27 10:09:38
"Christ is risen", "He is truly risen!". At the first sparks of the Sacred Fire, the cries of the Orthodox faithful inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre announce the Resurrection of the Lord. Which here - as had happened for Catholics the previous week - is announced on Saturday.
Also this year, the faithful who follow the Julian calendar celebrated the Holy Triduum and Easter one week later than the Catholics. On Holy Thursday they participated in the rite of the washing of the feet in the square of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. On Good Friday, after retracing the Via Dolorosa for the Via Crucis, they gathered to participate in the evocative ceremony of Christ's funeral. A cloth covered with red petals, symbolizing the dead Christ on the cross, was carried in procession from Calvary, passing by the stone of the anointing, to the Tomb. All in prayer until the door of the Sepulchre was closed.
From dawn on Saturday, a multitude of faithful poured toward the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. Every year it is the most awaited moment, that of the ceremony of the Sacred Fire, which kicks off the Easter celebrations. The flame, according to Orthodox tradition, generates itself in a miraculous way, by divine will, right on the stone of the tomb that kept the body of Jesus.
The Patriarchs of the Orthodox Churches make three laps around the Wayside Shrine of the Anastasis. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch enters with the Armenian Patriarch, the only witness, who remains in the antechamber. The lights of the Basilica are turned off, and Theophilus III invokes the sign of the Resurrection from Heaven.
A few minutes pass. The Sacred Fire is lit once again and explodes with joy. The Patriarch comes out with bundles of lighted candles. The light spreads quickly in the Basilica, reaches the streets and the houses of Jerusalem, and even farther, all the Orthodox Churches, which are waiting for its arrival in order to celebrate the Easter Vigil.
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