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The prophet Elijah (1 Kings 16:29, 17–19) was born in the city of Thesbia of Gilead in the tribe of Levi, in the tribe of Aaron, from a father named Shebaha. Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus reports an instructive legend about the birth of Elijah. The saint says: “When Elijah was born, his father Sabakh saw in a vision that handsome men greeted him, swaddled him with fire and fed him with a fiery flame. He announced this vision to the priests in Jerusalem, who told him: “Do not be afraid, your son will live in the light and judge the Israelites with sword and fire.” "Elijah" means "the fortress of the Lord." From the place of his birth he is called the Tishbite; lived 900 years before the birth of Christ; was a strict ascetic and zealot of faith in the true God; burned towards God with the Divine fire of love, like Seraphim. The man was shaggy in appearance and had a long belt around his waist (2 Kings 1:8). Called to proclaim to the people the will of God under Achaab, the king of Israel, who was married to the pagan Jezebel, during the days of gross idolatry introduced into the kingdom of Israel by Jeroboam and strengthened by Achaab, Elijah boldly prayed to God to convert those seduced by idolatry to the path of true piety, and to induce those who were embittered to repentance through heavenly wrath. In the name of God, Elijah announced to Achaab the punishment of him and the people with three years of rainlessness and famine. The sky was closed with the prayer of the prophet, and for three summers and six months not a single drop of rain or dew fell on the earth (James 5:17–18). Drought and famine followed, and the word of the prophet Moses against disobedient Israel was fulfilled: the sky above your head will be copper, and the earth under you will be iron (Deut. 28:23). Preserving Elijah from the murderous hands of Jezebel, the Lord, during a time of disaster, sent a denouncer of wickedness to a hidden place, and in order to deliver him from the famine that befell the land of Israel, he gave him the water of the stream of Horath to drink, and in order to inspire the fiery zealot of piety with compassion for people languishing with hunger and thirst, he commanded birds of prey to feed him. A year later, the stream dried up from intense heat, and the Lord sent Elijah to Zarephath of Sidon to the poor widow, so that he could see closer the disaster weighing on the rich, and even more so on the poor, and at the same time the faith of many of them in the true God, and moderate his fiery zeal. The poor widow, having a handful of flour and a little oil, which constituted the only daily supply for her and her children, did not regret giving him the last, in the hope of God, who fills the hungry with blessings (Luke 1:53). Indeed, according to the Divine word of the prophet, the last small supply of flour and oil served for about two years as inexhaustible and sufficient food for the prophet, the widow and her family. As a reward for feeding the prophet, she was awarded a sign of God's special favor. Her son died; Elijah, by prayer, blowing on him three times and calling on the almighty Lord of life: Lord my God, may the soul of this youth return to him, he raised the dead. The wife fully understood that Elijah was a man of God and that the word of the Lord in his mouth was true. After three years of rainlessness and famine, when Ahab himself bowed to repentance and looked for a prophet, the prophet appeared to the king, and to complete the conversion of him and his people to the only true God from the false gods, who subjected the kingdom of Israel to a three-year and grave disaster, Elijah prompted the king to gather the elders of Israel and the priests of Baal and Ashtoreth to Mount Carmel. Numerous people and priests gathered; the zealot of God denounced Achaab and the people for idolatry and, in order to more clearly show how insignificant the pagan gods are and how omnipotent the true God is, who brought Israel out of Egypt, Elijah prayed to the Lord to listen to him with fire, and with his wondrous prayer he brought fire down from heaven onto the prepared sacrifice, after the priests of Baal had long and in vain begged him to send fire on their sacrifice. Seeing so clearly the omnipotence of the true God, all the people who were at Carmel fell to the ground and confessed: truly, the Lord God, He is God. The people, at the command of Elijah, seized and killed the priests as deceivers. At the word and prayer of the prophet, the sky opened and rain watered the thirsty earth. Ahab recognized his error. Jezebel was indignant at the prophet of God for killing her priests and threatened to kill him. Elijah grieved in spirit over his powerlessness to destroy idolatry and asked for death. The Angel of the Lord commanded Elijah to retire to Arabia to Mount Horeb, where he was honored to talk with God and receive consolation from Him. Elijah grieved and said: I was jealous of the Lord for God the Almighty, because I have abandoned Your covenant to the sons of Israel, You have dug up Your altars, You have beaten Your prophets with weapons, and I am the only remnant, and they are seeking to take my soul. The next day, the Lord calls Elijah to the mountain and, after the formidable phenomena of a storm, earthquake and flame, in which the Lord did not reveal Himself, He appears, and Elijah feels the presence of the Lord in the voice of a thin voice. With this sign, the Merciful One teaches the prophet, who is flaming with zeal for God, to love mankind and condescension and inspires him that not all of Israel has yet departed from God; 7,000 more men did not bow the knee to Baal. However, God heeded the desire of His prophet and commanded him to choose Elisha as his successor in the work of prophetic ministry. Elisha was cultivating the land, Elijah came to him and cast his mantle on him; and Elisha left the oxen and went after Elijah and served him. To Achaab, who had fallen into new and serious crimes, Elijah, at the inspiration of God, threateningly announced the imminent destruction of him, Jezebel and his entire house. Ahab wept for his sins, put on sackcloth, fasted, and walked mournfully. God told Elijah about the repentant Ahab: for this reason I will not bring evil in his days: but in the days of his son I will bring evil to his house (1 Kings XXI). Inner fire of St. Jealousy for God in Elijah was revealed more than once, through the visible fire of heaven, which, according to the word of the prophet, came down twice and destroyed the soldiers whom Ahaziah, the son and successor of Achaab in the kingdom and in idolatry, sent to take Elijah (2 Kings I). Finally, on a fiery chariot, Elijah was taken up, like Enoch, alive into heaven. Elisha saw and cried out: Father, father, the chariot of Israel and his cavalry - help and protect Israel! and no one will see him. And Elisha took the mantle of Elisha, who had fallen on top of him (2 Kings 2:11-12), and received greater grace from God. As the Church puts it, Elijah “is immortal in his flesh and assures the resurrection of the dead.” 7 years after Elijah was taken to heaven, he showed his zeal for God from heaven; from him came to Joram king of Judah a scripture of reproof □ and punishment for idolatry (2 Chron. 21:12-20). People at all times had great respect and reverence for the prophet Elijah, such a zealous preacher of God's truth and such a lofty instrument of grace. The prophet's contemporaries, clearly seeing the grace of God in him, called him a man of God (1 Kings 17:18), in whose mouth the word of the Lord is true (1 Kings 17:24); as a sign of special reverence for him, they threw themselves to the ground before him (1 Kings 18:7; 2 Kings 1:13); They confessed before him the great grace of the Holy Spirit living and working in him (1 Kings 18:12; 2 Kings 2:15–16). Sirach writes about the great prophet: “Elijah the prophet arose like fire, and his word burned like a light. He brought famine upon them, and with his jealousy he humbled them. With the Word of the Lord he closed the sky and brought down fire from the sky three times. How famous you are, Elijah, for your miracles, and who can compare with you in glory! You raised up the dead from death and from hell, by the word of the Most High. Thou hast brought down kings to destruction, and the famous from their beds. You heard chastisement at Sinai and vengeful judgment at Horeb. You have anointed kings for reward and prophets to be your successors. You were lifted up by a fiery whirlwind on a chariot with fiery horses. You are predestined in accusatory prophecies for future times to calm the wrath of God when it ignites, to turn the heart of a father to his son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Blessed are those who see you and are adorned with love” (Sir.48:1-11). The compiler of the first book of Maccabees with praise mentions, among other famous and pious men of the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah: Elijah was always jealous with the zeal of the law, even ascending to heaven (1 Macc. 2:58). During the earthly life of Jesus Christ, the Jews, looking at His great miracles, considered Him to be the prophet Elijah (Matthew 16:14). On the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Elijah, as a representative of the prophets, appeared in the light with Moses on the mountain and talked with the Lord. The Apostle Peter, who was an eyewitness to the transfiguration of the Lord, wanted, among other things, to create one canopy for Elijah. Since the times of the Apostles, the veneration of the prophet Elijah has continued in the Church of Christ and even outside it continuously. In the 3rd century, Rev. Chariton founded the monastery of the Iliots on the site of the desert residence of St. Elias. In the 4th century, on the day of the prophet Elijah, St. Ambrose of Milan, Augustine and Chrysostom spoke teachings that show that the feast of this prophet was celebrated in different Christian Churches in the 4th century. St. John Chrysostom, talking in the church of St. martyrs on the day of the prophet Elijah, among other things he said about him: “much time did not obscure his memory, as it should have been. Such is virtue." Even to this day, too 2780 years later, reverent traditions have not been eclipsed about the prophet Elijah; - Until now, Palestinian traditions reverently point out the places sanctified by the feet of the great prophet of God. In the 11th century, John, Archbishop of Euchaitis, and later Hieromonk Pachomius Logothet, on the day of the Prophet Elijah, wrote many hymns that are still sung by the Church on this day. The Holy Prophet Elijah is revered even by the Mongols - the Buryats of Transbaikal. The Day of St. Elijah is honored by the Tatars and they do not work on this day. In her hymns, the Church calls Elijah a prophet and seer of the great deeds of God, an Angel in the flesh, the foundation of the prophets, the forerunner of the second coming of Christ, and celebrates him, as “the one who once filled the watercourse clouds with a message,” in the hottest time of the year, when the growing earth especially needs rain, asking him to pray for us, the only Lover of Mankind, so that the lack of rain and famine, as in ancient times befell the kingdom of Israel, according to the word of the prophet Elijah. Since ancient times in our fatherland, on the day of the prophet Elijah, in many places religious processions and prayers are held across the fields to sanctify them and to appease the Lord with the prayers of the prophet Elijah, who during the days of his earthly life constantly walked with the power of his preaching and miracles. Memory of St. Elijah, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Flavian, Patriarch of Antioch. See about them on April 1, in the life of Mary of Egypt. † Repose of Rev. Avramiy Chukhlomsky (Galichsky) Rev. Avramiy 264 from a young age loved the Lord and was tonsured as a monk. Sergius; in his monastery, he first performed obediences in the bakery and cookhouse, then carried firewood and water for the brethren; after a long trial, as having strengthened himself in spiritual life, he was awarded the rank of priesthood, but asked the venerable. Sergius permission to spend some time in complete silence. Then, striving for the highest spiritual perfection, with the blessing of Sergius, he retired to the then wild country of Galich and here he began to struggle. At one time he was praying under the mountain and heard a voice: “Abrami, go up the mountain, there is an icon of the Mother of God.” He climbed the mountain and saw in the bright light an icon standing on a tree. He set up a cell here. Dry bread satisfied his hunger and the clean water of the spring quenched his thirst. The villager unexpectedly found a hermit under the mountain and, at his request, promised to secretly bring him one loaf of bread a week. Then the Galich prince Dimitri Feodorovich heard about the wondrous hermit and his wonderful icon and barely begged the monk to visit Galich 265. The monk reached Galich by the lake and was met by the clergy and people at the entrance to the city, where now the Starotorzhsky Nikolaevsky nunnery; - the pious prince met St. icon in the Spassky Church; Here the monk sang a prayer service to the Mother of God with the blessing of water, and many sick people received healing. The pious prince provided the monk with the means to establish at the site of the appearance of St. icons church and monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God 266. And the lake on the shore of which the hermit Avramiy settled is called Chukhlomsky or Chudsky, and the hill on which he spent his last years is called, according to the monuments, “Chudsky town” 267. – This already shows what kind of people the reverend had to deal with. Abramia. – Although the Chud of the Galich country was already familiar with Christianity, it was superficial and weak; customs and morals were rude, paganism still lived in hearts and was revealed in deeds; the Magi of ancient times meant even more to many than pure holy faith. This is what the life of St. Avramia says about the Galich Chud. And so there was a need to demonstrate the glory of Christianity both by a special miracle and by a special ascetic. The monk struggled in the Chudskaya side both with the needs of the monastery and with the Chudskaya rudeness. He often gathered superstitious people to himself and persuaded them to give up their superstitions, pointing to the miracles of Christianity; and even more often he prayed for them in front of the icon of the Mother of God. And his labors were not fruitless. Those who received healing from the icon of the Mother of God were themselves sincerely convinced of the superiority of St. faith and others were convinced of the same. The Assumption Monastery flourished and became crowded; The monk appointed his disciple Porfiry as her rector, and he himself retired into the desert 268. 30 miles from the Assumption Monastery, on the shore of a small lake, he found a beautiful place and began to work as a hermit here. After some time, the disciples learned about the place where their beloved teacher had disappeared, and came to beg him to return to their monastery. The monk agreed only for some of the disciples to remain with him. For them he built a church in honor of the position of the Mother of God's belt; With the help of pious people, a community monastery was soon established here. It was called the great desert of Abraham 269. Escaping the crowds, Avramiy retired to the river. I'm voicing. “The disciples found him here and began to set up cells near his hut. A loving father blessed them to build a church in honor of the Cathedral of Our Lady. A monastery was also formed here, for which Abramius appointed his disciple hieromonk Paphnutius as abbot. The monk once again hid from his disciples. Thirteen miles from the Vocha monastery, he found a place where his stay, more than anywhere else, could have beneficial consequences. He settled under the mountain on which there was the “Chudsky town”; it was the nest of the old Peipus superstition; here a lot of light and heavenly power was needed to dispel the remaining darkness of paganism. When zealots of spiritual life gathered here, Abramy lovingly founded a church in the town of Peipus in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God; He himself carried earth on his old shoulders to strengthen the steep bank and worked zealously with his disciples in building the monastery. Soon there were up to 100 brethren in the new Intercession monastery. The community of devotees of piety produces a wonderful effect on the hearts. “The poor man, having visited the monastery of monks, says Saint Chrysostom, leaves the monastery with consolation for poverty; a rich man visits monks and returns from them better, with sound ideas about things; when someone invested with dignity comes to them, all arrogance disappears; here wolves are turned into lambs; if the desire to lead such a wonderful life has kindled in anyone, while this desire is burning in you, hurry to the angels and you will burn even more” 270. Such was the significance of Avramia in the Peipus side! He himself lived alone under the mountain; but his disciples came here to him to confess their thoughts; The surrounding residents also came here and received useful instructions. The Chukhloma country honored him as its enlightener. A year before his death, he handed over the management of the monastery to his disciple Innocent and spent the rest of the time in complete silence. Having received Holy Communion Tain, he died peacefully on July 20, 1375. His relics rest in secret, in a chapel of the church dedicated to his name 271. Feast of the Galich Icon of the Mother of God The Galich or Chukhloma icon appeared to Avramiy, the Galich or Chukhloma miracle worker, in the 14th century, around 1350. Having been tonsured a monk by Sergius of Radonezh, with his blessing, Avramiy, for the strictest feats of humility, retired to the Galich desert of the Kostroma province, to Lake Galich, opposite the city of Galich. Here he prayed to the Mother of God: “Most Pure Mother of God of my Christ! Intercessor of the entire Christian race! Be an intercessor and prayer book for me, a sinner, to Your Son and God, may he look upon my humility. For His name's sake I went out into this desert. I offer You, Mother of my sweet Christ, as a prayer book for me, for You are the refuge of all.” After praying, he sat down to rest for a while, and suddenly he heard a voice from the mountain: “Abrami! go up the mountain where the icon of My Mother stands.” The monk was horrified and looked at the mountain. At its top he saw a light shining more than a ray of sunshine. The monk protected himself with the sign of the cross, ascended the mountain where the light was shining, and saw on a tree an icon of the Mother of God with the Eternal Child Jesus. Abramy trembled and fell prostrate to the ground, not being able to bear the great radiance, and lay there for a long time and cried with emotion. Suddenly he heard again: “Abrami, arise and strengthen yourself.” Abramius rose from the ground; the unbearable light was no longer on the icon; Abraham prayed with tears. The icon itself descended into the hands of the monk. He wet the icon with tears and with tenderness repeated the words of the Gospel: “Where do I get this, when the Mother of my Lord came to me!” Having placed the icon on the tree, he turned to the Lord in prayer; I was awake all night, singing songs of thanksgiving to the Mother of God. After some time, the thought came to Abramiya - to retire with the revealed icon into the desert, where the Mother of God would direct his path. Thinking about this, he dozed off and fell asleep a little; in a dream I heard a voice from the icon: “Abrami, remain in this place, and you will be saved, and you will build a monastery for rest for Me, you and your disciples. I will not leave you, providing and observing them all the days of your life, and after your departure to God I will not depart from your monastery, covering it and giving it all abundance.” Abramius woke up and with tears thanked the Mother of God for the promise. And so he built a chapel on the mountain that the Mother of God had chosen, and began to live here in silence. For some time Abramius secluded himself on the mountain, unknown to anyone; but then rumors about him and about the miraculous icon reached the Prince of Galich, Dimitri Feodorovich, and he sent Abramia with the icon to him to ask; Avramiy at first refused, but, yielding to the prince’s second prayer, he moved to Galich Lake by boat. At the gates of the city he was met by the entire sacred cathedral with many people, and the prince himself and his family; he took the icon in his hands, brought it into the cathedral church and placed it in a decent place. Before the icon, the Monk Abramius himself sang a prayer service with all the clergy, blessed the water and sprinkled it on the prince and the people. The sick from all over the city were brought before the icon of the Mother of God, and when the monk sprinkled them with holy water, and they venerated the icon of the Mother of God, they all received healing. The next day, the monk told the prince about the appearance of the icon and about the promise of the Mother of God regarding the building of a monastery at the site of the appearance. The prince donated his estate for the construction of the monastery and contributed to its speedy completion. First, a church was built and consecrated in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and over time a monastery was formed with it, now called Gorodetsky Pokrovsky. Therefore, the Galich icon is sometimes called Gorodets. RKP. life of Ave. Avramia - in the July Menaion of the Sergius Lavra No. 5, in the imperial. book No. 710. The writer of the life says: “The foreigners of that monastery brought a little something written about the life of St. Avramiya, it’s old and tattered, but I can barely read it”; further: “It happened to me, the sinner Protasius, to be in that monastery and see miracles. I stayed in the monasteries for three summers, holding the staff of the flock.” So, the writer is Abbot Chukhlomsky Protasius. This is hardly the same abbot Protasius, who in 1546 discovered the relics of St. Paul of Obnor and left a note about St. Paul. See Oct. 7 days RKP. Life: “Then in Galich keep the city and the land of Galich blessed. Prince Dmitry Feodorovich, grandson of the good. book Vasily Konstantinovich, and Konstantin is the fourth son of V. book Yaroslav Vsevolodovich" It is further said that c. book Dimitri Ioannovich kicked out the prince. Dmitry Feodorovich from Galich and gave Galich to his son, the prince. Yuri. See pedigree. book in time Moscow total ist. X, 73. 74. RKP. life of Abraham, glory to the Mother of God PI, 37. 38. M. 1853 East. ak. I, 98. In the Soligalitsky chronicler of the Resurrection Monastery, Lake Chukhloma is called Chudsky. F. m. internal d., part 22, page 5. 6 According to the inventory of 1662, there are 310 village households behind the Assumption Avramiev Monastery. According to the inventory of 1662, there are 82 households beyond the great Avramievo desert. Demon. on Evang. Matthew, demon. 8. 9. 4, demon. 68. § 3. 4, demon. 69 § 3. 4. East. Hier. 3, 748. Consolidated. about the monastery 159. 162; RKP. Saints: “pr. Abramy Abbot of Gorodetsky, also on Lake Chukhloma, Galich miracle worker, disciple of Sergiev, reposed in L. 6883 (1375) months. July at 20 days.” The same year of death - and in the life of St. Avramia, according to the list of emperors. b-ki. – According to the census of 1662, behind the Gorodetsky Avramiev Pokrovsky Monastery there are 310 households.