Elijah
The
prophet Elijah is one of the holy men from the Old Testament who is a very
popular saint in Greece. His churches are usually located at high altitudes,
which is sometimes explained by his name's resemblance to that of the old
sun gud Helios's' (Ilias-Ilios). When Greece became Christian the old temples
were often converted into churches, or churches were built on pagan sanctuaries,
to emphasise the power of the new faith. Being a sun god, Helios' sites were
always high up in the mountains and so the prophet Elias' churches now stand
in their place.
On Skiathos, there is a beautiful 16th century church dedicated to Elijah opposite the taverna Platanos. Here, locals have always filled their water bottles at a small spring and the view is stunning. There are, in fact, two churches here dedicated to the prophet: one opposite the tavern and one just below it. The latter is also dedicated to the Eliisaeus, Elijah's successor, and is built in the style that was adopted during Venetian rule with two altars: one for the Orthodox and the other for Catholics.
Elijah is venerated in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. His name means Javeh is God and he lived in the 9th century BC. We read about him in the Book of Kings where he is described as a very powerful hermit who could command the weather, raise the dead and eventually ascended into heaven in a burning chariot (another similarity with the sun god Helios). Ufologists like to interpret this episode as an UFO but theologically, the chariot is a symbol of his burning faith. On his way to heaven, Elijah dropped his mantle, which his follower Elissaeus picked up and so became his successor.
One
story from the Bible tells us that Elijah managed to prove the power of God
to hundreds of pagans, by making fire from the sky light an altar. He also
ended a draught by commanding rain from heaven and for centuries, people would
pray to him for rain. Another story tells us Elijah lived in a cave for along
time and only survived because a raven brought him food. This is a popular
motif in icons where we see the old prophet contemplating in his cave and
a bird approaching in the sky.
Elijah is also mentioned on several occasions in the New Testament and he is often compared to John the Baptist, another desert hermit who predicted the coming of the Messiah.
The prophet Elijah is celebrated on July 20.