https://holylight.home.blog/2020/05/02/in-the-footsteps-of-jesus-by-sofia-kioroglou/

“The Holy Fire is God’s gift to people …”

THE DOME WAS BURNING – THE HOLY FIRE MIRACLE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qld JloGzYuU&t=16 s

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On the initiative of the Andrew the First-Called Foundation and with the blessing of the Archbishop of Samara and Syzran Sergius, a special charter flight was made from Samara to the Holy Land for the Holy Fire. The delegation to Jerusalem was led by the head of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Samara Region, Lieutenant General Valery Sergeyevich Yakovlev and rector of the Kazan Church p. Neronovka Sergievsky district of Samara region priest Roman Derzhavin. The delegation included clergy of the Samara diocese, archpriests George Kozin, Dimitry Leskin, Oleg Kitov, Father Superior Thomas (Mosolov), Hieromonk Grigory (Druzhinin), as well as a consultant to the public relations department of the apparatus of the Government of the Samara Region Dmitry Dmitrievich Greshnov and head of the public relations center of the Samara Diocesan Administration Georgy Vladimirovich Izyatsky. On Easter night, the Holy Fire was brought to the Pokrovsky Cathedral, the churches of St. George the Victorious, Holy Cross Exaltation, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, the Three Saints and other Samara churches, as well as to the temples of Tolyatti and Syzran. From the Holy Fire, lamps and candles were lit in the church altars, and many believers were able to bring pieces of Heavenly Fire into their homes and apartments. as well as in the temples of Tolyatti and Syzran. From the Holy Fire, lamps and candles were lit in the church altars, and many believers were able to bring pieces of Heavenly Fire into their homes and apartments. as well as in the temples of Tolyatti and Syzran. From the Holy Fire, lamps and candles were lit in the church altars, and many believers were able to bring pieces of Heavenly Fire into their homes and apartments.
In the days of Holy Easter, Priest Roman Derzhavin in the Samara temple of St. George the Victorious presented the Holy Fire to the Governor of the Samara Region Vladimir Vladimirovich Artyakov.

Priest Sergius Guselnikov , the foreman of the Cyril and Methodius Cathedral of the city of Samara, together with a group of Samara pilgrims, was an eyewitness of a great miracle – the descent of the Holy Fire. Father Sergius considers this trip a special mercy of God. For the sixteenth time, the Diocesan service “Pilgrim” (Samara) accompanied the group to the Holy Land during the Easter holiday, but such an amazing trip was for the first time.
Father Sergius spent the whole week in the Holy Land, met Easter in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ and first saw the coming of the Holy Fire. The day after his return, he talked about a trip for the Blagovest newspaper. Father Sergius Guselnikov, one of the few, was destined to stand at the time of the Descent of the Holy Fire near the entrance to Kuvuklia – a small chapel in the middle of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
“On Friday night,” Father Sergius began his story, “our group came to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.” One of the ministers of the Armenian side chapel was a good friend of the leaders of our pilgrimage group. And he privately helped us stay overnight in the temple. Israeli police at this time expels all tourists and pilgrims. But on Saturday morning, not everyone can even get to the Old Town. And the Temple itself will be cordoned off by several cordons, through which it is possible to pass only through special passes. Not even all clergymen are allowed in; only official delegations have entry. Therefore, those who really want to be in the temple during the descent of the Holy Fire somehow hide in the night in the Temple.

In a cave near Calvary

Our pilgrimage group took refuge at night in a cave near Calvary. We spent all night in the cave temple and felt like ancient Christians. From the knock of the Israeli police, the real fear ran through my veins. We observed strict silence, read prayers to ourselves. It was impossible to speak or cough. Complete silence in which all twenty-nine adults and the six-year-old girl Masha prayed to God. And we were not found and not expelled from the Temple.
The place where all this happened is located directly beneath Golgotha, so it is no coincidence that the whole stone here is red. The blood of the crucified Christ flowed down this earth, and therefore here the stone forever became the color of blood. And according to legend, the crucifixion of Christ was where the first man Adam was buried. It was in such a sacred place that our pilgrimage group appeared.
Who was tired, sat down on a chair. Each pilgrim had a small folding chair with him. Girl Masha fell asleep right next to the cave door bars. Police knocked on the door more than once during the night, but the girl slept peacefully. The prayer of pilgrims in such conditions can be called a certain spiritual feat.

The soul sings: «Christ is Risen!»

Until four in the morning we were in a cave near Calvary. Then they climbed already into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, into the Orthodox Greek chapel, and took places in front. By half past nine in the morning the temple was filled with people, various delegations began to come in, including from Russia. Our pilgrimage group was already not far from the entrance to Kuvuklia, and Greeks prayed next to us. The opportunity to stand here and be as close as possible to the Miracle was defended by prayer. The female pilgrims read “May God rise again” and sang prayers.
One of the most powerful shows is the appearance of the Orthodox Arabs. They pass through the center in a very narrow corridor of metal fences, pushing people against them restrained by Israeli police. Arabs express their feelings very emotionally. They rejoice like children — they beat drums, tambourines, sit on each other’s shoulders, dance and at the same time carry banners. Their emotions are transmitted to everyone in the temple, spiritual tension builds up, and in anticipation of a miracle, the air just glows. The Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, Theophilus III, enters Kuvukliya. At this moment, flashes of light occur in the temple. This year they were very strong and vibrant, especially over Kuvukliya. We stood on the left side, and right in front of us the ancient icon of the Mother of God shone with a kind of pink radiance. Someone from our group saw flashes of greenish color, someone saw white. They did not last long, about ten minutes. Then the Fire came down, and immediately throughout the temple, people passed it from candle to candle. Eight thousand people in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher lit candles, everything around was lit up by the flame of the Sacred Fire. Each person had a bunch or two burning candles. The whole temple is illuminated by fire, and at this moment you feel: here it is – Easter!
According to my feelings, this year the Holy Fire was warm and did not burn for only a few minutes. Several times I spent a bunch of lighted candles on my beard, and it did not flare up, my hands did not feel the heat of fire. I did this specifically in order to tell my children about this miracle – to strengthen them in the faith. The grace of God never brings harm to man. She only gives joy and comfort. The fire came down, and at that moment people felt a feeling that it is impossible to speak with human language. An exclamation simply breaks out of the soul: “Christ is Risen!” A miracle happens in front of everyone, and people express their emotions differently. Someone hugs and congratulates each other, someone cries with happiness. But everyone feels the triumph of the Orthodox faith. He feels Easter and the fact that the Lord is with us, is near.

Light ray

People had already put out the candles and gradually began to disperse. Suddenly, at that moment, one of the pilgrims, who still had a bunch of candles lit, had a light in their hand. A wide sunbeam passed through the window through the domeand lit his hand with burning candles. The impression was such that in the ray of the sun shines a hand with candles. This went on long enough. Then the beam began to move and disappeared. Many people already began to light a fire from these candles, rejoice, and again a sign occurred – the beam came down a second time. And already stood a long time, about twenty minutes. Such a phenomenon, they say, is very rare. But this year, the mercy of the Lord was manifested in this way. The Lord shows with this ray that the Holy Fire is a gift from God to people. And we sinners have the opportunity to take this gift from God into our own hands. This ray highlighted the most important thing – a man from the Lord received the Sacred Fire. Watch it all and remember it! The descent of the Holy Fire is an obvious miracle, it can only be denied by evil will. The sign of the ray underlines this again and indicates that here it is,
When we were already leaving the temple, the Orthodox Greek monk shouted: «Christ is Risen!» And thousands of people answered: “Truly Risen!” How many voices, different languages, but all this polyphony unites the triumph of the Orthodox spirit.

Obedience in Kuwuklia

By the grace of the Lord, our pilgrimage group spent the Easter night in the church of the Russian monastery of Mary Magdalene. Many communed there, defended the service, we can say that for us it was the second Easter. The third night, the whole group, we again had the opportunity to be at the Holy Sepulcher and even clean up in Kuvukliya itself. In such a place we had the opportunity to carry obedience at night. They washed, scrubbed, cleaned. At this time, one unusual event happened. The clergyman changed the oil in the lamp, just poured the old one, when suddenly all the metal chains of the lamp were broken, and it fell. The lamp is large and massive. It can be seen that from time to time the chains frayed and became unusable, so the lamp fell. If this happened in the afternoon, when there were a lot of people, then it would certainly hurt a person. But the Lord averted this temptation, and the lamp fell when no one was there. Personally, I understood the meaning of what happened. We immediately removed all the fragments, wiped off the oil and put everything in order. To obey in such a shrine is a great joy; only a believing person can feel and appreciate it. We felt the unusualness of these minutes: joy and bewilderment, why did we have the privilege to clean up around Kuvuklia and in Kuvuklia itself, in the most holy place on earth! There was a feeling of great gratitude to God for the mercy shown to us. why exactly did we have the honor to clean up around Kuvukliya and in Kuvukliya itself – in the most holy place on earth after the Holy Fire converged! There was a feeling of great gratitude to God for the mercy shown to us. why exactly did we have the honor to clean up around Kuvukliya and in Kuvukliya itself – in the most holy place on earth after the Holy Fire converged! There was a feeling of great gratitude to God for the mercy shown to us.
The Orthodox person feels himself in the Holy Land as in the kingdom of God’s grace. So amazingly all natural landscapes are collected there: mountains replace the desert, then oases – as if all nature was gathered in one place. You feel the primordialness of the world on the shore of the Dead Sea, and on the Mount of Beatitudes such vegetation and peace poured in everything that you understand: the Lord created everything for the joy of people and for the glorification of the Creator. Everything has been given to man by God, only rejoice and love. Christ is Risen!

Pictured: Samara pilgrim Victoria washing herself with the Holy Fire; Samara delegation in the cabin. The Holy Fire delivered to Samara; The Holy Fire spreads throughout the temple; Samara pilgrims with their father Sergius Guselnikov at the obedience to the cleaning of Kuvuklia in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.Olga KruglovaPhoto by Natalia Gorodnova and Arthur Malivanchuk05/08/2008