The fact that only on Orthodox Easter the Holy Fire descends from heaven (provided that an Orthodox patriarch serves in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher according to the Orthodox calendar), God testifies to the truth of the Orthodox faith, the Orthodox Church.
A bit of history
Disagreements between the pope and the patriarch of Constantinople began long before 1054, but it was in 1054 that Pope Leo IX sent legates to Constantinople, led by Cardinal Humbert, to resolve the conflict. It was not possible to find a way to reconciliation, and on July 16, 1054, in the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia, the papal legates announced the deposition of Patriarch Michael Kirularius and his excommunication from the Church.
In response, on July 20, the patriarch anathematized the legates. There was a split in the Christian Church, into the Roman Catholic Church in the West with its center in Rome and the Orthodox Church in the East with the center in Constantinople.
For several centuries Jerusalem was under the control of the Eastern Church. And there was not a single case when the fire of grace would not descend on Christians.
In 1099, Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders. The Roman Church, having received the support of the dukes and barons and considering the Orthodox as apostates, began to literally trample on their rights and the Orthodox faith. Orthodox Christians were forbidden to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, they were expelled from the temples, their property and church buildings were taken away from them, humiliated and oppressed, even to the point of being tortured.
This is how the English historian Stephen Runciman describes this moment in his book "The Fall of Constantinople":
Promotional video:
"The first Latin patriarch Arnold from Choquet started unsuccessfully: he ordered to expel the sects of heretics (ed: Orthodox Christians) from their borders in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, then he began to torture Orthodox monks, seeking where they keep the Cross and other relics …".
A few months later, Arnold was succeeded to the throne by Dimebert of Pisa, who went even further. He tried to expel all local Christians, even Orthodox, from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and admit only Latins there, generally depriving the rest of the church buildings in Jerusalem or near it …
Soon God's retribution struck. In 1101, on Great Saturday, the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Kuvuklia did not take place, until Eastern Christians were invited to participate in this rite. Then King Baldwin I took care of restoring their rights to local Christians.
Middle Ages
In 1578, after another change of the Turkish mayor of Jerusalem, the Armenian priests agreed with the newly made “mayor” that the right to receive the Holy Fire instead of the Jerusalem Orthodox Patriarch would be given to a representative of the Armenian Church. At the call of the Armenian clergy, many of their co-religionists from all over the Middle East came to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter alone …
On Holy Saturday, 1579, the Orthodox Patriarch Sophronius IV and the clergy were not allowed into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. They stood in front of the closed doors of the Temple from the outside. The Armenian priests entered the Kuvuklia and started prayer calls to the Lord about the descent of Fire. But their prayers were not answered.
The Orthodox priests standing at the closed doors of the Temple also turned to the Lord with prayers. Suddenly a noise was heard, the column to the left of the closed doors of the Temple cracked, Fire came out of it and lit candles in the hands of the Jerusalem Patriarch. With great joy the Orthodox priesthood entered the Temple and praised the Lord. Traces of the convergence of Fire can still be seen on one of the columns located to the left of the entrance.
This was the only case in history when the convergence took place outside the Temple, in fact, through the prayers of an Orthodox, not an Armenian high priest.
“Everyone was overjoyed, and the Orthodox Arabs with joy began to jump and shout:“You are one our God, Jesus Christ, our true faith is one - the faith of Orthodox Christians,”wrote the monk Parthenius.
The Turkish authorities were very angry with the arrogant Armenians, and at first they even wanted to execute the hierarch, but later they took mercy and ordered him, for the edification of what happened at the Easter ceremony, always follow the Orthodox Patriarch and henceforth not take direct part in receiving the Holy Fire.
Although the government changed long ago, the custom still persists. By the way, this was not the only attempt by the Muslim authorities to prevent the descent of the Holy Fire. Here is what the famous Islamic historian al-Biruni (IX-X centuries) writes: “… once the governor ordered to replace the copper wire wicks, hoping that the lamps would not light up and the miracle itself would not happen. But then, when the fire went down, the copper caught fire."
HE SEEN A MIRACLE..
141st Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem. Full title: His Beatitude and Most Holy Cyrus Theophilus, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, Syria, Arabia, Obonpol Jordan, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion. Once a year, at a service held in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Great Saturday, on the eve of Orthodox Easter, at exactly 12:55, he, together with the Armenian archimandrite, enters the Holy Sepulcher. There, kneeling in front of the Savior's Lodge, they read a prayer, after which they kindle their bunches of candles from the miraculously manifested fire, and carry it out to the waiting people.
XX century
According to the traditions rooted in 2000 years, the abbot, monks of the Lavra of St. Sava the Sanctified and local Orthodox Arabs are obligatory participants in the sacrament of the descent of the Holy Fire.
On Holy Saturday, half an hour after the sealing of the Cuvuklia, Arab Orthodox youth, with shouting, stamping, drumming, sitting astride each other, rushes into the Temple and begins songs and dances. There is no evidence of the time when this ritual was established. The exclamations and songs of Arab youth are ancient prayers in Arabic, addressed to Christ and the Mother of God, Who is asked to pray to the Son for the sending of Fire, to George the Victorious, especially revered in the Orthodox East.
According to oral tradition, during the years of British rule over Jerusalem (1918-1947), the English governor once tried to ban the "savage" dances. The Patriarch of Jerusalem prayed for two hours: The fire did not come down. Then the Patriarch ordered his will to let the Arab youth in. After they performed the ritual, the Fire descended …
And here is what the English historian Stephen Runciman writes about the persecution of the Orthodox after the capture of Jerusalem by the crusaders in 1099.
The facts are based on Western chronicles: “The first Latin patriarch Arnold from Choquet started unsuccessfully: he ordered to expel the sects of heretics from their borders in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, then he began to torture Orthodox monks, seeking where they keep the Cross and other relics … Several months later Arnold was replaced on the throne by Daymbert from Pisa … He tried to expel all local Christians, even Orthodox, from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and allow only Latins there, generally depriving the rest of the church buildings in or near Jerusalem … Soon God's retribution struck: already in 1101 in Great Saturday the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire in Cuvuklia did not take place, until Eastern Christians were invited to participate in this rite. Then King Baldwin I took care of restoring their rights to local Christians …"
They also talk about one case. The Holy Fire did not appear on the sad Easter, in 1923. At this time, Patriarch Tikhon was removed from the management of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Once the Turks, who seized Jerusalem, forbade the Orthodox to serve, and those who were not allowed into the temple stood at its entrance, cried and prayed - the Holy Fire suddenly burst out of one of the columns of the temple, irrigating Orthodox people.
This crack in the column, formed contrary to all the laws of nature, still serves as evidence of the triumph of Orthodoxy.
PS: Trinity Temple in Tbilisi:
