A Muslim researcher and a Christian deacon investigate the truth of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Resurrection
By Imad Thomas
Why is the Saturday of Joy called the Saturday of Light? Does the light really come forth? Why does the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem enter the tomb alone? Is there some trick to it? Does science have anything to say on the matter? What does the Holy Sepulchre consist of, what is the meaning of light in Christianity, why is the tomb searched and sealed, and what place does the Holy Fire have in Islamic history?
Dr Gamal Mohammed Abu Zeid and Subdeacon Edward Boshra Hanna try to answer all these questions in their book “The Truth of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Resurrection.” The two authors state that they wrote this work to record the phenomenon over the centuries from every angle, both Christian and historical, hoping it will be a starting point for others to continue the research and enrich Arabic and foreign libraries.
On the Holy Fire, the two researchers cite the Orthodox tradition, which says: “It is a miracle witnessed at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem every year, specifically on the ‘Saturday of Joy (Light)’ before Eastern Orthodox Easter, at the same time and place, as the light still ‘comes forth’ or ‘overflows,’ for those who firmly believe in it, from the tomb in the Church of the Resurrection, where the Lord Christ was buried and rose, in a phenomenon renewed since the first century AD.”
The book answers the question: why does the light only come forth at Eastern Orthodox Easter? “The issue is not that it comes forth exclusively before Eastern Orthodox Easter, because the rule for celebrating Easter is common to all Christians. It was set by the Fathers of the universal Church at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325, when the Church was one. They arranged its calculation to fit a historical and a liturgical reality: it is based first on the full moon of the lunar month (according to Exodus 12), when the Jewish Passover of the Law falls, which was a figure of the true Passover, Jesus Christ… But what happened is that Pope Gregory changed the calendar in 1582 without taking into account the historical event and the biblical law regarding Christ’s crucifixion, so that under the new Gregorian calculation Resurrection Day sometimes falls before the Passover of the Law.”
According to Christian faith, on Light Saturday (Saturday of Joy) the light appears in the tomb of the Lord Christ in the Church of the Resurrection, comes out and lights the candles, which are distributed to all the representatives of the Orthodox churches present.
Why is the Saturday of Joy called Light Saturday?
It is called Light Saturday because on that day each year the light comes out of the Holy Sepulchre in a miraculous way, and so Eastern Orthodox Christians named it Light Saturday because of its connection with the appearance of the Holy Fire on that Saturday. Anyone present in the Church of the Resurrection on that day can light their candle from this Holy Fire.
The book records some historical testimonies about the Church of the Resurrection, including what al-Tabari reports in his “History”: “In the Islamic era, after Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab received the keys of Jerusalem from the Greek Patriarch Sophronius, Caliph Umar addressed the people of Jerusalem, saying: ‘People of Aelia, you have the same rights and duties as we do.’ Then the patriarch invited him to visit the Church of the Resurrection; he accepted, and the time of prayer came while he was there. He turned to the patriarch and asked, ‘Where shall I pray?’ He replied, ‘Pray where you are.’ Umar said, ‘It is not fitting for Umar to pray in the Church of the Resurrection, for the Muslims would come after me and say, here Umar prayed, and build a mosque over it.’ He moved a stone’s throw away from it, spread his cloak and prayed, and the Muslims who came after him built a mosque on that spot called the Mosque of Umar. Umar gave the people of Jerusalem a written covenant (the Covenant of Umar) in the year 15 AH.” The Arab conquest of 638 did no harm to the Holy Sepulchre, and Christians enjoyed religious freedom, interrupted by some acts of violence.
In 1009 the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of the Church of the Resurrection, and it was largely destroyed. In 1048 the Byzantine emperor obtained permission to rebuild it.
The Church of the Resurrection and the appearance of the light – the key of the church
The two researchers report that after the capture of Jerusalem on 2 October 1187 under Saladin, although some of his men advised him to demolish the Church of the Resurrection so as to leave Western Christians no pretext for invading Jerusalem, the Ayyubid leader dealt with the bitter sectarian disputes among Christians as part of his plan to preserve the church, entrusting its keys to two Muslim families, the Joudeh and Nusseibeh families: the first keeps the keys, while the second opens and closes the church.
In 1542 the entry of the various denominations, one after another, on Light Saturday was organized to settle the disputes between them, and to this day the Joudeh and Nusseibeh families carry out this arrangement, which was approved by the Ottoman religious court in Jerusalem in the presence of Muslim judges and representatives of the Christian denominations.
For more than thirty years, the Palestinian Muslim Wajih Yacoub Nusseibeh has opened and closed the door of the Church of the Resurrection according to a fixed ceremony that begins with his receiving the key from the keeper of the key of the Church of the Resurrection, Abdel Qader Joudeh, and walking amid a procession of clergy representing the Christian denominations, who enter the church in a set order and leave it in the same order.
The structure of the Holy Sepulchre
The Holy Sepulchre consists of two rooms: the Chapel of the Angel, with the stone on which the angel sat and spoke to the myrrh-bearing women early on Sunday morning, and the inner room, with the glorious tomb, the “empty tomb,” on the right as one enters. There is also a small Coptic chapel of wrought iron behind the tomb, with its altar directly against the tomb.
The appearance of the light in the Holy Sepulchre
The authors consider this a phenomenon that still recurs at the time of writing, in 2011, and, according to historical testimonies, since the first century AD. Every Light Saturday (Saturday of Joy), each year at noon according to the Orthodox Easter calendar, the miracle of the light appearing from the Holy Sepulchre in the holy Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem is repeated.
How does this event, constant over time, take place today?
Searching the tomb
On the evening of Great Friday, preparations for the great event take place: the Holy Sepulchre is carefully searched to make sure there is no substance or tool that could produce fire.
Sealing the tomb
Then the responsible authorities seal the Holy Sepulchre with wax and honey, and each of the parties sharing responsibility for the Holy Sepulchre stamps its own seal on the wax-and-honey mixture.
The start of the celebration
The celebration of the coming forth of the Holy Fire begins at noon and includes:
1. the procession;
2. the entry of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch into the Holy Sepulchre;
3. the prayers the Patriarch offers asking for the Holy Fire. Traditionally, at noon, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch enters in procession with senior clergy, priests and deacons, along with the Armenian Catholicos, while the bells toll in mourning. Before the Patriarch enters, the lamp-keeper of the Church of the Resurrection brings the oil lamp that stays lit every day of the year except this one, so that it may be lit from the Holy Fire.
The Patriarch enters the Church of the Resurrection through the inner entrance of the Church of Saint James the Apostle and sits on the patriarchal throne.
Then the representatives of the Armenians, Copts and others come one after another and kiss the Patriarch’s right hand, so that, according to tradition, they may receive the Holy Fire from his hand. Immediately after this the procession begins, going around the Holy Sepulchre three times.
Then the Patriarch stands before the Holy Sepulchre, where the officials are standing.
Removing the seal
After the procession, the seal is removed from the Holy Sepulchre.
The Patriarch removes his vestments
The Patriarch takes off his episcopal vestments except for his white tunic.
The governor of Jerusalem and the police chief come forward and search him in front of everyone to make sure he is carrying nothing with which to light a fire inside the Holy Sepulchre.
Turning off the lights
All the lights in the Church of the Resurrection are then put out. The Patriarch enters the Holy Sepulchre carrying two bundles of thirty-three unlit candles.
The Patriarch’s prayer inside the tomb
The Patriarch kneels and prays, reciting the special petitions asking the Lord Christ, to whom be glory, to send his holy light as a grace of sanctification for the faithful.
The appearance of the light
Suddenly, in the complete stillness, while the Patriarch is praying, a hissing sound is heard, and almost immediately blue and white flashes of holy light burst out from everywhere and, according to witnesses, miraculously light all the extinguished oil lamps.
In the Holy Sepulchre itself, the candles the Patriarch is holding as he prays light up by themselves.
The cheers of the people
At those moments the cheers of the faithful rise, and tears of joy and faith burst from people’s eyes and hearts. In the first minutes, after the Patriarch comes out of the Holy Sepulchre and passes the Holy Fire to the people, each of whom stands holding a bundle of candles to light from it, the Holy Fire, according to the faithful’s testimony, does not burn for a few minutes: anyone can touch the light and flame of the thirty-three candles and not be burned.
The light turns into fire
Meanwhile, the people present pass their hands through the light and rub it on their faces as if washing. Many speak of indescribable feelings that come over them as they do this, a deep, joyful peace beyond understanding. Then, after a while, the flame of light turns into an ordinary flame of fire.
(Shared by Father Boutros El Zein)
Note: the Holy Fire is a tradition venerated above all in the Orthodox Churches; the Catholic Church has made no official pronouncement on its miraculous character, which remains debated. The earliest known written testimonies date from around the fourth century, and a clear description of the phenomenon dates from the ninth century (the monk Bernard, around 870), not the first century. In addition, the church did not remain intact in 1009: it was largely destroyed on al-Hakim’s orders and later rebuilt.
