The miracle of the Holy Fire at Sepulshre church, Jerusalem, 1547
Another proof of the authenticity of the Orthodox faith
At the Great Gates themselves, on the left side, stands a column made out of marble with a fissure from which the grace, that is, the Holy Fire, came forth
Let me tell you about this: At the Great Gates themselves, on the left
side, stands a column made out of marble with a fissure from which the
grace, that is, the Holy Fire, came forth. This column is honored by
Orthodox as well as non-Orthodox, and even the Armenians. I would like to
write a little about this incident, how the Orthodox Eastern Christians
unanimously speak of it and the Turks themselves confirm it. In the wall
there is an inscribed marble slab, and they say that this very incident is
written on it; but we could not read it because it is written in Syrian
letters, in the Arab tongue; and I only heard about it, but did not read
it. But the incident happened something like this: At one time when the
Greeks were completely oppressed by the Turkish yoke, some rich Armenians
took it into their heads to force the Greeks out of the Holy Sepulchre and
out of the Church of the Resurrection. They gathered a large sum of money
and bribed the Ottoman Porte and all the Jerusalem authorities, assuring
the unbelievers that the Holy Fire comes forth not simply for the sake of
the Greeks, but for all Christians, and "if we Armenians are there,
we also will receive it!" And the Turks, who are greedy for money,
accepted the bribe and therefore did as the Armenians wished, and they
affirmed that only the Armenians would be allowed to receive the Holy
Fire. The Armenians rejoiced greatly and wrote to all their lands and to
their faithful, that more of them should go on a pilgrimage. And a great
multitude of them did come. Holy Saturday approached: the Armenians all
gathered in the church, and the Turkish army drove the poor Greeks out.
Oh, what unspeakable grief and sorrow filled the Greeks! There was only
one comfort for them -- the Grave of the Saviour, and they were being kept
away from it, and the Holy Gates were locked to them! The Armenians were
inside the church and the Orthodox were on the streets. The Armenians were
rejoicing and the Greeks were weeping. The Armenians were celebrating and
the Greeks were bitterly lamenting!
The Orthodox stood opposite the Holy Gates on the court and around them
stood the Turkish army, watching so that there would not be a fight. The
Patriarch himself with all the rest stood there with candles, hoping that
they would at least receive the Fire from the Armenians through the
window. But the Lord wished to dispose things in a different way, and to
manifest His true Faith with a fiery finger and comfort His true servants,
the humble Greeks. The time had already come when the Holy Fire issues
forth, but nothing happened. The Armenians were frightened and began to
weep, and ask God that He send them the Fire; but the Lord did not hear
them.
Already a half hour had passed and more, and still no Holy Fire. The day
was clear and beautiful; the Patriarch sat to the right side. All of a
sudden there was a clap of thunder, and on the left side the middle marble
column cracked and out of the fissure a flame of fire came forth. The
Patriarch arose and lit his candles and all the Orthodox Christians lit
theirs from his. Then all rejoiced, and the Orthodox Arabs from Jordan
began to skip and cry out, "Thou art our one God, Jesus Christ; one
is our True Faith, that of the Orthodox Christians!" And they began
to run about all of Jerusalem and raise a din, and to shout all over the
city. And to this day they still do this in memory of the incident and
they jump and shout, running around the Holy Sepulchre, and they praise
the one true God, Jesus Christ, and bless the Orthodox Faith. Beholding
this wonder, the Turkish army, which was standing around on guard, was
greatly amazed and terrified. From amongst them one named Omir, who was
standing at the St. Abraham's Monastery on guard, immediately believed in
Christ and shouted, "One is the true God, Jesus Christ; one is the
true faith, that of the Orthodox Christians!" And he jumped down to
the Christians from a height of more than 35 feet. His feet landed on the
solid marble as if though on soft wax.
And to this day one can see his footprints imprinted as though in wax,
although the non-Orthodox tried to erase them. I saw them with my own eyes
and felt them with my own hands. And the column with the fissure still
bears the scorch marks. As for Omir the soldier, having jumped down, he
took his weapon and thrust it into the stone as though into soft wax, and
began to glorify Christ unceasingly. For this, the Turks beheaded him and
burned his body; the Greeks gathered up his bones, put them into a case
and took them to the Convent of the Great Panagia, where they gush forth
fragrance until this day. The Armenians in the Holy Sepulchre received
nothing and were left only with their shame. The Pasha of Jerusalem and
other Turkish authorities were greatly displeased with them and wanted to
slaughter them all, but they feared the Sultan. They only punished them
heavily: they say that they made each one to eat dung as he left the
church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Written by hieromonc Parthenius
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