Who turned them on? Before the patriarch came out, many times the candles of the people were already lit on their own. On the day we were there, before the patriarch came out to give the Holy Light, I was standing right next to it. As soon as the light came from the patriarch, we received it. People were shouting: “What is this Holy Light?”
Look up at the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Edicule of the Holy Tomb, and the candles of the people lit up on their own. An old woman who was outside the church door in the courtyard, all alone, her candles lit by themselves. Her name was Freedom from Athienou. She was crying and mourning because she was trying to get in but could not, so she sat on the ground crying because she did not experience the Holy Light. And while she was crying, her candles lit up on their own.
When the celebration of the Holy Light ended, and all the stories and events were finished, we began the Divine Liturgy of Holy Saturday right before our eyes. I was singing at the Holy Gate, and suddenly the candle at the gate went out on its own. You see, the patriarch may have candles, but how did all the others light up? And I tell you, what we saw with our own eyes—was it an optical illusion? I saw it like blue flashes moving, and I said, "How can lightning go like that, not from top to bottom but in different directions?"
The person next to me, a monk, said it was nothing special. Another person saw a fiery sphere, another saw a cloud; each saw something different. If it were something artificial, everyone would see the same thing. Why did I see lightning, and you saw a sphere, and another saw a cloud?
I am not confirming what the patriarch does, because I was not right next to him. But I have two questions. First, if it was a deception, how has it lasted so many years? Second, the Armenian archbishop also enters with the patriarch. The Armenian and the Orthodox Patriarch go in together, and the Armenian cannot accuse or expose anything because he is there as well. If it were a trick, he would expose it immediately.
The patriarch lights the fire with a lighter, they say, and everyone takes the light from him. Armenians, Latins, and others all take the lead from the Orthodox Patriarch. There is also the story that once they bought the right to the Holy Light from the Turks and expelled the Orthodox, and then the light came out from a column, which is still visible today.
Even if you do not believe it, that is your right. But there are historical testimonies for centuries about the Holy Light. It is not something new. It has been happening for hundreds of years and has been witnessed by thousands of people every year.
Now, I am not saying you must believe it. I tell people: You do not need miracles to believe in Christ. But what we saw with our eyes and what has been recorded in history for centuries cannot be easily dismissed.
May God enlighten us all, both in what we see, what we hear, and what we say.
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