The miracle of the Holy Fire took place for the first time at the Tomb of
Jesus Christ when, at the time of His Resurrection, abundant light of incomparable
brightness flooded the area.
In the Gospel of Luke it is mentioned that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary
the mother of James, as well as other myrrh-bearing women from Galilee, went
to the Tomb of Jesus before dawn. When they arrived there, however, they discovered
that the rock which had been blocking the entrance had already been
rolled away and that the Tomb was empty. And while they wondered what had
happened, “two men in shining garments appeared to them,” who said:
Why search among the dead for one who lives? He is not here but is risen. (Luke 24:5–6).
Two of the myrrh-bearing women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James,
being told by an angel of the Resurrection of Christ. Nikolay Koshelev (1891).
Jerusalem, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
In the Gospel of John the description of the same event is more detailed:
Early on the Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came
to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance,
and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.
“They have taken the Lord out of his tomb,” she cried, “and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter and the other set out and made their way
to the tomb. They were running side by side, but the other disciple outran
Peter and reached the tomb first. He peered in and saw the linen wrappings
lying there, but did not enter. Then Simon Peter came up, following him, and
he went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying, and the napkin
which had been over his head, not lying with the wrappings but rolled together
in a place by itself.… (John 20:1–7).
How, while it was still dark, did Peter and John manage to see inside the
Tomb the linen wrappings with which the body of Jesus had been wrapped?
And particularly John who did not even enter the Tomb?
The answer is given to us by Gregory of Nyssa, in his work On the Resurrection
of Jesus Christ, who writes that those who followed the Apostle Peter that
night believed in the Resurrection because the Tomb of Christ had filled with
light, which was not only visible spiritually but also through the natural senses:
Those who were with Peter saw and believed… because the Tomb was filled
with light, so that even though it was night, they saw the inside of the Tomb
in two ways, with their senses and spiritually.1
John of Damascus similarly underlines that the Apostle Peter was awestruck
when he faced the light inside the Tomb:
And running, Peter reached the tomb and seeing the light inside the Tomb he
was in awe.2
The same saint, in his work Oration on Holy Saturday, also mentions that the
light which filled the Tomb of Christ that night was the Uncreated Light of the
Creator, the same that shone during the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount
Tabor.3 John of Damascus writes:
And this bright and light-bearing day of Holy Sunday, during which the
Uncreated Light noticeably [through sight] emerges fromthe Tomb, as a beautiful
groom through the beauty of the Resurrection.4
The light that filled the Tomb of Jesus Christ at the moment of his Resurrection
was the Uncreated Light of the Uncreated Triadic God. But what is the relationship
of this Uncreated Light with the flame that lights the ever-burning oil lamp
and the bundles of candles held by the patriarch during the rite of Holy Saturday?
The Dean of the Theological School of the University of Athens, Protopresbyter
Georgios Metallinos, in a discussion we had on this specific issue said
the following: “The Uncreated Light is the spark that emerges from the Tomb
of Christ. This light is imperceptible and uncreated. From then on, when the patriarch’s
bundles of candles light, the light becomes created. In other words, the
cause of the kindling of the patriarch’s bundles of candles is the Uncreated Light.
However, the flame that lights his candles, which we can touch, is a created light.
And because this flame has in its beginning the gift of Uncreated Light, this is
why it does not burn.”
But is it possible in our days for this Uncreated Light to be perceived by all
those present, even non-believers? Professor of Theology, Protopresbyter Theodoros Zisis, in the context of the above question stated the following: “The Uncreated
Light even now is not visible by all, but by many who are present at the
rite. They all certainly see the created results of the initial uncreated energy of
the Holy Fire. They see, in other words, the Holy Fire distributed from one believer
to the next, which within a few minutes from being uncreated becomes
created. The Uncreated Light is certainly seen primarily by the perfect ones, but
God does permit partial perception to some imperfect individuals, even to nonbelievers,
so they can be led to salvation.”
The first miracle of the Holy Uncreated Light occurred precisely when Jesus
Christ returned from the world of the dead to be glorified through his Resurrection
in an unintelligable and unapproachable light. The same light fills the Holy
Tomb every year during the rite of Holy Saturday.
Testimonies or narratives that describe the specific rite in the early Christian
centuries have not survived. However, certain ancient lamps have been preserved
whose inscriptions shed light on the antiquity of the rite.
Notes:
1. Gregory of Nyssa, Περί της Aναστάσεως του Κυρίου ημών Ιησού Χριστού [On the Resurrection
of Jesus Christ], ed. J.P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca (hereafter PG), 46.636d: «ιδόντες οι περί τον Πέτρον επίστευσαν… πλήρης γαρ ην ο Τάφος φωτός, ώστε και νυκτός ούσης έτι, διπλώς θεάσασθαι τα ένδον, και αισθητώς και πνευματικώς».
2. John of Damascus, Δοξαστικό, Παρακλητική η Μεγάλη [Eulogy: The Great Prayer], Athens
1992, p. 349: «Και δρομαίος ο Πέτρος, επέστη τω μνήματι, και το Φως εν τω τάφω ορών κατεπλήττετο».
3. The Uncreated Light was visible to the three disciples, Peter, James and John, the day of Christ’s
Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. The same light, according to Saint Gregory Palamas, was also
visible to the Apostle Paul during his journey to Damascus, when Christ appeared to him while
the future Apostle to the Gentiles was still a persecutor of Christians. It was also visible on the
day of Pentecost when tongues of fire descended on the twelve apostles.
4. John of Damascus, Λόγος εις το Άγιον Σάββατον [Oration on Holy Saturday], ed. J.P. Migne,
PG 96, p. 628: “καί αυτή η της αγίας Κυριακής λαμπρά καί φαεσφόρος ημέρα, εν η τό άκτιστον
φως σωματικώς εκ του τάφου πρόεισιν, ως νυμφίος ωραίος τω κάλλει της αναστάσεως.”
