Jimmy Aiken's Mysterious World is brought to you by the Star Quest Production Network and is made possible by our many generous patrons.

If you'd like to support the podcast, please visit sQP.com slash Give. You're listening to episode 293 of Jimmy Aiken's mysterious world

where we look at mysteries from the twin perspectives of faith and reason.

In this episode we're talking about the

Holy Fire. I'm Dom Bethinelli and joining me to hear the panel is Jimmy Aiken.

Hey Jimmy, how did it am?

Every year on Holy Saturday, the day before Orthodox Easter, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem makes a pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,

the burial place of Jesus Christ.

There amid a crowd of fellow pilgrims he enters the tomb of Jesus and prays over the slab where the Messiah lay. He then emerges from the tomb holding two lit candles whose

fire represents the light of the resurrected Christ. He uses these to light candles being held by gathered pilgrims.

Soon the church is ablaze with the lights of candles.

Special emissaries from various nations also place the fire in special traveling containers.

They take it back to their countries where it is presented to religious and political leaders,

and so the flame of the resurrected Christ spreads around the world.

It's a moving ceremony filled with spiritual significance.

But is it, as many people believe, a miracle?

Does God himself light the fire? Does it have a natural source? And what can we learn about this historic right?

That's what we'll be talking about on this episode of Jimmy Icken's mysterious world.

Jimmy, what do we want to say to begin today's mystery?

Over the last several years, I've had multiple requests to cover the mystery of the Holy Fire.

I was hampered for quite some time by the fact that

a lot of the resources I needed to consult were not available in English, but I eventually

...