Contents
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 |