SAINT ELIJAH

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Saint Elijah is not only one of the most beloved Saints, he is also one of the most famous people in the history of mankind, who is revered not just in Christianity and Judaism, but also in later Protestant sects and Islam, moreover, traces of his image are present even in pagan religions. And it is not without reason that many theologians believe that Saint Ilya comprises some of the features of Helios and Zeus, and there is a point of similarity between the Greek customs of the Day of Ilya the Prophet (Ilya Gromovnik) and the German-Slavic customs of Midsummer Day. Sometimes Saint Ilya is even confused with Perun the Thunderer, or with the epic Ilya Muromets…

Prophet Elijah in the Slavic folk tradition is considered the Lord of thunder, heavenly fire, rain, the Patron Saint of crops, fertility and, although along with Nicholas the Wonderworker he belongs to the most revered Saints, he is also supposed to be the most formidable of them, because he always stands for justice…

Prophet Elijah is also one of the brightest figures in the Old Testament history, although we do not know anything about his origin, genealogy, and even his name may not be a proper name… For “Eliyahu” in Hebrew means “Yahweh is my God”, and there is an opinion that the Prophet took this name for himself during the confrontation with the priests of Baal.

It is known, however, that he was born in the Jewish village of Galaad (or Gilead – the exact location of it is still unknown) three thousand years ago, in the 9th century BC, during the reign of King Ahab, during which Israel, having rejected the true God, began to serve the pagan gods Baal and Astarte. It is also known that the main deed of Saint Elijah was the exposure of false gods and wicked priests.

It is also known that Prophet Elijah really was a fiery zealot of faith and piety from an early age, devoting himself to the One and Only God…

It is known that he lived in the desert and spent time in fasting, prayer and piety, and only a raven was bringing him a little food in its beak…

It is also known that Saint Elijah was a harbinger of the Messiah… This is evidenced by the miracles he performed, for example, during the drought that followed the sins of King Ahab and the people of Israel, when he settled in the house of a widow from Zarepta of Sidon and resurrected her only son who had died of an illness – just as Jesus later did in his earthly life.

Or here’s another miracle in the widow’s house (while the Prophet was living in it) – the oil in the jug never run out and the flour in the barn never run out, too – which, as it were, anticipated the miracle of Jesus feeding five thousand people with two fish and five loaves of bread.

The Gospel testifies to the fact that Elijah is the greatest of the Prophets by the fact that only he and Moses were worthy of a conversation with Jesus during His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.

There are different explanations why these two prophets were chosen for the conversation.

First, Elijah, like Moses, had the experience of direct communion with God: Moses received the law from God and communicated with the Most High as closely as possible for a person – he saw “the back of God”; while Elijah stood face to face before God according to His call, “covering his face with his mantle.”

Saint John Chrysostom expounds a different opinion, “one who is dead and the other who has not yet experienced death” appeared before Jesus in order to show that He “has power over life and death, has dominion over heaven and earth.”

But the main thing in this conversation with Jesus is that the Lord reveals to Prophet Elijah the greatness of his Divine love. And the Prophet says that God is not the element, and not an earthquake, but He is “the breath of a quiet wind” … So Saint Elijah is the discoverer of the Spirit of God’s love! Before that, the Lord was perceived exclusively as a punishing force, which, with the help of fear, forced to be obedient, and now God was perceived as Love – one and unconditional!

Moreover, according to the Holy Tradition, in the history of humankind, there were only three people taken to heaven alive: John the Apostle, Prophet Enoch and Prophet Elijah. Moreover, as to Prophet Elijah, it is specifically said in the Bible, “suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and … Elijah rushed in a whirlwind to Heaven”…

On this site, In the IV century AD, the first temple named after the Prophet was built, and at the same time, a Christian holiday in honor of Saint Elijah appeared. Moreover, what is interesting… the very first churches in Russia were dedicated to Prophet Elijah. One of them was built in Kiev during the reign of Igor Svyatoslavovich, that is, about 80 years before the official adoption of Christianity by the Old Russian state in 988…

In Moscow, one of the first monasteries was also dedicated to Elijah the Prophet, which was built in the XIV century, and from which the temple of the same name still remains. He also gave the name to the famous street of the capital – Ilyinka.

Before the revolution, on the day of Saint Elijah the Prophet, believers led by the Patriarch walked with the Cross to this temple from the Execution Ground on Red Square, and a prayer service was performed there in honor of the Saint.

Saint Elijah’s Day is not only a church holiday in honor of the Prophet, but also one of the largest and most revered all-Russian folk holidays, for which many beliefs, mythological representations, calendar and economic signs and prohibitions are timed…

The Elijah’s Day was considered and is still considered the calendar border of summer (“Elijah summer ends”). That is the time when the first signs of autumn appear in nature and a change in the behavior of animals and birds, as well as in the weather, takes place. “Before the Elijah’s Day, even under a bush, the sun dries, and after it, dew does not dry out in the day even on the wasteland.” It was believed that on the eve of the Elijah Day there is a “sparrow” or “rowan” night, when lightnings flash, deafening peals of thunder are heard, frightened birds rush about and stumble upon various objects.

The folk and Orthodox holiday of Saint Elijah’s Day has its own signs, traditions and customs, which organically combine both pagan rites and church rituals… because people have preserved many signs since ancient times that have been passed down from generation to generation and have successfully survived to this day:

• if it rains on the Ascension Day, then a thunderstorm will happen on the Elijah’s Day;
• on the Elijah’s Day before lunchtime it is summer, then after lunch it is already autumn;
• Saint Elijah ends summer, and stores crops;
• if it rains on the Elijah’s Day, next two months will be cold;
• if it rains much on this day, then there will be few fires in the current year;
• raining on this day foreshadows a bountiful harvest of millet;
• on the Elijah’s Day it is forbidden to form a haystack – it was believed that it would be set on fire;
• starting on the Elijah’s Day it is right to collect peas;
• that is the time for magic spells on seeds – to make the next year harvest of high quality and volume;
• if you wash your face with rain on the Elijah’s Day, you can get rid of the evil eye;
• on this day they listen to the thunder: if the sound is deep, then wait for rain, if it is high, then there will be a downpour;
• If thunder sounds like a long and low rumble – the weather will be bad; a sharp ‘clap’ means clear weather;
• if someone hears a very strong thunder, then during the year he/she will have frequent headaches;
• on this day mosquitoes stop biting, and flies will no longer bother;
• anyone caught in the rain on this day will be healthy all year round;
• before the Elijah’s Day people bathe in the sea or a lake, and after the day they says goodbye to the pleasure;
• before the Elijah’s Day even priests beg for rain in vain, after the day even a simple woman succeeds in it;
• after the Elijah’s Day, the night becomes longer – Peter and Paul reduced a day by one hour, and Elijah the Prophet took two hours away;
• on the Elijah’s Day, special attention is paid to homeless people and those who need food or money…

Of course, God does not often manifest His miracles in a visible and indisputable form – like kindling a fire through prayer, contrary to the obvious laws of nature; like sending down rain that ended a long drought; like offering food by the birds of the air to a monk having taken vows of schema in the wilderness; like inexhaustibility of reserves, when the Lord takes care of them… Even the resurrection of the already dead!

And all these miracles from the life of Elijah the Prophet are carefully described in the Bible, and they, naturally, could not leave our ancestors indifferent. After all, such an obviousness in the manifestation of miracles is an extremely rare thing: the Lord does not impose His power on anyone… Even if this happens, then human memory keeps such episodes for centuries – we are all, unfortunately, of little faith, and our faith too often needs the emotional prop of a miracle…

Our ancestors also understood the essence of Elijah’s confrontation; they honored his integrity, determination, courage and resilience. Undoubtedly, they were captivated by the fact that Elijah the Prophet was a fighter for justice. Probably, all this together made the distant Prophet so close and dear to us: formidable, omnipotent (rain and thunderstorms are subject to him!), but at the same time – domestic, admitted to all corners of our life… Therefore, we may address Him in any situation, at any time of the year and in any weather, asking Him:

• to send down rains, it is not for nothing that his name is Elijah the Wet;
• to end rains, it is not for nothing that his name is Elijah the Dry;
• to protect from gun wounds;
• to increase the harvest of bread and medicinal plants;
• to help treasure hunters;
• to help hunting fur-bearing animals;
• to protect from and heal witchcraft and the evil eye;
• to protect from and heal damage and disease;
• to protect from and heal bleeding;
• protect from and heal fever;
• to save from an unclean spirit;
• to save from robbers;
• to save newlyweds from damage;
• to save livestock from trouble;
• “and the girls pray to him about getting married, because it is about fertility. Can you imagine asking the Prophet Elijah for a successful marriage? Him, the only Old Testament Prophet-virgin (he was not married!) … And all these lovely folk superstitions make Saint Elijah a good grandfather, whom he never was”…

According to legend, Saint Elijah sends thirty angels with bows and arrows to help! And who can withstand the Prophet and his army?

The Russian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, according to which the Orthodox holiday of Elijah the Prophet was always on July 20, and in terms of the Gregorian calendar, according to which the entire secular world lives today, it turns out on August 2.

In Russia, on August 2, there is another popular date – the holiday of the Airborne Forces, because it was on this day in 1930 that a military unit was parachuted for the first time at the exercises of the Moscow Military District near Voronezh. It is not without reason that the berets of the Russian paratroopers are painted in the color of a peaceful sky!

The fact that Saint Elijah’s Day and the Day of the Airborne Forces are both celebrated on August 2 according to the Gregorian calendar became the reason to declare Saint Elijah the heavenly Patron of the paratroopers and The Russian Aerospace Forces, that is, pilots and cosmonauts consider Saint Elijah their Patron, protecting them in the sky and space…

By the way, in recent years, the tradition of religious processions with the icon of the Prophet Elijah, in which airborne troops take part, has been gaining popularity. The center of the festivities is the Saint Elijah’s Church on Ilyinka, as already mentioned… And every year at least five thousand people participate in a religious procession from the church to the Execution Ground near the Kremlin. In addition to religious processions and prayers to the Prophet Elijah, numerous festive services are held in all churches of Russia.

Turn your eyes to the sky now – is it sunny? are the clouds? – Never mind! Saint Elijah will still hear our appeals to him! Yeah…, you can always rely on him!

How cannot one love Him?