Miracle of the Holy Fire mystery embraced by Russian Christians

A huge number of Christians in Russia embrace a very old ritual that stems from the belief that a miracle happens on the eve of Orthodox Easter, but there are skeptics who don't believe the mystery.

"It's anyone's right whether to believe it or not, but it's an unquestionable thing for believers," Vladimir Yakunin, the head of the St. Andrew Foundation delegation that brought the Holy Fire from Jerusalem to Russia this year, told NBC News.

The miracle of the Holy Fire is said to have happened each year for the past 1,200 years, in which candles placed by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Old Jerusalem would light up on their own the day before Orthodox Easter. It was first recorded in the ninth century, but only the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, who is locked up in a chapel, gets to see the igniting happen. He then comes out with a lighted candle.

"This is folk religion," said religious studies expert Sergei Filatov of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "The custom is akin to magic, to paganism."

According to the report, the Russian Orthodox Church has long embraced this mystery, with the flame in a sealed torch brought to Moscow -- by foot or by horse in olden times, then by plane in the modern age. It became quite popular after the country's resurgence from Soviet religious repression, with thousands gathered at the Vunukovo airport to greet its arrival. It will be taken to 45 cities in the country this year.

The event, however, has been questioned for quite a while, and there have been firm skeptics, including Pope Gregory IX who banned the practice in the 13th century.

"This 'miracle' is a load of hogwash," said Yury Yerofeyev of the Commission Against Fake Science, an arm of the Russian Academy of Sciences that debunks false claims. Muslim scholars in the 15th century seem to have shared the same view, having said that silk threads, sulphur, and igniting bombs were used.

Even Christians want scientific proof. Orthodox priest Fr. Gennady Zaridze, according to Catholic Herald, went to Jerusalem to receive the Holy Fire as well as to conduct an experiment. Being a member of the union of Orthodox scientists in Russia, he checked the temperature of the flame using a modern device, because the flame is said to be only slightly warm when it first descends. The temperature was initially 42 degrees Celsius, according to the report, but rose to 320 degrees Celsius after 15 minutes.

It's ritual worship, say experts, but because of the depressing life in Russia, people want a miracle to take place -- for the spiritual to manifest in a physical form. Whether it's real or not, it has an impact on the believers.

"Even if the Patriarch of Jerusalem carries a lighter, the Holy Fire has spiritual power," said Roman Lunkin of Sreda, a sociological research service, told NBC News. "A religious feeling can't be destroyed, even by a lighter in a pocket."