Book Review: Holy Fire by Haris Skarlakidis

The Holy Fire by Haris Skarlakidis consists of 45 historical accounts of the miracle of the holy lights in the Tomb of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.  I received my copy from a friend of mine who helped with the English translation.  It is a fantastic book, filled with footnotes and citations.  Many of the accounts are taken straight from manuscripts held in libraries throughout the world (photos of some of the manuscripts are included in the book).  Although the theme is specific to the holy lights that occur on Holy Saturday there is so much history combined with the accounts that I think it could make for a helpful companion to a home school curriculum.

You can view the Contents page here, as well as read excerpts from the book. Which will give you an even better idea of how interesting and well documented the book is.  I am really excited that it is in English, and more especially that it is translated well!  I’ve only read up to the third chapter, but looking through it the whole book seems as interesting and informative as the first few chapters.

Unfortunately, I don’t know who supplies the book in North America, but the web address of the authour is www.skarlakidis.gr. [UPDATE: You can order a copy from Not of This World Icons, here]

Here is an excerpt, taken from the author’s website. It’s Chapter Three, Part One:

The first appearance of the Holy Fire

The miracle of the Holy Fire took place for the first time at the Tomb of Jesus Christ when, at the time of His Resurrection, abundant light of incomparable brightness flooded the area.

In the Gospel of Luke it is mentioned that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, as well as other myrrh-bearing women from Galilee, went to the Tomb of Jesus before dawn. When they arrived there, however, they discovered that the rock which had been blocking the entrance had already been rolled away and that the Tomb was empty. And while they wondered what had happened, “two men in shining garments appeared to them,” who said:

Why search among the dead for one who lives? He is not here but is risen. (Luke 24:5–6).

Two of the myrrh-bearing women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James,
being told by an angel of the Resurrection of Christ. Nikolay Koshelev (1891).
Jerusalem, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

 In the Gospel of John the description of the same event is more detailed:

Early on the Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance, and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of his tomb,” she cried, “and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter and the other set out and made their way to the tomb. They were running side by side, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He peered in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but did not enter. Then Simon Peter came up, following him, and he went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying, and the napkin which had been over his head, not lying with the wrappings but rolled together in a place by itself.… (John 20:1–7).

How, while it was still dark, did Peter and John manage to see inside the Tomb the linen wrappings with which the body of Jesus had been wrapped? And particularly John who did not even enter the Tomb?

The answer is given to us by Gregory of Nyssa, in his work On the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who writes that those who followed the Apostle Peter that night believed in the Resurrection because the Tomb of Christ had filled with light, which was not only visible spiritually but also through the natural senses:

Those who were with Peter saw and believed… because the Tomb was filled with light, so that even though it was night, they saw the inside of the Tomb in two ways, with their senses and spiritually.¹

 John of Damascus similarly underlines that the Apostle Peter was awestruck when he faced the light inside the Tomb:

And running, Peter reached the tomb and seeing the light inside the Tomb he was in awe.²

The same saint, in his work Oration on Holy Saturday, also mentions that the light which filled the Tomb of Christ that night was the Uncreated Light of the Creator, the same that shone during the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor.³ John of Damascus writes:

And this bright and light-bearing day of Holy Sunday, during which the Uncreated Light noticeably [through sight] emerges from the Tomb, as a beautiful groom through the beauty of the Resurrection.⁴

The light that filled the Tomb of Jesus Christ at the moment of his Resurrection was the Uncreated Light of the Uncreated Triadic God. But what is the relationship of this Uncreated Light with the flame that lights the ever-burning oil lamp and the bundles of candles held by the patriarch during the rite of Holy Saturday?

The Dean of the Theological School of the University of Athens, Protopresbyter Georgios Metallinos, in a discussion we had on this specific issue said the following: “The Uncreated Light is the spark that emerges from the Tomb of Christ. This light is imperceptible and uncreated. From then on, when the patriarch’s bundles of candles light, the light becomes created. In other words, the cause of the kindling of the patriarch’s bundles of candles is the Uncreated Light. However, the flame that lights his candles, which we can touch, is a created light. And because this flame has in its beginning the gift of Uncreated Light, this is why it does not burn.”

But is it possible in our days for this Uncreated Light to be perceived by all those present, even non-believers? Professor of Theology, Protopresbyter Theodoros Zisis, in the context of the above question stated the following: “The Uncreated Light even now is not visible by all, but by many who are present at the rite. They all certainly see the created results of the initial uncreated energy of the Holy Fire. They see, in other words, the Holy Fire distributed from one believer to the next, which within a few minutes from being uncreated becomes created. The Uncreated Light is certainly seen primarily by the perfect ones, but God does permit partial perception to some imperfect individuals, even to nonbelievers, so they can be led to salvation.”

The first miracle of the Holy Uncreated Light occurred precisely when Jesus Christ returned from the world of the dead to be glorified through his Resurrection in an unintelligable and unapproachable light. The same light fills the Holy Tomb every year during the rite of Holy Saturday.

Testimonies or narratives that describe the specific rite in the early Christian centuries have not survived. However, certain ancient lamps have been preserved whose inscriptions shed light on the antiquity of the rite.

Notes:

1. Gregory of Nyssa, Περί της Aναστάσεως του Κυρίου ημών Ιησού Χριστού [On the Resurrection of Jesus Christ], ed. J.P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca (hereafter PG), 46.636d: «ιδόντες οι περί τον Πέτρον επίστευσαν… πλήρης γαρ ην ο Τάφος φωτός, ώστε και νυκτός ούσης έτι, διπλώς θεάσασθαι τα ένδον, και αισθητώς και πνευματικώς».

2. John of Damascus, Δοξαστικό, Παρακλητική η Μεγάλη [Eulogy: The Great Prayer], Athens 1992, p. 349: «Και δρομαίος ο Πέτρος, επέστη τω μνήματι, και το Φως εν τω τάφω ορών κατεπλήττετο».

3. The Uncreated Light was visible to the three disciples, Peter, James and John, the day of Christ’s Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. The same light, according to Saint Gregory Palamas, was also visible to the Apostle Paul during his journey to Damascus, when Christ appeared to him while the future Apostle to the Gentiles was still a persecutor of Christians. It was also visible on the day of Pentecost when tongues of fire descended on the twelve apostles.

4. John of Damascus, Λόγος εις το Άγιον Σάββατον [Oration on Holy Saturday], ed. J.P. Migne, PG 96, p. 628: “καί αυτή η της αγίας Κυριακής λαμπρά καί φαεσφόρος ημέρα, εν η τό άκτιστον φως σωματικώς εκ του τάφου πρόεισιν, ως νυμφίος ωραίος τω κάλλει της αναστάσεως.”