On Saturday, April 19, a delegation from the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation will deliver the Holy Fire from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to Moscow. The sacred flame, symbolizing the Resurrection of Christ, will arrive aboard a Roscosmos aircraft named “Sergey Korolev.”

The Holy Fire's descent, a centuries-old Orthodox tradition, takes place annually on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter according to the Julian calendar. This year, Orthodox Christians will celebrate Pascha on April 20.

Upon arrival at Vnukovo Airport, clergy from dioceses across Russia will receive the flame. The highlight of its arrival will be the ceremonial procession into Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior during the Patriarchal Paschal service, led by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.

Following the service, the flame will be distributed to 15 churches throughout Moscow, where the faithful will be able to light their own lamps from the Holy Fire throughout Bright Week.

In addition to Moscow, the flame will be transported to dozens of cities across Russia, including Arkhangelsk, Barnaul, Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Ivanovo, Izhevsk, Irkutsk, Kazan, Kaluga, Kirov, Krasnoyarsk, Krasnodar, Kemerovo, Kurgan, Kursk, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Novy Urengoy, Omsk, Oryol, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Rostov-on-Don, Ryazan, Saransk, Saratov, Salekhard, Smolensk, Stavropol, Syktyvkar, Tambov, Tver, Tula, Ulan-Ude, Ulyanovsk, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Chita, Chelyabinsk, Cheboksary, Yakutsk, Yaroslavl, and others.

The St. Andrew Foundation has been bringing the Holy Fire from Jerusalem to Moscow since 2003 as part of its “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” initiative, conducted with the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

Viewers across the country will be able to witness the ceremony of the Holy Fire’s descent in real time, as it will be broadcast live by three national television networks: Channel One, Russia-1, and NTV.