Today there are many skeptics of the miraculous nature of the Holy Light of Jerusalem, known as Holy Fire in the West. Because it takes place behind closed doors with only the Patriarch of Jerusalem witnessing the initial appearance of the Holy Light from within the Holy Sepulchre, there is a lot of speculation as to what really takes place behind those closed doors to produce the fire. Some people refuse to accept that it could really happen by a miracle.
Assuming the skeptics are right and there is indeed deception by the Patriarchs Of Jerusalem over the course of many centuries, this still would not explain a naturalistic origin for the Holy Light. In fact, it only explains one aspect of it. There are many more things the skeptic would need to explain to dispel the supernatural element of this event. For example, one aspect of the miracle no skeptic has ever given an adequate explanation for is the fact that on numerous occasions there are reports of candles being held by people within the church and even outside the church being lit up on their own before the Holy Light is distributed to the people. There is video evidence of this, but due to the large and packed crowds the person shooting the video is never able to catch up to the people for whom this miracle took place.
Then I came across a video last night that is really a quality documentary of professional footage from Holy Week and Easter in Jerusalem that has been hardly seen by people since it was posted a year ago (there were only 280 views when I saw it). When it came to the part about the Holy Light ceremony that takes place at the Holy Sepulchre on Holy Saturday, it appears that the makers of this documentary did not have the permission to access a position inside the church for the ceremony, so they show what takes place outside, which is something that is actually pretty rare. (The video can be seen below.)
It begins around the 40:00 minute mark. At exactly the 41:00 minute mark, as the people are waiting for the Holy Light to come outside, you see two older ladies talking right in front of the camera. The one with the grey hair is who you want to pay attention to. Notice her position way in the back where the camera is among the packed crowd. At the 42:08 mark, you begin to hear this woman behind the camera begin crying with astonishment, saying that her candle lit on its own. The people shooting the documentary begin to ask her about it, but at the same time the camera is fixed on getting the footage of the Holy Light coming towards them, preventing the camera from being turned towards that lady crying and saying her candle was just lit up on its own. It takes another full 30 seconds for the Holy Light to come near them. Meanwhile you can hear a few people talking about how they saw this woman's candles light up on their own.
It begins around the 40:00 minute mark. At exactly the 41:00 minute mark, as the people are waiting for the Holy Light to come outside, you see two older ladies talking right in front of the camera. The one with the grey hair is who you want to pay attention to. Notice her position way in the back where the camera is among the packed crowd. At the 42:08 mark, you begin to hear this woman behind the camera begin crying with astonishment, saying that her candle lit on its own. The people shooting the documentary begin to ask her about it, but at the same time the camera is fixed on getting the footage of the Holy Light coming towards them, preventing the camera from being turned towards that lady crying and saying her candle was just lit up on its own. It takes another full 30 seconds for the Holy Light to come near them. Meanwhile you can hear a few people talking about how they saw this woman's candles light up on their own.
We finally get footage of this woman whose candles were lit on their own at the 42:56 mark. There seems to be an edit break at this point to properly position the camera in front of this woman, so clearly some time has passed until we finally see her. She is still crying, but the Holy Light has been extinguished already. This is commonly done by pilgrims, in order to be able to preserve the candles for their trip back home and to be able to keep this bundle of candles as a blessing forever instead of letting the wax melt away. We then see people are gathered around this woman, some of whom witnessed this miracle take place, with one gentleman even kissing the candles in her hand. The woman is clearly moved and shocked by this event, sometimes she is even seen shaking. At the 43:40 mark the camera man asks her how it took place. She says that she could see a light like a lightning flash coming in her direction through the air and suddenly lighting up her candles.
What makes this one of the best video confirmations of the supernatural origin of the Holy Light is that there is no room for deception here, since it took place in front of a crowd with witnesses. If there had been deception, there would have surely been a witness who would have seen her struggling with a lighter trying to fire up the 33 candles in her hand. And if her reaction is one of a deceiver, then this woman should get an academy award. Unfortunately the camera did not capture the exact moment of the candles being lit, but with the Holy Light coming from the other side, this was the moment the camera crew was waiting for and they clearly didn't want to turn away from this once in a lifetime event to capture something else behind them that came so unexpectedly. Having therefore presented this video, decide for yourself. I personally think it is a powerful testimony of the supernatural element of the Holy Light that will leave even the most skeptical of skeptics hard pressed to deny.
