Why I Began Investigating the Holy Fire

“It is lit in the same way as in all churches”

It was a long-standing personal need that culminated shortly after Easter 2018. My father was a priest (he passed away in 2021). He was the first person I turned to, when I was young, to answer my question about how the Holy Fire is lit in Jerusalem.
“From the same source that I—and every other priest—use on Holy Saturday evening”, he replied.
He did not need to explain. I had seen him light it many times from the oil lamp behind the Altar, since, as a child, not a single year went by that I was not by his side in the sanctuary. In fact, it struck me that before lighting his candle from the oil lamp, he would always draw the sanctuary curtain so the congregation would not see. In 1994, I videotaped the scene.

Despite the relative secrecy, no believer thought that the Holy Fire of my father, a simple priest—and of every priest—was the result of a miracle. They regarded it as sacred and sanctified. On leaving the church, they would use the flame to mark a cross on their doorways and light their vigil lamps. But they did not regard its lighting as miraculous. Of course, the religious significance of any other church is one thing, and that of the Tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Resurrection is quite another. I could understand that. However, what I could not dispute were my father’s words: “From the same source that I use…”

I carried this conviction with me for years: that while the Holy Fire coming from Jerusalem is indeed surrounded by a mystical aura, unique and special, the way it is lit is the same as in any other church.
However, in all discussions on this subject, I felt almost alone. Very few believers could accept that the Holy Fire in Jerusalem has been lit, for centuries now, by natural means. The overwhelming majority believe it is the result of a supernatural will. Millions of people all over the world do not harbor the slightest doubt that it is a miracle.
So, on the one hand, my own certainty—even though I lacked proof—and on the other, the certainty of so many people that it is a miracle compelled me to seek the truth in a way that, I believe, has never been done before.