On Saturday, April 3, 2010, on the eve of the radiant Resurrection of Christ, the official delegation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate delivered the Holy Fire and the Bethlehem Icon of Theotokos to Ukraine.
KYIV – On Saturday, April 3, 2010, on the eve of the radiant Resurrection of Christ, the official delegation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) delivered the Holy Fire and the Bethlehem Icon of Theotokos to Ukraine, reports the web site of UOC-MP.
At the Holy Gates the shrines were met by the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-MP, Metropolitan Volodymyr. Also attending the ceremony were Archbishop Pavel of Vyshhorod and Bishops Hilary of Makariv and Panteleimon of Vasylkiv.
Then the archpastor performed a prayer service at the Icon of the Theotokos, following which he blessed all those present with candles lit from the Holy Fire with the words "The light of Christ enlightens all!"
Thereafter the hierarch addressed those present with words, saying: "On this Paschal night we are the happiest people on the earth – today the Merciful God sent us the Holy Fire from His Sepulcher, today the Queen of Heavens and Earth arrived to us in Her miracle-working icon ‘of Bethlehem.’ May the Holy Fire purify each of us and the whole world."
The Bethlehem Icon of the Mother of God was donated to the Basilica of the Nativity of Christ at the Holy Land by the Russian Royal House. Its peculiarity is that this is the only one of the venerated icons of the Theotokos that smiles. Already in our times the Bethlehem Icon has become famous for many wonders. It is venerated in Palestine, and not by Christians only, but by the Muslim population as well, and by many pilgrims from all over the world.