Holy Fire

[RaphaelJ]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Fire
So there, this is the miracle of Holy Fire. Out of curiosity, what’s the stance of the Catholic Church on this miracle currently? It seems to only appear during the Orthodox date of Easter and in the presence of the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.

 

[SyroMalankara]

There is no official stance from the Catholic Church. Opinion varies from agreeing ‘it is a true miracle’, to ‘its a trick using phosporus’ - and everything in between.

 

[EphelDuath]

I think it’s well accepted that there’s a scientific explanation for it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no divine intervention – after all, God made phosphorus too, didn’t he?

 

[Maxime_Indigent]

During the Islamic rule of Jerusalem, apparently ‘uninitiated’ crusaders took over Orthodox priests in charge of the fire, and the fire disappeared. But when Baldwin I reinstated the priests, the fire started to reappear.

In 1238, Pope Gregory IX denounced the miracle as a fraud.

Today, it is not recognized as a miracle by the Catholic Church.

(source: stpeterslist.com/3088/6-things-to-know-about-the-miracle-of-the-holy-fire/)

 

[prodromos]

Archbishop Balderic of Dol quotes Pope Urban II (1088-1099)"Of holy Jerusalem, brethren, we dare not speak, for we are exceedingly afraid and ashamed to speak of it. This very city, in which, as you all know, Christ Himself suffered for us, because our sins demanded it, has been reduced to the pollution of paganism and, I say it to our disgrace, withdrawn from the service of God. Such is the heap of reproach upon us who have so much deserved it! Who now serves the church of the Blessed Mary in the valley of Josaphat, in which church she herself was buried in body? But why do we pass over the Temple of Solomon, nay of the Lord, in which the barbarous nations placed their idols contrary to law, human and divine? Of the Lord’s Sepulchre we have refrained from speaking, since some of you with your own eyes have seen to what abominations it has been given over. The Turks violently took from it the offerings which you brought there for alms in such vast amounts, and, in addition, they scoffed much and often 'at Your religion. And yet in that place (I say only what you already know) rested the Lord; there He died for us; there He was buried. How precious would be the longed for, incomparable place of the Lord’s burial, even if God failed there to perform the yearly miracle! For in the days of His Passion all the lights in the Sepulchre and round about in the church, which have been extinguished, are relighted by divine command. Whose heart is so stony, brethren, that it is not touched by so great a miracle? Believe me, that man is bestial and senseless whose heart such divinely manifest grace does not move to faith! And yet the Gentiles see this in common with the Christians and are not turned from their ways! They are, indeed, afraid, but they are not converted to the faith; nor is it to be wondered at, for a blindness of mind rules over them. With what afflictions they wronged you who have returned and are now present, you yourselves know too well you who there sacrificed your substance and your blood for God.
fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html#balderic

 

[frjohnmorris]

During the Islamic rule of Jerusalem, apparently ‘uninitiated’ crusaders took over Orthodox priests in charge of the fire, and the fire disappeared. But when Baldwin I reinstated the priests, the fire started to reappear.

In 1238, Pope Gregory IX denounced the miracle as a fraud.

Today, it is not recognized as a miracle by the Catholic Church.

(source: stpeterslist.com/3088/6-things-to-know-about-the-miracle-of-the-holy-fire/)

I know people who have been there and have witnessed the miracle of the Holy Fire. Sometimes candles held by people in the congregation lite spontaneously. The fire sometimes jumps from candle to candle. The Holy Fire does not burn anyone although the Church is filled with people. Even in the video, it shows a man putting his hand in the fire and not getting burned. It is a very serious and insulting charge to accuse the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem of having deliberately played a role in a fraud for centuries.

Fr. John W. Morris