In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, held the consecration ceremony of the Holy fire – doors closed, no pilgrims and faithful Christian communities.
For the first time in 10 centuries of Christianity, the ceremony is held in closed session in the absence of pilgrims and the faithful of the Christian communities of Jerusalem, reports RIA “Novosti”.
The ceremony began with a procession of representatives of the Armenian Orthodox Apostolic Church. The status quo adopted in the second half of the 19th century, grants the right to open the ancient oak doors of the Church of the Resurrection the Armenian priests.
In previous years the Armenian procession consisted of several dozens of monks and hundreds of believers. Today, the key to the temple gate had only a single monk of the Armenian Church, accompanied by the sacristan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Vajji nusseibeh.
In a deserted temple square is on duty police. It was decided to close not only the doors of the Church, but the gates to temple square to nearby streets.
After the Armenian delegation to the Temple will include representatives of the Coptic and Assyrian churches. All under the arches of the ancient Basilica in the service will be attended by about ten priests.
Recall the mass meeting of the Holy fire at Vnukovo airport was cancelled in connection with restrictive measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
