MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. A delegation of the Foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called delivered a lantern with Holy Fire from Jerusalem to the Easter Vigil at the Christ the Savior Cathedral.
The service is conducted by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill.
The fire was delivered to the service by chairman of the foundation’s supervisory board Vladimir Yakunin, who led the Russian delegation.
"Despite the difficult situation, despite all problems, we are glad to bring Easter joy," he told the crowd greeting him at Moscow’s Vnukovo-3 airport.
In the airport, the Holy Fire was greeted by delegations from various eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church, who will take it with them to dozens of Russian cities. Also, the Holy Fire will be delivered to 11 churches in the Russian capital.
The Holy Fire descended in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to the awe of more than 2,000 pilgrims from across the world who gathered for the ancient ceremony there on Holy Saturday.
Easter is the central holiday of the entire Christian world commemorating a key moment in the history of Christianity - Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. The Russian Orthodox Church determines the date based on solar and lunar calendars. In 2022, it falls on April 16.