August 2/July 20 – memory of the Prophet of God Elijahtranslated

Elijah the Tishbite (9th century BC), one of the greatest prophets and the first virgin of the Old Testament.

He was born in Thesbia of Gilead in the tribe of Levi in ​​the 9th century. BC . The life of the holy prophet is described in the 3rd and 4th books of Kings.

Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus reports the following legend about the birth of the prophet Elijah: “When Elijah was born, his father Sovakh saw in a vision that handsome men greeted him, swaddled him with fire and fed him with a fiery flame.” The name Elijah given to the baby, which means “the strength of the Lord” [1], determined his entire life. From an early age he devoted himself to the One God, settled in the desert and spent his life in strict fasting, contemplation of God and prayer.

Called to prophetic service under the Israeli king Ahab, the prophet became a fiery zealot for true faith and piety.

For his fiery zeal for the glory of God, the prophet Elijah was taken to heaven alive in a chariot of fire. The prophet Elisha witnessed the ascent of the prophet Elijah to heaven and received, along with his fallen mantle (a type of clothing), the gift of a prophetic spirit twice as great as the prophet Elijah had.

From the “Word on the Day of the Feast of the Prophet of God Elijah” by the ever-memorable Archimandrite John (Krestyankin)

Today, beloved, you and I...