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Holy Fire brought to Patriarchal Easter service in Moscow

At Moscow’s Vnukovo airport hundreds of worshippers met the Holy Fire

Worshippers meet the Holy Fire at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

Worshippers meet the Holy Fire at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport

© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/. A special capsule containing the Holy Fire has been brought to Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral for the Easter night service led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the head of Russian Orthodox Church.

At Moscow’s Vnukovo airport hundreds of worshippers met the Holy Fire to take it to parishes of Moscow and Russian regions.

The capsule was delivered by a delegation of the Apostle Andrew the First Called Foundation led by its Chairman of the Board Vladimir Yakunin.

On the eve of Orthodox Easter, the Holy Fire ignites on the tomb of Jesus Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, also called the Church of Resurrection. After the Holy Fire had descended on candles and oil lamps of Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem earlier on Saturday, Yakunin lit his oil lamp from the patriarch’s one.

The Apostle Andrew the First Called Foundation organized the delegation’s trip to Israel within the framework of the program ‘Ask Peace for Jerusalem,’ in effect since 2003. In 1992, the Holy Fire was airlifted to Moscow for the first time in the history of modern Russia.

Waiting for the Holy Fire

On Holy Saturday, Christians flock to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher, waiting for a miracle. The church that can seat as many as 10,000 worshippers becomes crowded. The expectation can last between five minutes to a few hours. The fire has been descending each Holy Saturday, on the eve of the Orthodox Easter, for many centuries. In spite of numerous attempts, no one has been able to work out the origin of the fire, since in the very first minutes after it descends, the fire is warm and does not burn.

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