Russian Orthodox Christians and the holy Fire of Jerusalem in times of war
Following the Holy Week celebrations of the Latin Rite Churches, Saturday the 11th will mark the lighting of the Paschal flame, which Orthodox Churches spread throughout the world from the Holy Sepulchre. There is tension over the restrictions imposed on places of worship by the Israeli government. A situation viewed with apocalyptic tones even in Moscow, where in recent years this rite has become central to asserting its primacy.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - The closure of the Holy Sepulchre, as a security measure amid the Middle East conflict, has sparked numerous protests from Catholics in recent days and is causing unease among Orthodox Christians, especially Russians, who fear for the ritual of lighting the Holy Fire at the principal sanctuary of the Christian faith, scheduled for Saturday, April 11, on the eve of Orthodox Easter. Some even interpret this as a sign of the Antichrist’s arrival and the beginning of the end of the world.
On March 29, Israeli police had prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from celebrating the Palm Sunday liturgy, even in a private setting, marking the first time this had occurred since the Crusades in the 12th century, when the Custody of the Holy Land was subsequently entrusted to the Franciscans. The diplomatic incident was resolved with an apology from Benjamin Netanyahu himself, who guaranteed access for liturgies without an audience, to be followed remotely—as was indeed possible for the Easter Vigil. Some pilgrims, however, clashed with law enforcement, even coming to blows.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where all Christian denominations have their own altar, was closed to everyone on February 28, at the start of the Israeli-American military operation against Iran, and the same was true for the other major holy sites, including the Jewish Western Wall and the Muslim Al-Aqsa Mosque (where no prayers were permitted). Even the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, celebrated services throughout the month of March only at home or outside Jerusalem.
Over the past 30 years, Russians have greatly exalted the veneration of the Holy Fire: through expressions of religious and political propaganda that view the lighting of the Holy Fire on Holy Saturday as a moment of revelation of the “true faith.” This devotion is foreign to the Catholic world, except for the participation of Scout associations, which typically carry the Easter flame from the Holy Sepulcher throughout the world. The Russian variant has a particularly mystical dimension, as it is believed that the miracle of the spontaneous lighting “from heaven” on the eve of Orthodox Easter, according to the Julian calendar, is a demonstration of the superiority of the Orthodox faith over all other Christian denominations. This belief takes on apocalyptic overtones, based on texts of dubious authorship dating back to the 10th century, to the time of the Baptism of Kievan Rus’, when Jerusalem was under the control of the Islamic Caliphate.
The Russian television channel NTV holds the exclusive rights to film the “Descent of the Fire,” with the support of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which schedules the celebrations according to times convenient for Russian filming. The Russian fund named after the Apostle Saint Andrew the First-Called, directed by Putin’s advisor Vladimir Yakunin, is tasked with immediately distributing the fire lamps throughout Russia, beginning with their presentation to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow at the Cathedral of the Holy Savior, where the ancient icons of the Mother of God Vladimirskaya and Donskaya—removed from museums—were also displayed this year.
In 2020, due to the coronavirus, only Patriarch Theophilos, a few clergymen, and Russian television crews were admitted to the Holy Sepulcher, under police supervision. Now there is hope that the celebration can be repeated, at least with a limited contingent, and anticipation is mounting amid the “holy war” that has been raging in recent years. One of the prophets of the apocalypse, Chechen General Apti Alaudinov, has already declared that “the Antichrist is already at work on earth 99% of the time, and his name is Donald Trump.” The leader of the Chechen Akhmat Brigade is a Muslim who seeks to superimpose Islamic revelations onto Christian ones, and his statement is shared by many Orthodox Christians, especially in the more radical monastic communities. For Russian Orthodox Christians, the denial of the Holy Fire would be the equivalent of an atomic bomb explosion, with truly unpredictable consequences.
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07/04/2018 16:37
