The key focus of the course for this day was to attend the Holy Fire ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre/Resurrection. Up to this point I had not even entered the Church - only getting as far as the Parvis (courtyard) outside it. In recent years getting into the Holy Fire ceremony has been very difficult, and some of the courses have not been able to attend the ceremony. This year we obtained passes to the ceremony through the generosity of George Hinthlian, so we offically had Armenian tickets. Armenian for a day! This did not automatically mean that we would be allowed into the Church for the ceremony though, as the Police could simply decide that enough people were in the Church and block off access to the rest. So as we left the College we were hoping that all would go well and that we would be able to attend the ceremony.
Only one gate into the old city was open, as a crowd control measure. We went to Zion gate just after 9am, and were asked for our passes to the ceremony, which we were able to produce. We were ushered straight through the Police line and through a door into a courtyard in the Armenian quarter. Around half past ten we lined up in procession outside the Armenian convent, ready to walk to the Church. Even here there was some pushing, as those who were at the front of the procession close to the clergy were more likely to get into the Church.
We set off around 11am and got to the Church about 10 minutes later. We were the first church group to get to the Church, and so a ceremonial unlocking of the doors took place. An interesting historical detail is that the keys are kept by a Muslim family, whose right to hold them has been passed down from ancient times when the rulers of Jerusalem were Muslim. The key hole is half-way up the door!
There was a real crush to get into the doors of the Church, and then we had the job of finding a place to stand. Each of the historic churches that has rights to be present in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has a designated area. I did not look very Armenian, and it took some persuasion and my Armenian pass to get me into an Armenian area. In the end I had a very good position right near the processional corridor through the crowds. Two of the other course members were able to join me there.
We then had a 3-hour wait for the ceremony, during which we watched processions of the other churches - Coptic, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic (known here as Latins) etc. We also watched the contention for space with some people (particularly from the neighbouring Coptic area) wanting to stand in the Armenians' space. As well as Israeli Police, there were some mild-mannered young Armenian men in cassocks acting as marshals.
The general level of noise was high. To add to that, shortly before the Holy Fire was due to appear, some Greek Orthodox men were hoisted up on others' shoulders and demonstrated in a highly excited fashion - a bit like a demonstration at a football match. There were shouts and clapping, drums and turbulence.
And what about the Holy Fire ceremony? Well, in a way, this is all part of it. But what I was unable to see from my vantage point is that shortly before 2pm the Greek Orthodox Patriarch enters into the edicule, the structure that encloses the tomb of Jesus, and prays. He is followed by an Armenian and then soon after that the Holy Fire comes out from the tomb. Greek and Russian Orthodox and many others are convinced that this is a miracle and that the fire is lit supernaturally. This is the tradition from ancient times. Others think that the fire is kindled in some natural way. But the event of the Holy Fire is waited with great expectation. And when the fire comes out from the tomb there is a huge shout and upswelling of faith.
Some families have historically been given the privilege of receiving the fire first and racing it around the church to other points, where they light the candles of others and the Holy Fire spreads. (It takes about 5-8 minutes to light all the candles in the church. I happened to be in the area from which the Holy Fire emanates and received it from candle to candle almost immediately. The candles are bunched together, so there are big flames, and the fire risk to people is just another part of the wildness of the event.
As soon as the candles are lit the ceremony is at an end, and people are now asked to extinguish the candles very quickly. Some light lamps with them and take the fire home. The Eastern churches take the fire to other celebrations in Athens, Cairo, the Palestinian territories and elsewhere, in time for them to be used in Easter Eve services. So in a way that makes sense of having the service as early as 2pm. On the other hand, it felt slightly strange celebrating the resurrection so early on Easter eve.
It is hard to say in a few words what I thought of the ceremony. It was certainly an amazing experience, being in such a mass of humanity awaiting the Holy Fire as a symbol of Christ's resurrection. You couldn't say by any stretch of the imagination that it was done decently and in order. An Anglican from the 19th century was famously scandalised by all the commotion that surrounded the ceremony. But why shouldn't the resurrection be celebrated with a bit of wildness and ecstatic commotion? When the power of God breaks out, you would expect some wildness.
For me there was a sense of community with all those people crushed together for that event. We were all there with expectation, wanting to connect with Christ's resurrection. On the downside was the contention for position and a place to stand in the church. I wonder what God makes of it all? I was left with feelings of excitement, amazement, weariness and a bit of sadness. These different feelings have not yet coalesced into anything that is singular or consistent. I'm very glad I was there, but it does feel like a once in a lifetime experience, rather than something I would choose to repeat as a worship event.
Above the fray: A ray of light shines through the smoke into the edicule - the structure that has been built over Jesus' tomb.
3 comments:
Sounds like you need quite a bit of stamina to cope with such a celebration! How come you got candles in both hands? I do like the ray of light shining into the edicule, though.
This is so interesting, Peter. Do keep it up, the account of your pilgrimmage.
~ Jude
That's really interesting, Peter. Thank you so much for your wonderful blogs: it almost makes me feel that I'm there too. Chris is very excited by your photos too (I suspect he might be worried you're going to do him out of a job....!). I love that one of the light stealing down through the dome. You could almost imagine it was the Holy Spirit shining into the tomb at the moment of resurrection.
Sr Therese
I, too, found the light shining through the dome a very moving sight. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be there in person. Thank you again, Peter, for sharing all of this - such a blessing.
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