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| Patriarch Kyrillos II of Jerusalem |
Patriarch Kyrillos II, born in Samos in 1795, served as Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1845-1872. According to the renown British Archaeologist Charles Warren, he was "a kind, good-hearted old man."
On Holy Saturday of 1868 - a few months after the death of Bishop Meletios - Patriarch Kyrillos was appointed head of the ceremony for the first time, despite the fact that he had been on the patriarchal throne for 24 years. Archaeologist Charles Warren, who was still exploring the unseen side of the miracle, decided to meet the Patriarch after the ceremony. He had done the same a year earlier with Bishop Meletios. According to his account, the Patriarch answered all his questions politely. The British archaeologist writes:
On Holy Saturday of 1868 - a few months after the death of Bishop Meletios - Patriarch Kyrillos was appointed head of the ceremony for the first time, despite the fact that he had been on the patriarchal throne for 24 years. Archaeologist Charles Warren, who was still exploring the unseen side of the miracle, decided to meet the Patriarch after the ceremony. He had done the same a year earlier with Bishop Meletios. According to his account, the Patriarch answered all his questions politely. The British archaeologist writes:
"I have always been very friendly with the elderly patriarch ... He very kindly described to me the way all this happened. It is as follows. After entering the inner chamber of the Tomb he is left alone. He kneels in front of the tomb slab, looking north, and as he prays for the light to become apparent, it gradually appears. It does not descend from heaven, but appears and has its source from the tomb slab itself. As he prays more fervently, the light intensifies and emerges as a gentle flame, about half an inch [1.27 cm] high, which he gathers with both hands and carefully places in the lamp vessel which becomes completely filled by the flame."
Patriarch Kyrillos told Warren that the Light emerged through the tomb slab, like a thin veil of light, and after first gathering it with his two hands in a specific place, without of course burning himself, he carried the sacred flame into the lamp vessel. The Light is again described as a fluid fire that has mass and gravity. It was the first time that the elderly patriarch experienced the emergence of Light in the Tomb, four years before his death.
Patriarch Kyrillos told Warren that the Light emerged through the tomb slab, like a thin veil of light, and after first gathering it with his two hands in a specific place, without of course burning himself, he carried the sacred flame into the lamp vessel. The Light is again described as a fluid fire that has mass and gravity. It was the first time that the elderly patriarch experienced the emergence of Light in the Tomb, four years before his death.