Holy Fire
by Shimi Cohen
Lightroom
"I am the light of the world, which I have come to by the believer, who shall not dwell in the dark." Jesus, the Gospel of John, chapter 12 verse 46
Light and darkness years are whole; The meaning of one is the existence of the other as a means of defining it.
At the Christian ceremony marking the resurrection of Jesus, the holy fire descends from heaven, rising from its empty grave and igniting a series of candles from which it will be distributed, as part of the celebration of the resurrection.
Thus, the description of light and darkness returned in religious ritualism and together and alone. A golden hypnotic glow is thrown on stone walls like light returning to the Obsidian face of a crowd the people in white
In the Photos: Ethiopian Community Ceremony, Jerusalem, April 2018
The Sacred Fire Ceremony takes place every year, on the Saturday before Easter at the Tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This ceremony is considered to be most important in the ceremonies of Eastern churches, and the eyes of members of these churches throughout the world are married to Jerusalem in those moments.
The ceremony is conducted in accordance with the customary status quo rules in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. These rules were set in the Firman of 1852, and are enshrined in the Berlin Treaty of 1878.
The ceremony is led by the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch, who represents the Orthodox Church. The main ceremony is an Armenian bishop's partner; Copts and Assyrians have attendance rights, as well as participate in the encirclement of the Edicole after the ceremony is over.
Each of these testimonies has rights to attend church attendance at the time of the ceremony, while the Catholic Church does not share in the ceremony.
According to tradition, at 9:00 AM, the Armenians open the church doors, and thousands of parishioners and pilgrims pour into the church and settle in all its branches according to the status quo.
The entry rules are also dictated by the status quo rules. At 11am, the tomb guards and key owners leave the tomb Edicole, having carefully checked that there is no fire pit or fire-burning tool.
Under the supervision of the heads of government and other community representatives, the tomb was waxed.
At 12:30 a parade leaves with flags and flies of the Patriarch and surrounds the Edicole three times. The patriarch came in after removing the fancy ceremonial clothes, he was left in plain white attire when not carrying matches or lighters.
The patriarch enters the chapel, followed by an Armenian bishop, and the door closes behind them. After a long prayer that the Patriarch says, a fire is lit in the chapel.
Evidence of past patriarchs includes some descriptions of how the fire goes down, rises from the grave, and ignites the four 33-candle-lit chapters (about the age of Jesus at the time of crucifixion).
The Greek Patriarch and the Armenian Bishop send the fire to the Armenians and Orthodox believers outside through the circular openings on the sides of the Edicole. After the patriarch knocks on the closed door from the inside, the tomb doors open, and the Assyrian and Coptic representatives come in to take the fire for their congregation.
They wait while the two senior members of the church come out of the Edicole and pass the fire on to the ardent believers who stand throughout the church and read in different languages: "Christ is risen!" (In Greek "Christ's Anastasia"!)
The fire is passed on to the faithful, and runners rush with the fire to the various altars in the churches in the city.
The fire is transported in a procession to major cities such as Bethlehem and Nazareth, where the local community heads receive it by a majority of: The various denominations, including Catholics and Muslims, attend the celebration and even take the fire home.
(Translation from Hebrew by Shimi Cohen)