Holy Fire from Jerusalem arrives in Greece

The news in Greek

1. Ιεροσόλυμα  (n.)
   ιστορική πόλη της Μέσης Ανατολής, ιερή για χριστιανούς, εβραίους και μουσουλμάνους ↩︎
2. πτήση  (f.)
   ταξίδι με αεροπλάνο από έναν τόπο σε άλλον ↩︎
3. αεροδρόμιο  (n.)
   μεγάλος χώρος όπου φτάνουν και φεύγουν αεροπλάνα ↩︎
4. υποδέχομαι
   δέχομαι κάποιον που έρχεται, τον καλωσορίζω ↩︎
5. στρατιώτης  (m.)
   άνθρωποι που υπηρετούν στον στρατό και φορούν στολή ↩︎
6. μοιράζω
   δίνω κάτι σε πολλούς ανθρώπους ή μέρη ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: How did the Holy Fire travel from Jerusalem to Athens on Holy Saturday?

Question 2: Who welcomed the Holy Fire when it arrived at the airport in Athens?

Vocabulary

Greek	English
Ιεροσόλυμα  (n.)	Jerusalem
πτήση  (f.)	flight
αεροδρόμιο  (n.)	airport
υποδέχομαι	to welcome / to receive
στρατιώτης  (m.)	soldier
μοιράζω	to distribute / to share out

Read the full story

The Holy Fire from Jerusalem arrived in Greece on the evening of Holy Saturday, continuing a long-standing Orthodox Christian tradition that takes place every year at Easter. The flame was brought from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” on a special government flight from Tel Aviv.

As is customary, the Holy Fire was welcomed with honours usually reserved for a head of state. At the airport, the flame was received by the President of the Hellenic Parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, along with a guard of honour from the Greek Armed Forces, which presented military honours. A philharmonic band from Markopoulo played the Greek national anthem, while representatives of civil society were also present, including the Scouts of Greece, the Pontian Association of Lavrio carrying an icon of the Resurrection, and the Association of Asia Minor Greeks of Rafina.

The Greek delegation that travelled to Jerusalem was deliberately small for security reasons. It was led by the Deputy Foreign Minister for Diaspora Greeks, Giannis Loverdos, who represented the government. He was accompanied by the Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Athens, Archimandrite Ieronymos, and the Metropolitan of Polyanis and Kilkis, Bartholomew, representing the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.

The Holy Fire had been lit earlier that day during the traditional Ceremony of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. According to the reports, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, handed the flame to the Greek delegation, which then transported it to Greece using the Greek prime minister’s aircraft. Loverdos described the mission as a “very difficult effort” due to the conditions in the Middle East, and publicly thanked the Greek Foreign Ministry, the Civil Aviation Authority, the police and all services involved in organising the transfer.

At the arrival ceremony in Athens, both political and religious representatives emphasised the symbolic meaning of the flame for Orthodox Christians. Kaklamanis stated that, for believers, the Holy Fire represents the light of faith that “always overcomes darkness”, in peaceful times as well as in times of crisis. Loverdos underlined that, for the faithful, the flame symbolises the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as love, hope and peace, and said that many people had worked “day and night” so that the flame could reach Greece in time for the Easter services.

After the official welcome at the airport, the first destination of the Holy Fire in Athens was the Metochi of the Holy Sepulchre in Plaka, a historic dependency of the Jerusalem Patriarchate in the old town beneath the Acropolis. There, the flame arrived in an atmosphere described as solemn and devout. A thanksgiving service (doxology) was held before the flame was distributed to worshippers and passed from candle to candle.

From the Metochi, the Holy Fire was then sent to parishes across Greece so that priests could use it during the midnight Resurrection service on Holy Saturday night. To achieve this, Greek airlines organised a combination of regular and special flights dedicated exclusively to transporting the flame. According to the published schedules, 18 flights by AEGEAN and Olympic Air were planned to carry the Holy Fire from Athens to eleven destinations, including Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Kavala, Volos, Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Mykonos, Lemnos, Chios, Samos and Kos. From these cities, the flame was further distributed by road to smaller towns and villages.

Similar arrangements were reported in Cyprus, where the Holy Fire also arrived from Jerusalem on a special AEGEAN flight that landed at Larnaca airport. From there, according to the airline, the flame was taken to churches around the island to spread what was described as the message of Resurrection and hope among the faithful.

For many Orthodox Christians in Greece and Cyprus, receiving the Holy Fire at Easter is considered an important part of their religious and cultural identity. Each year, the Greek state and the Church cooperate to ensure that the flame reaches as many communities as possible in time for the Easter liturgy. While the ceremony and the language used by officials reflect the beliefs of the Orthodox majority, the event is also presented in the media as a significant national and religious tradition that connects believers in Greece, the wider diaspora and the Holy Land.

Info: ‘Greek Learner News’ is a service from ‘Let’s Learn Greek’, a language school dedicated to teaching Greek through a range of online Greek courses.