Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret NewsEvery year, on the eve of Great and All-holy Pascha, the Holy Fire miraculously lights inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the Greek Orthodox Christian Patriarch to distribute to the clergy and faithful anxiously waiting outside the tomb of our risen Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Some of them take this light by candle to distribute that very day throughout the Middle East, Greece and even Russia.
But this year, for the first time ever, the miraculous Holy Fire traveled via charted airplane from Moscow to New York, and faithful Orthodox Christians have shared it throughout North America, driving from parish to parish. Ss. Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church received this blessing with great joy, and the event received local media coverage. (Flame from Jerusalem lights faith in the hearts of S.L.'s Antiochian Orthodox worshipers) The clergy and faithful purchased lanterns to take the Holy Fire home with them.
"The reality is, this holy fire means nothing if a fire doesn't kindle within your hearts," Fr. John Mahfouz, Assistant Pastor, said. “May we have the light, the holy light, burning within us. May we have the light of Christ within us and repent.”