	Acknowledgments	8
	Introduction	9
	PART I: History
1.	The founding of the Church of Jerusalem	15
2.	The rite and the miracle of the Holy Fire	22
3.	The first appearance of the Holy Fire	33
	PART II: Historical Accounts
1.	St Gregory the Illuminator (c. 330)	37
2.	The appearance of the Holy Fire after the fall of Jerusalem to the Persians (c. 617)	39
3.	The Pontificale of Poitiers (c. 800)	51
4.	St Theodore the Sabbaite (c. 836)	52
5.	The Arab philosopher al-Jahiz (c. 848)	53
6.	The French monk Bernard (867)	54
7.	The oil lamp “that was lit by an angel” in the collection of the English king Athelstan (c. 930)	56
8.	Arethas’ letter to the Emir of Damascus (c. 920)	58
9.	The Arab historian al-Masudi (c. 940)	59
10.	The Arab Ibn al-Qass (940)	60
11.	The elder Othmarus (10th c.)	64
12.	The letter of the cleric Niketas to the Emperor of Byzantium, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (c. 947)	65
13.	The Persian doctor al-Masihi (c. 990)	72
14.	The Persian al-Biruni (c. 1000)	73
15.	The destruction of the Church of the Resurrection in 1009	79
16.	Richard the Blessed of Saint Vanne (1027)	86
17.	Bishop of Orleans Odolric (c. 1025–1028)	88
18.	The Italian bishop Leo of Ostia (c. 1075) and the English author William Dugdale	90
19.	Nestorian Patriarch Makikha (1095)	92
20.	The speech of Pope Urban II (1095)	94
21.	The Egyptian King Al-Afdal and William the Hermit (1099)	96
22.	The French cardinal Gilon de Toucy (1099)	99
23.	The capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders (1099)	100
24.	The French chronicler Fulcher (1101)	104
25.	The Chronicle of St Maxentius (1101)	104
26	Codex L (1101)	105
27.	The Chronicle of Bartolf (1101)	109
28.	The Italian historian Caffaro (1101)	111
29.	The German historian Ekkehard (1101)	114
30.	The English historian William of Malmesbury (1101)	119
31.	The Armenian historian Matthew (1101)	121
32.	The French historian Guibert (1101)	122
33.	The Russian abbot Daniel (1005–1007)	127
34.	The scientific measurements of of Associate Professor Andrey Volkov on Holy Saturday 2008	134
35.	The German historian Albert of Aachen (1119)	138
36.	The Peterborough Chronicle and the Chronicle of St Maxentius: the double appearance of the Holy Fire (1120)	139
37.	The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, William I (c. 1130)	142
38.	Peter the Venerable (1147)	143
39.	The Icelandic abbot Niculas Bergsson (c. 1154) and the Italian Bartholomew (1158)	145
40.	The German Bishop Theodorich (c. 1171)	148
41.	The Persian historian Ali of Herat (1173)	148
42.	The capture of Jerusalem by Sultan Saladin (1187)	150
43.	Saladin before the Holy Fire (1192) a. The Itinerary of Richard b. The History of Ambrose	154 156
44.	The two Copts from Egypt: Ibn al-Qulzumi (1102) and Bishop John (1197)	160
45.	The German bishop Wilbrand (1211)	161
46.	The Syrian geographer Yaqut (1228) and the Margan Annals (1229)	162
47.	The Chronicle of Erfurt (1267)	163
48.	The anonymous English traveler (1344-45)	164

49.	The authenticity of the Tomb of Jesus and the Rock of Golgotha	167
50.	The original appearance of the Tomb of Jesus	178

51.	The English author John Mandeville	194
52.	The Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (c. 1360)	194
53.	The Russian archimandrite Grethenios (1400) and the German traveler Johann Schiltberger	195
54.	Zera Yacob, Emperor of Ethiopia (c. 1460)	196
55.	The Swiss historian Felix Fabri (1483)	197
56.	John Sulaka, the Chaldean patriarch (c. 1552)	200
57.	The Russian diplomat Basil Posniakov (1560)	202
58.	The column that was split by the Holy Fire (1579)	205
	a. Codex Monacensis Gr. 346	207
	b. The Proskinitarion of Simeon	208
	c. The Moldavian monk Parthenius Ageev	209
	d. The Armenian chronicler Simeon Lehatsi	210
59.	The first person to behold the Holy Light and the risen Christ (AD 33)	217
	PART III
1.	A personal attestation (2008)	223
2.	The Armenian chronicler Grigor Daranagetsi (1626)	224
3.	The British archaeologist Charles Warren (1867–1870)	227
4.	Monk Parthenius (1845) and Bishop Meletios (1867)	229
5.	Patriach Kyrillos II (1868)	234
6.	Monk Mitrophanis (1926)	235
7.	Patriarch Damianos I (1897–1926)	238
8.	Patriarch Diodoros I (1981–2000)	240
9.	Bishop Christodoulos (1998–1999)	241
10.	Patriarch Irinaios I (2001–2005)	243
11.	Patriarch Theophilos III (2009)	246
	Epilogue	247
	Appendix 1: Christ’s Descent into Hades	255
	Appendix 2: The time of the Christ’s Resurrection and the start of the miracle of the Holy Fire	259
	Appendix 3: From the Last Supper to the Resurrection of the God-Man	270
	Bibliography	277
	Manuscripts	285
	Index	286
	List of Illustrations	288

Contents