Undoubtedly, the most important shrine of the Christian world is the Holy Sepulcher. The place where the Son of God rested before the resurrection attracts thousands of pilgrims. Many have fought for the right to possess it. Some doubt its truth. Many mysteries, versions and assumptions go around this wonder of the world. But faith in the Savior of millions of people remains unchanged.
Constantine and Elena
The Holy Sepulcher is not at all a coffin in the usual sense of the word. This is a slab in a cave, on which Christ was laid, wrapped in a shroud, after the crucifixion. The slab is 2 m long and 80 cm wide. You may be wondering: how was this place found at all? It was not without a miracle.
In the 4th century, the Roman emperor Constantine, who was a pagan, converted to Christianity thanks to a prophetic dream on the eve of the battle. In it, Jesus Christ appeared to the emperor and ordered to apply XP (the initial letters of the Greek spelling of the name of Christ) on the shields of the soldiers. Waking up, he fulfilled the will of God. And shortly before the start of the battle, Constantine and all the soldiers saw an image of the Cross in the sky and the inscription above it: "In this way, conquer."
After a brilliant victory, Constantine and his mother, Queen Helena, became Christians and did a lot to glorify Christ. So, in 326, Helen went to Jerusalem with the responsible order of her son - to find the Holy Sepulcher. The local resident Judas knew from his father the exact place where the Life-giving Cross was buried. But, being one of the Jewish sages, he did not want to share this secret, fearing the superiority of Christians over the Jews. Then, by order of Elena, he was thrown into a deep hole for seven days. All this time, Judas prayed fervently for the sending of some sign to him. And his prayers were answered. On the seventh day, smoke of incredible sweetness burst from the bowels of the earth. This impressed Judas so much that he agreed to show Elena the exact location of the Holy Sepulcher.
The queen ordered to begin excavations, during which three crosses were found (true and two, on which the robbers were executed), four nails and a tablet with the inscription: "INRI" ("Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" - lat.). A miracle helped to identify the true Cross: after they touched a sick woman, she was completely healed.
Over time, some of the shrines were lost, some are still kept in different parts of the world. But most importantly, the burial place of Christ - the sacred slab was found. Now there is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
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Hike of the poor
For several centuries there has been a struggle for the right to possess this miracle. Many wars in Europe broke out precisely because of the Holy Sepulcher. The Crusades owe their origin to the desire of the Pope to reclaim the sacred lands, where the Holy Sepulcher is located, from the infidels. In 1096, the First Crusade took place, which was called the "campaign of the poor", or "zero campaign". The peasants, the impoverished knights and all kinds of rabble took part in it. The fact is that the Pope promised everyone forgiveness of sins and debts, as well as considerable monetary incentives. Therefore, everyone and everyone went on this campaign, including thieves and cruel killers. There was no weaponry. The "crusaders" carried hoes and ordinary sticks in their hands. The food was pasture - grass and roots. At the end of the hike, there was not even water, and people wrung out the mud so as not to die of thirst.
The ideological inspirer and leader of the "campaign of the poor" was the hermit monk Pyotr the Hermit. He was greatly respected and believed that the Lord himself was leading him to the Holy Land. Therefore, they followed him unquestioningly. And at the first serious danger, he abandoned his army and joined a separate detachment, which nevertheless reached Jerusalem. After a while, the Hermit managed to return to his homeland and even founded an Augustinian monastery, of which he was abbot until his death. But his detachment thinned out in order when he took the holy city by storm.
Muslims hold keys
The struggle for the Holy Sepulcher continues to this day. The most ardent opposition is between Orthodox and Catholics. They literally divided into zones (it would be more correct to say - limits) the temple in which the relic is located. Even each denomination has a certain number of icon lamps. Serious disputes periodically begin. It happens that it comes to a fight, which does not suit the clergy at all. Why is there a fight - in 1853, the war broke out, known in history as the Crimean, because of the desire of Orthodox Russia to patronize the shrine with absolute power.
Once, due to such disagreements, the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher were given to two Muslim families for safekeeping: al-Husseini and Nuseiba. The eldest sons of these families had the honorary right to open and close the temple. This tradition is still unchanged. Since 1975, Wajih Nuseybe has been the keeper of the keys. Every day at 04:00 he opens the doors to the temple, and closes at 19:00. Despite the fact that these families are Muslim, they have been guarding the Christian shrine from various troubles for many centuries.
Miraculous phenomena
In 2016, it was decided to carry out restoration work in the cuvuklia - a cave with a sacred slab. This allowed archaeologists to do more research. It turned out that the very bed on which Christ rested was covered by two more marble slabs. The upper one turned yellow with time and cracked in half: according to legend, this crack appeared when the Muslims wanted to decorate the mosque with a slab. Raising the upper slab, archaeologists found another one with the image of the Cross under it. But the next one was already the one on which Christ rested after the crucifixion. And as archaeologists say, the bed has been preserved intact.
During the work, incredible phenomena occurred. All the equipment placed in the temple was out of order. This happened because of a powerful energy flow. After removing the first slab, the entire cuvucleus was filled with a wondrous floral scent, strange sounds were heard and strange visions appeared. Unusual phenomena took place not only in the temple itself. A huge ring of clouds appeared over Jerusalem, from which light seemed to be streaming towards the center. And the sounds of trumpets were heard over the whole city, like angels were trumpeting in heaven. Don't believe me? On the Internet, you can easily find a video of this phenomenon, in which everything is clearly visible and audible. Of course, there will be unbelievers who will give a rational explanation for these miracles.
Coffin protector
When the first crusaders took Jerusalem, Duke Gottfried of Bouillon was chosen as the defender of the Holy Sepulcher. It is interesting that his own mother predicted such a fate for him as a child at the instigation of the Holy Spirit. By the way, to take part in the Crusade, the duke sold his ancestral nest - the castle where he was born and raised. It seems that he had serious sins, since he tried so hard to atone for them …
Did Christ have a son?
There is an opinion among a few researchers, including the film director James Cameron, that the Holy Sepulcher is located in a completely different place. The fact is that in the area of East Talpiot a crypt was discovered, just in age from the time of the crucifixion of Christ. In 2007, Cameron, along with documentary filmmaker Simkha Yakobovichi, found himself in this crypt, and discovered there a tomb with human remains, which were in stone boxes with inscriptions that said that Jesus ("Jesus, the son of Joseph"), one of the his brothers Josiah, two Mary, Mati (presumably the apostle Matthew) and Judas (“Judas, son of Jesus”). This finding had a huge impact. Of course, seeing such an incredible coincidence, it is difficult not to succumb to the temptation and not assume that this particular place is the true tomb. After all kinds of checks,including genetic ones, it was found that one Mary is related to Jesus, and the other is not related to him. Based on these facts, the famous writer Dan Brown in his novel "The Da Vinci Code" concluded that Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ were husband and wife. But the most scandalous resonance was caused by the presence of "Judas, the son of Jesus" … Alas, now this place is covered with a concrete slab, and there is no way to check anything.
Magazine: All the mysteries of the world №25. Author: Ekaterina Kazanovskaya