Elijah

(900 BCE–849 BCE)

Elijah, also spelled Elias or Elia, Hebrew Eliyyahu, is a Hebrew prophet who prophesied during the reign of King Ahab of Israel. He came from Tishbeh in Gilead but nothing is known of his family or birth.

He performed his first miracles in the town of Zarephath, near Sidon, in the house of a poor widow.

After Elijah's victory over the prophets of Baal when he called down fire from heaven, the drought ended. Elijah was a prophet of God. Elijah told Ahab and his people to repent. If they did not repent, God would send a famine. There would be no water. The Elijah narrative took shape in the northern kingdom of Israel.

The Holy Prophet Elijah is one of the greatest of the prophets and the first dedicated to virginity in the Old Testament.

The first Carmelites were rooted in a prophetic tradition which goes back to the time of the Prophet Elijah. They venerated the prophet and established themselves near the fountain called cherith or Elijah's Spring or Well of Elijah on Mount Carmel. They gathered here and regarded themselves as the sons of the prophet. They led their life Prophet Elijah’s footsteps.

As the patron of the Carmelites St. Elijah is honoured on July 20, who is known as the father of Carmel. His words “with zeal I have been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts” are the Carmelite motto.