Christians observe holy fire ritual in Jerusalem
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JERUSALEM — Thousands of Orthodox Christians, carrying torches and bundles of candles signifying the 33 years of Jesus’ life, packed into Christianity’s holiest shrine Saturday to celebrate Easter Week’s holy fire ritual.
Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected at the site in Jerusalem’s Old City where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher now stands.
The holy fire ritual, celebrated the day before the Orthodox Easter, honors the belief that a holy fire appears spontaneously from Jesus’ tomb as a message that he has not forgotten his followers.
About 10,000 worshipers attended the afternoon ceremony, some arriving before dawn to make sure that they would be able to enter the cavernous, heavily secured church. Believers who arrived late celebrated outside in the cobblestone courtyard, some of them beating on hand drums.
Inside the darkened church, worshipers clutching bundles of tapers and torches waited expectantly as the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in the Holy Land, Theofilos III, descended with a group of Greek, Armenian and other Orthodox into what they believe was Jesus’ tomb.
After the flame appeared there, Theofilos passed it from the tomb to those in the main hall, who cheered and wept, and rushed to light their own candles and torches.
Within seconds, the church was filled with a burst of illumination. Many held the light to their faces to bask in its glow.
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