Thousands of Christian worshippers celebrated Easter's Holy Fire Ceremony last night at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem which is believed to be built on the site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

The Holy Fire is considered a miracle occurring every year on Holy Saturday, the day preceding Orthodox Easter Sunday.

At exactly 1400 local time every year, a sunbeam is believed to shine through the window in the ceiling of the church and light a lamp placed in the tomb. Church lights are switched off and a silence of anticipation descends on the church.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, then lights a few candles with the holy fire, and passes them on to worshippers inside the church.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.