site.btaBulgaria Cancels Holy Fire Delegation to Israel, Flame Available at Synodal Chapel

Due to the ongoing military actions in the Middle East and a Level 5 travel risk index for Israel and Palestine issued by Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – advising against all travel and urging departure from the area, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has decided not to send a delegation to Israel and the holy city of Jerusalem to bring the Holy Fire to Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Patriarchate said in a press release on Thursday.

The Holy Fire, which is kept in the capital, will be accessible at the Synodal Chapel of St Tsar Boris Mihail after 2 p.m. on Holy Saturday, April 11.

Earlier on Thursday, Metropolitan Kiprian of Stara Zagora, spokesperson for the Holy Synod, told BTA that no Bulgarian delegation would travel to Jerusalem in 2026 due to the situation in the Middle East and the inability to travel.

The Holy Fire is believed by Orthodox Christians to be miraculously ignited each year on the day before Easter at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, situated at the site of Christ’s tomb. A blue light reportedly appears and ignites the flame, which in its first minutes is said not to burn; accounts of the phenomenon date back to the 4th century, when lamps and candles were said to have lit spontaneously during the liturgy, a miracle believed to recur annually.