Few have made such a mark on history as St. Elijah, the ‘Prince of the Prophets’, whose liturgical feast day is celebrated on 20 July.
Newsdesk (20/07/2021 22:15, Gaudium Press) Elijah the Thesbite, together with Moses, represents the ultimate model of the prophet in the Old Testament. His motto defines him entirely: “Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino, Deo exercituum” – “With zeal I have been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts.”(I Kgs 19:10). His intimacy with God made him an extraordinary blessing for his generation.
However, the fact that he was carried away in a chariot of fire shows that those men did not deserve a man of his moral stature; nor were they any more worthy to contemplate his face.
Full of holy hatred against idolatry, Elijah shines, through his complete trust in Providence even in the most distressing moments of his life, pervaded by risks and sacrosanct epics.
His rich personality is characterized by an equilibrium in every proof, as well as by a fine prophetic sense, which led him to clearly perceive the divine will, that he might put it into practice with energy, emphasis, and resolution.
He showed himself to be a torch of that faith that moves mountains, among a generation that limped on both feet, ignominiously claiming to serve God and Baal.
A little cloud on the horizon
With prophetic authority, he decreed a drought and it happened; he implored fire from heaven and it came down, consuming the holocaust that he had prepared; he decimated the idolatrous false priests; and, on seeing a cloud on the horizon the size of a fist, he announced the imminence of a storm after seven years of aridity.
His link with the Blessed Virgin is close. Indeed, the “little cloud of Elijah” is presented as a shimmering sign of Mary’s advent, which indicated the torrential rain of blessings that She would bring to earth with the birth of Jesus.
For this reason, the Prophet of Fire became the first great devotee of Our Lady, whom he mystically knew.
From him would arise the prophetic cohort of Mount Carmel, guided by Elisha after his departure for Heaven (cf. II Kgs 2:11), which would span the centuries and give rise to the Carmelite Order, dedicated to the praise of the Virgin.
One cannot attain perfect devotion to Mary without partaking in the spirit of the Prophet Elijah. This elitist mark distinguishes the true servants of Our Lady, giving them the zeal for the glory of God, eagle-like agility for divine contemplation, and holy anger against demons and the children of darkness.
By Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, EP.
Text taken from the book Maria Santíssima! The Paradise of God Revealed to Men, Vol. 3.
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Read More: Spirituality, Who was Saint Elijah?, Saint Elijah, Saint Elijah and Devotion to Our Lady, Gaudium Press
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
