Holy Fire lit up in Jerusalem and will be brought to Chișinău
The Holy Light ignited on Saturday, April 11, at 14:14 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, marking a moment of hope for believers worldwide. The Holy Fire will reach Moldova this evening.
The Holy Fire ignites each year on Holy Saturday, when a flame appears above the Holy Sepulchre, believed to descend from heaven, varies each year, and does not burn in its first minutes.
Believers consider the ritual miraculous and trace it back over a thousand years. The Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the chapel of Jesus Christ’s tomb holding 33 unlit candles, a biblical number that marks the age of the Savior at his crucifixion.
After hours of waiting, the ceremony peaks when the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem emerges from the sealed tomb holding a lit candle.
Clergy then share the light with worshippers inside and outside the church.
Large crowds of Christians gathered in Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday to celebrate the Orthodox Holy Light ceremony.
The Holy Fire will reach Chișinău on Saturday evening through a special air corridor opened by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Representatives of the Metropolis of Bassarabia said they would bring the Holy Light by land via Iași, where the aircraft will land under a special flight corridor agreed with authorities in Bucharest.
