Restoration of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre to be completed before Easter

The head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission (RDM) in Jerusalem Archimandrite Alexander (Elisov) expressed confidence that the restoration of the Edicule, a chapel over the Tomb of the Lord, will be completed by Easter and will not violate age-old traditions of celebration, reports RIA Novosti.

The Orthodox tradition holds that the descent of the Holy Fire happens annually on Holy Saturday, the day preceding Orthodox Easter in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which attracts tens of thousands of Orthodox pilgrims.

“All activities associated with the Holy Fire descent and Easter celebrations by all faiths are to be held on time and upon completion of the work,” said Archimandrite Alexander (Elisov).

Easter this year will be celebrated on 16 April, the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem will happen the day before, on April 15.

In its current form, the Edicule of the Tomb was built in 1810 inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre over the cave that is venerated by the faithful as a place of the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Shrine is under the supervision of the Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic Churches, which gave the nod to the first in its history restoration. The work is carried out by experts from the National Technical University in Athens.

“These works were brought to life by objective reasons because the danger of the destruction or even the death of people present there was real. Moving layers, which the Edicule is based on, could cause its destruction at any time. So, of course, this process, completely natural, was necessary to anticipate, the construction needed strengthening to ensure that it could serve people for many years ahead,” said the Agency interlocutor.

The resonant stage of the restoration was the temporary removal of the marble slabs that cover the ancient funeral bed carved in the rock and, as it turned out, survived intact. This operation was done under the supervision of scientists for the first time in 500 years.

The Jerusalem Greek Orthodox Patriarchate shedules the completion of the restoration work for 22 March.