Prophet
Holy Prophet Elijah
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The fiery prophet who defended the worship of the living God with unwavering zeal.
Core account checked against Orthodox Church in America — Holy and Glorious Prophet Elijah, The Prologue from Ohrid — July 20. Additional ecclesiastical references appear below.
Life and Witness
Life and Historical Setting
Elijah called Israel away from idolatry and back to the covenant with God. Scripture remembers his contest with the prophets of Baal, his encounter with God in the gentle whisper, and his ascent in a fiery chariot.
Miracles, Relics and Places of Veneration
Mount Carmel, the wilderness and Horeb belong to the Scriptural geography of his ministry. Orthodox churches dedicated to the Prophet are numerous, especially in Greece and the Holy Land, but no claim of bodily relics is made because Scripture records his ascent in the fiery chariot.
Iconography and Spiritual Meaning
The prophet is normally depicted holding a scroll. Orthodox interpretation reads the prophetic ministry within Holy Scripture and in the light of Christ, without reducing it to predictions detached from repentance and covenant faithfulness.
Feast Day
July 20 — Holy Prophet Elijah.
From the Orthodox Synaxarion
The Prologue from Ohrid remembers Elijah as the prophet of burning zeal who called Israel back from idolatry. His contest on Carmel, encounter with God and ascent in the fiery chariot are received by the Church as testimony to divine faithfulness and prophetic courage.
Historical Record and Ecclesiastical Tradition
First and Second Kings are the primary record for Elijah's ministry, Carmel, encounters with Ahab and Jezebel, prophetic succession and ascent in the chariot of fire. New Testament references and Orthodox hymnography interpret him typologically, while later locations, relic claims and folklore are kept separate from the Biblical text; he must not be reduced to a pagan weather figure.
Biographical information on this page is based exclusively on the Orthodox ecclesiastical sources listed below.
Orthodox Church in America — Holy and Glorious Prophet ElijahThe Prologue from Ohrid — July 20