The Beginning – April 12, 2018
Goal: To find the truth and prove it
FOR CENTURIES NOW, the ‘miracle of the Holy Fire’ has constituted the ‘miracle of miracles.’ No claim of a ‘miracle’ in any part of the Christian world—and especially the Orthodox one—exerts greater influence on believers, or evokes such emotion and awe, as the Holy Fire.
It is noteworthy that even for many believers who distance themselves from other miracles, or renounce them, the ‘miracle of the Holy Fire’ not only persists in their conscience, but they also protect it from the attacks launched against it from time to time by atheists and skeptics, or the few Christians who deny it.
At best, they view it as a ‘good fairy tale’ that must not be ‘ruined,’ because they profess that it strengthens people’s faith and, above all, identifies with and seals the supreme moment of Orthodoxy: the Resurrection of the Lord.
Indicative of this stance—held by believers, the State, and other institutions of power, such as the Media—is that the ‘miracle of the Holy Fire’ is treated as a phenomenon that must not be investigated at its source. Firstly, because ‘the fairy tale must not be ruined,’ as I mentioned, and secondly, because this specific ‘fairy tale’ sells well, and to many.
In short, we are speaking of a conspiracy of silence regarding the heart of the matter: every year, in the days leading up to Easter, sterile television and online battles are staged around the issue, in which everyone passionately defends their position, often with ludicrous arguments—on both sides.
The inevitable result is the so-called ‘parallel monologues.’ Each person listens only to their own voice, remaining entrenched in their personal narrative. Of faith or disbelief. It makes no difference.
Therefore, the following investigation does not aim to contribute yet another argument to one side or the other based on speculations and ‘logical deductions.’ Such a thing would be pointless.
The only meaningful endeavor is the effort to establish the first irrefutable documentation regarding the way the Holy Fire is lit.
To find the truth and prove it. At the very place where it is revealed.
The mystery of the “unsleeping lamp”
It all began on Thursday, April 12, 2018, a few days after Easter Sunday. That morning, I contacted the Chief Secretariat of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to obtain the phone number of Archbishop Kornilios of Petra.
He was the Hagiotaphite who, in 2001, had spoken to journalist Maria Karchilaki for the program ‘Grey Zones’ on the TV station Mega. Back then, he had stated that the Holy Fire ‘is a natural light which is lit from the unsleeping lamp that is kept in the Sacristy of the Church of the Resurrection.’
This statement constituted the only videotaped testimony of a Hagiotaphite regarding the way the Patriarch’s candles are lit on Holy Saturday. I believed I had to start somewhere, and this assurance of his was the appropriate one
Kornilios is no ordinary figure. He was a candidate for the Patriarchal throne, both in 2001, following the death of Diodoros, and in 2005, following the deposition of Irenaios. Furthermore, he served twice as Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal throne.
However, the most important fact is this: in 2001, the Holy Fire came forth from the hands of Kornilios! It was he who entered the Holy Edicule and emerged with lit candles. Therefore, his statement that ‘the light is lit from the unsleeping lamp’ carries immense weight and historical significance.
However, it has two weak points. First, the statement was made before he ‘brought out’ the Holy Fire. Second, while it may have thrilled deniers of the Holy Fire’s supernatural origin everywhere, and continues to constitute a strong argument in favor of its natural origin, it cannot answer with certainty the critical question posed by the opposing side: ‘And the flame of the unsleeping lamp—given that it enters the Tomb extinguished—how is that lit?’
Indeed, this question leaves open the possibility of a miracle and seems to place rationalists in a difficult position. Kornilios attests that the Patriarch’s candles are lit by natural means. But the lamp situated before him—how is that lit?
This is what I wanted to clear up by speaking with him, since he had not clarified it in 2001.
‘But it is self-evident that it goes in lit,’ the deniers reply. ‘And how do you know that?’ ask the ‘others.’
“In the ‘dialogue’ between believers and non-believers regarding the Holy Fire, non-believers have found themselves, for centuries now, in a difficult position.
And this is because the believer is not obliged to produce logical arguments in favor of the miracle—the countless testimonies of those who ‘saw the miracle’ suffice for them, as does the fact that the miracle lies outside the sphere of any evidentiary process. It is Faith.
Conversely, the denier must prove their own logical claim using logical means, yet they have failed to achieve this to this day. They try to stammer something about a ‘lamp being taken inside lit,’ but that is as far as it goes. They have never been able to prove their claim.
It is true that the question of how the lamp enters the All-Holy Tomb (lit or extinguished) has not been answered with documented evidence to this day.
It will be answered in the lines that follow. Above all, however, it will be answered—by the most authoritative source—how the Holy Fire is lit.
It is an answer that, to date, has not been articulated by anyone, not even as an unproven assertion by skeptics. Perhaps because it is something that never crosses the mind, even of the most unbelieving.
But also [of the minds] of the most faithful: many members of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood certainly know the truth, but most of them only up to a point. For centuries now, they have been unaware of a ‘detail’ that is passed down by word of mouth among a select few.
Patriarchate: “Miracle? But we do not speak of a miracle.”
On that Thursday, the 12th of the month, it seems I had stumbled upon the right person. While asking for Kornilios’s phone number, I was connected to the Elder Chief Secretary of the Patriarchate, the Archbishop of Constantina, Aristarchos.
A prominent figure, deeply respected within the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood. In Jerusalem since 1962. He, too, had been a candidate for the Patriarchal throne, both in 2001 and in 20051. So, on the other end of the line was an… almost-Patriarch. Above all, however, he was the man with the greatest authority in the Patriarchate, second only to Patriarch Theophilos III.
He assisted me with evident willingness, giving me Kornilios’s personal phone number. I knew who I was speaking to. He, too, had participated in that Mega documentary.
In fact, he had debunked one of the myths surrounding the Holy Saturday ceremony—namely, that ‘they search the Patriarch before he enters the All-Holy Tomb’ 2. ‘They do not search the Patriarch; rather, the Patriarch divests himself of his regular vestments and remains in the white garment, the white tunic that symbolizes the Angel,’ he had stated back then, smiling faintly.
I reminded him of this. At the same time, I was thinking of a way to keep the conversation going, steering it—where else?—to the Holy Fire. It seems I asked the right question, for I received an unexpected answer.
(At the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, there is one wrong question that is ‘forbidden’ to ask. The one that hastily seeks to learn the truth—that is, to solve the riddle of riddles regarding the ‘miracle of miracles.’ ‘How is the Holy Fire lit?’ This question does not open mouths; it seals them. And when it does not seal them, the answer lies somewhere between the words ‘mystery’ and ‘miracle’.)”
I asked: “Does the lamp go inside the All-Holy Tomb lit or extinguished?”
The silence on his end was of such duration that I thought the line had gone dead. “Can you hear me?” “The first,” he replied in a low voice.
It was my turn to be silent. The shock was immense!
It is one thing to suspect it, or to be almost certain that a source of fire enters inside, and quite another to hear it from the number two of the Patriarchate.
And yet, this answer, instead of illuminating my investigation, was destined to obscure it, to steer it down the wrong path, as it hit a logical dead end—as the reader will discover in what follows.
This first communication lasted 16 minutes and 52 seconds. Several others followed… until the last one on June 20th, during the first stage of my investigation.
A short while later, on June 23rd, the unexpected happened!
During this first communication, other important things were also discussed. At one point, he told me: ‘The Patriarchate maintains a cautious stance on the issue of the Holy Fire. As you will see if you visit our website, we make no mention of a “miracle of the Holy Fire”…’ I interrupted him abruptly, as I had the Patriarchate’s website in front of me, open to the section about the Holy Fire. ‘Your Eminence, you must be mistaken. At the end of the first paragraph, it says verbatim: “It is a true miracle, which leaves no room for doubt”.’ He reacted strongly: ‘But how is that possible! Where does it say that? You must send it to me!’. I couldn’t understand. The man I was speaking with was, among other things, responsible for the website’s content3. How was it possible for him not to know about the existence of this text? Later, of course, this mystery was largely solved for me, because when I saw his desk, the most useful tool for a website content manager was missing.
I could not do otherwise. That same day, I informed the Patriarchate of Jerusalem via email, sending them the text regarding the Holy Fire that existed on the website… of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
I quote the sent email.
- “In the newspaper ‘Ta Nea’ of July 21, 2005, we read:
‘In the preliminary vote, Archbishop Theophilos of Tabor took the lead; together with Metropolitan Timotheos of Bostra and Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, they currently emerge as the most likely contenders for the patriarchal throne.'” ↩︎ - On the official website of the Patriarchate, the following sentence existed:
‘After the procession, the Patriarch stands before the door of the Holy Edicule, removes his vestments, and remains [wearing] the sticharion, the epitrachelion, and the zone.
The heterodox conduct a search to verify that he does not carry anything on his person which could create insinuations or arouse suspicions.’ ↩︎ - In the ‘Contact’ section, it is stated:
‘Editor and responsible for news coverage and content material: Archbishop of Constantina, Mr. Aristarchos.’ ↩︎