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.
In predpochla Saturday at the Shrine is Holy fire, which is in Jerusalem attracts tens of thousands of Orthodox pilgrims, including a large delegation from Russia.
«All activities associated with Holy fire, and Easter all faiths, to be held on time and upon completion of the work,» — said Archimandrite Alexander (elisov) in an interview with RIA Novosti cited by chelorg.com.
Easter this year will be celebrated on 16 April, Holy fire in Jerusalem is to be held the day before on April 15.
In its current form, Edicule was built in 1810 inside the Church of the Holy sepulchre of the cave that is venerated by the faithful as a place of burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Shrine is under the custody of the Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic churches, which gave the nod to the first in the history of its restoration. The work is carried out by experts from the National technical University in Athens.
«These works were brought to life by objective circumstances, because the danger of the destruction of the death even of people who are present there, was real. Moving layers, which is the Edicule, at any time could cause its destruction. So, of course, this process is completely natural, it was necessary to anticipate, design needed to be strengthened to make it so that she could have many years to serve the people,» — said the Agency interlocutor.
The resonant stage of the restoration was temporary removal of the marble slabs that cover the ancient funerary 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.
Jerusalem, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate calls the date of completion of the restoration work on 22 March.
