Miracle with crucifix occurs at Golgotha in Church of Holy Sepulchre

Moscow, April 7, 2017

Photo: Fr. Theodore Daoud

A miraculous event has reportedly taken place recently within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Golgotha, the place of the Lord’s Crucifixion is also within the church, over which stands an altar. Under the altar, pilgrims can venerate the exact place where the Lord’s Cross was placed in the ground, and above the altar hangs a crucifix, on which hangs the crucified Lord with eyes closed.

According to Fr. Theodore Daoud, a miracle occurred on Wednesday, March 29, in which the Lord’s eyes on the crucifix-icon opened, and remained open throughout the day. There were several witnesses, according to Fr. Theodore.

He writes on his Facebook page, on April 1, “The miraculous event occurred this past Wednesday before the eyes of many priests and visitors, including my friend Archimandrite Malateus Basal whose friend took the pictures, who assured me of what happened in detail, which is that the eyes of the crucified Christ on the icon—which are always closed—remained open throughout the day.”

Fr. Theodore also adds some words that call us to focus on the heart of our faith: “Miracles allowed by God’s Love strengthen our weak faith, but they are not the reason for our faith. Our faith goes deeper than that. We have seen God in the flesh, we have heard Him, we have eaten with Him, and we witnessed His Crucifixion, His Death, His Resurrection and His Ascension to Heaven. The greatest miracle which is far underappreciated occurs in every Divine Liturgy, where bread and wine are transformed to the Body and Blood of Christ. Let us always be mindful of this.”

In closing, Fr. Theodore writes, “We look at this miracle and all miracles as a sign from God to strengthen our faith and to remember the Divine Love of the One who died on the cross for our sins. May we repent and prepare ourselves for a true Holy Week and Resurrection. Praise God for all things.”

This miracle occurs just a week after work on the edicule over the Lord’s tomb was finished, and two weeks before the great miracle of the Holy Fire, celebrated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre annually on Holy Saturday.