Case file · Apparition / miracle
The Holy Fire of the Holy Sepulchre
Every Holy Saturday the Greek Orthodox patriarch enters the tomb of Christ and emerges with lit candles, a flame believers hold to descend miraculously. The pilgrim Bernard the Monk described it in about 870.
870 CE · 31.78, 35.23 · status: disputed
The account
The flame is flown each year to Orthodox countries. Believers say it does not burn for the first minutes. In 1834 a stampede during the ceremony killed hundreds.
The sceptical view
Medieval Muslim and some Christian writers, and in 2005 a Greek TV demonstration, argued the flame is lit by ordinary means; the church does not allow inspection.