Fire, Holy, of the Greek Church

Fire, Holy, of the Greek Church a fire kindled by the Greek and Armenian monks in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, under pretense of a miracle, on Saturday of the Greek Easter week, amid the wildest enthusiasm of the multitude, and the utmost confusion and uproar; so much so that many are trampled to death in the crowd. Dr. Wolff, in his Missionary Journal, relates that the Greek metropolitan declared in reference to this pretended miracle, "The holy fire was known in the time of the Greek emperors; it was then seen in the Holy Sepulchre, and also in the time that the Crusaders were in possession of the place. Many of the Latin historians mention it. From the time of the invasion of the Turks till now; the holy fire has been seen both by believers and unbelievers." See Herschell, Visit to my Fatherland in 1843.