Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
August 1, 2002

Tomorrow, on the feast of Saint Elijah the Prophet, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle serves the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the Church at Mirijevo (part of Belgrade), which celebrates Saint Elijah as its patron saint.

The Church at Mirijevo was built in 1834 and renovated in 1873 and 1968.

Saint Elijah the Prophet was from Aaron's tribe, from Tishbe in Gilead, wherefore he was called the Tishbite. When he was born, his father Sabbah saw the angels of God around the child, swaddling him with fire. That was an omen of Elijah's flaming character and his blazing might which the Lord endowed him with.

Saint Elijah mostly fought idolatry and its followers. The greatest among them was the king of Israel Ahab and his wife Jezebel who revered idols and led people astray from the real God. The Saint Prophet Elijah made great wonders and proved the might and power of the Lord. On Horeb, the mount of the Lord, he spoke with the Lord and heard the word of the Lord in a silent, fair breeze.