Last night, my newly-acquired flu virus really sank in, and I was genuinely concerned I wouldn't be able to make it to Holy Saturday's biggest event: the Miracle of the Holy Fire. In one of my very firsts posts on this blog, I mentioned the Holy Fire in a list of things I was most excited to see in Jerusalem. The Miracle of the Holy Fire takes place every year on the Saturday preceding Orthodox Easter. In the mid-afternoon, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the Tomb in the Holy Sepulchre alone (having been checked by IDF soldiers, who confirm that he is not carrying a lighter). He emerges a few minutes later with two candles lit by fire from heaven. Some people claim to be able to see fire descending like mist over the Tomb; other spectators claim that when the fire is finally passed to them, it does not burn.
We arrived to the Old City several hours early hoping to beat the crowds, but nonetheless, all roads leading to the Christian Quarter we blocked by police barricades. After wading through the packed Old City and trying every possible route (all were blocked), we finally asked a police guard, who explained that only those with special passes (of which 30,000 were made available) were permitted to cross into the Christian Quarter. Nobody ever mentioned passes to us (even the non-denominational Christian Information Center neglected to mention it)! Furthermore, because the Holy Fire is an Orthodox ceremony, the passes were not distributed to Roman Catholic visitors... you've got to love the Christian unity during Holy Week.
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Disappointingly, no Holy Fire for me.
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