The Holy Prophet Elijah, one of the greatest prophets and the first virgin of the Old Testament, was born in Tishbah of Gilead, in the tribe of Levi, 900 years before the Incarnation of God the Word.

St. Epiphanius of Cyprus reports on the birth of the prophet Elijah as follows:: "When Elijah was born, his father Sovakh saw in a vision that good-looking men greeted him, swaddled him with fire and fed him with a flame of fire." The baby's given name Elijah ("the fortress of the Lord") defined his entire life. From an early age, he devoted himself to the One God, settled in the desert and spent his life in strict fasting, thoughtfulness and prayer. Called to prophetic ministry under King Ahab of Israel, the prophet became an ardent zealot of true faith and piety. At that time, the Israelites fell away from the faith of their fathers, abandoned the One God and worshipped pagan idols, the worship of which was introduced by the wicked king Jeroboam. King Ahab's wife, the pagan Jezebel, was particularly supportive of idolatry. The worship of the idol of Baal led the Israelites to complete moral decay. Seeing the death of his people, the prophet Elijah began to denounce King Ahab of impiety, urging him to repent and turn to the True God.

The king did not listen to him. Then the prophet Elijah announced to him that, as a punishment, there would be no rain or dew on the earth for three years, and the drought would end only through his prayer. And indeed, at the prayer of the prophet, heaven was shut up, and there was drought and famine all over the earth. The people suffered from unbearable heat and hunger. The Lord, in His mercy, seeing the sufferings of people, was ready to spare everyone and send rain to the earth, but He did not want to violate the words of the prophet Elijah, who was eager to turn the hearts of the Israelites to repentance and return them to true worship. When the Lord saved the prophet Elijah from the hands of Jezebel, He sent him to a secret place near the stream of Horath.

When the stream of Horath dried up, the Lord sent the prophet Elijah to Zarephath in Sidon to a poor widow who was suffering with her children in anticipation of starvation. At the prophet's request, she made him unleavened bread from the last handful of flour and the remaining oil. Then, at the prayer of the prophet Elijah, flour and butter have not been exhausted in the widow's house since throughout the famine. By the power of his prayer, the great prophet performed another miracle — he resurrected the deceased son of this widow.

After three years of drought, the Merciful Lord sent a prophet to King Ahab to end the disaster. The Prophet Elijah ordered all of Israel and the priests of Baal to be gathered on Mount Carmel. When the people gathered, the prophet Elijah proposed to build two altars: one from the priests of Baal, the other from the prophet Elijah to serve the True God. "Which one of them will receive fire from heaven will be an indication of whose God is true," said the prophet Elijah, "and all will have to worship Him, and those who do not recognize Him will be put to death." The prophets of Baal were the first to begin the sacrifice: they called out to the idol from morning to evening, but in vain — the sky was silent. By evening, the holy prophet Elijah erected his altar of 12 stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, laid the sacrifice on the firewood, ordered a trench to be dug around the altar and ordered water to be poured over the sacrifice and the firewood. When the moat was filled with water, the fiery prophet turned to God with a fervent prayer and supplication that the Lord would send down fire from heaven to admonish the erring and hardened Israelites and turn their hearts to Himself. At the prayer of the prophet, fire descended from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, firewood, stones, and even water. The people fell to the ground, crying out: "Truly, there is a Lord, there is one God, and there is no other God besides Him!" Then the prophet Elijah killed all the priests of Baal and began to pray for rain. At his prayer, the sky opened and abundant rain fell, giving the thirsty earth a drink.

For his ardent zeal for the Glory of God, the prophet Elijah was taken to heaven alive in a chariot of fire. The Prophet Elisha witnessed the ascent of the prophet Elijah to heaven in a chariot of fire and received, along with his fallen cloak, the gift of the prophetic spirit twice as much as the prophet Elijah had.

According to the tradition of the Holy Church, the prophet Elijah will be the Forerunner of the Terrible Second Coming of Christ to earth, and during the sermon he will die physically.

Since the day of the fiery ascension of the prophet Elijah to Heaven, his veneration in the Church of Christ has never been interrupted. The Russian Orthodox Church reveres the Prophet Elijah. The first church built in Kiev under Prince Igor was in the name of the prophet Elijah. After her Baptism, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga (July 11) built the temple of the Prophet Elijah in her homeland, in the village of Vybuty.

He is also popularly called the "thunderer." It is believed that it must rain and thunderstorm on this day. But another belief is repeated from year to year. People say: "Peter and Paul have reduced an hour, Elijah the Prophet has fired two." The day is getting shorter and the night is getting longer.