The Holy Prophet Ilie Tesvitean is the spiritual protector of over 145,000 Romanianstranslated

More than 145,000 Romanians celebrate their name day on Monday, the feast of the Holy Prophet Ilie Thesvitean.

According to the data provided by the Directorate for the Registration of Persons and the Administration of Databases, 103,481 are men and 42,343 are women.

Ilie (88,501), Elias (6,793) and Iliuta (3,447) are the most common names among men who have Saint Elijah as their spiritual protector. The list continues with Lică (1,937), Elis (975), Ilia (444), Eliade (236), Ilies (85), Iliuș (14) and Iliev (4).

In the case of women bearing the name of Saint Ilia and derivatives, the most common name is Ilinca (28,150), followed by Lia (6,904), Iliana (3,088), Lica (1,584), Eliana (1,375), Elis (577), Iliuța (394), Ilia (188) and Ilincuța/Ilincuta (83).

The Holy Prophet Elijah the Tesvitean lived more than 800 years before the Savior, during the time of Ahab, the king of the Jews. For the miracles performed, Saint Elijah is considered one of the holy healers celebrated in the month of July.

In his troparion it is mentioned that "he drives away diseases and cleanses the lepers; for this and to those who honor him he springs healings".

The feast of Saint Elijah is also...