the happiness to entertain under her roof, a prophet of the living God, and by rendering him a service which was refused him in the land of Israel, she prefigured the future faith of the Gentiles who were to be called by God, to take, in the Christian Church, the place of the incredulous Jews.

The death of her only son, which happened not long afterwards, changed her joy into sorrow. The prophet was moved at her misfortune, and with a faith in God equal to his compassion for the distressed mother, undertook to raise the child to life again. He took the breathless corpse out of the widow's arms, carried it to his room, laid it upon his bed, and having stretched himself upon it three times, he cried to the Lord, and said, "O Lord my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech thee, return into his body." The Lord heard the prayer of His servant; the child came to life; and Elias restored him to his mother.

In this instance, Elias is an illustrious example of that benevolent charity which all good men owe and pay to one another. To condole with our suffering brethren, to grieve with the afflicted, to comfort the distressed, to stoop to their relief, to become little with the little, and weak with the weak, as far as can be done without yielding to sin, is the exercise of that Christian charity which teaches us to love our neighbour as ourselves. To become all to all, that he might gain all to Christ, was the practice of St. Paul, and it still is the

SACRIFICE OF ELIAS.

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study of those holy men, who, according to their station in life, are zealous to promote the service and the glory of their Creator.

A.M. 3096.] Sacrifice of Elias.—3 Kings, xviii. [a.c. 908.

While the prophet Elias lay safe in his retreat under the widow's roof at Sarephta, Achab and Jezabel made diligent search after him, with the design of putting him to death, as being the cause of the heavy disasters that afflicted the nation; but not being able to discover where he was, they wreaked their vengeance upon the prophets of the Lord, whom they persecuted with great violence. Achab at that time had for the superintendent of his palace a man of rare virtue, called Abdias, who, to screen as many as he could from the fury of their persecutors, had concealed in caves no fewer than a hundred prophets, whom he privately supplied there with all the necessaries of life. This holy man, as he was journeying through the country, in search of herbage for the horses and mules of the royal stud, suddenly encountered Elias, who, by Divine inspiration, had left his Sidonian retreat. The prophet bade him to go and tell his master that Elias was there. Abdias was afraid of undertaking the commission, being in doubt whether, while he conveyed the message, the spirit of the Lord might not summon the prophet on some other mission, and that he himself might be slain by the king in his disappointment. Elias assured Abdias by the invocation of the Lord of hosts, that he was resolved to see the king that day. Abdias therefore informed Achab of the prophet's arrival, and Achab came to meet him. The king, when they met, exclaimed with stern severity, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel ?" But Elias, with a spirit of zeal and fortitude not to be daunted by threats, nor silenced by contempt, answered, "It is not I who trouble Israel, O prince, it is thou, and thy father's house, forasmuch as ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have sacrificed to Baal. Nevertheless, call together the people of Israel, and with

them the prophets of Baal, and let them meet me upon Mount Carmel."*

Achab, in compliance with his request, summoned the people of Israel, and gathered the prophets together upon the mountain. Elias came according to appointment, and addressed himself to the Israelites thus: "How long will ye be divided in your choice, O men of Israel? If the Lord be God, acknowledge Him; but if Baal, then follow him." And the people answered him not a word. And he said again to them, "Of the prophets of the Lord, I am here the only one; and behold of the prophets of Baal there are four hundred and fifty. Let two bullocks be given us; let them choose one, I will take the other; let them lay theirs upon the altar; I will do the same with mine; but let no fire be put under either. We will each in our turn then call upon the God whom we respectively adore, and He who shall answer by sending down fire from Heaven to consume the holocaust, shall be acknowledged for the true and only God.”

The people with one accord approved of the proposal. The prophets of Baal began in the first place to prepare their victim; they laid it upon the altar, and called upon Baal from morning to mid-day, saying, “O Baal, hear us,” but they received no answer. And at mid-day, Elias mocked them, saying: "Cry with a louder voice: your god is perhaps asleep, or on a journey, or talking, or at an inn." Piqued at the prophet's raillery, they exerted themselves anew, they cried aloud, they leaped over the altar, they cut themselves with knives and lancets, but no answer came from Baal. When the hour of mid-day had passed, Elias called the people to him, and bade them build up anew the old stone altar of the Lord which had once been there, but was then broken down ; he then drew a trench round it, piled up the wood in order, and laid his disjointed victim on the top. Then he ordered water to be brought and poured upon the pile until it was thoroughly

* This mountain forms a bold promontory on the south side of the bay of Acre; the town of that name being at the northern point of the same bay. Carmel is, properly speaking, a range of mountains, about eight miles in extent, from north-west to south-west. It is remarkable for the richness of its verdure, which forms a striking contrast to the barrenness and aridity of the surrounding plains. It is now surmounted by a chapel, dedicated to the prophet Elias.

soaked, and even the trench was filled with the running stream. When the hour appointed for the sacrifice was come, the prophet in a solemn prayer addressed himself to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, beseeching Him to manifest His glory to the children of Israel, and convince them that He was the Lord their God. Elias had no sooner spoken, than fire descended from Heaven, and consumed not only the holocaust, but the whole pile, and the very stones of the altar. So wondrous a miracle, answering so exactly to the prophet's proposal, left no room for doubt or reply: the people fell fiat upon the ground, and confessed that the Lord was the only God. "Then seize upon the prophets of Baal," cried out Elias, "and let not one escape;" his order was obeyed, and the impostors suffered immediate death, as their crimes deserved. The prophet then prayed to God a second time, that He would open the heavens, and let His showers fall again upon the earth. No sooner had the prayer been uttered, than the clouds began to gather, and before the people had time to reach the town of Jezrahel, not many miles distant, a copious fall of rain ensued.

The history of Elias, say the holy Fathers, displays in the strongest colours the force of truth, and marks out the influence it has upon the minds of men. Borne up by that confidence which his conscience gave him, Elias, though alone, and surrounded by a whole nation hostile to God, never faltered in his duty towards his Creator. In his person we see verified the saying of St. Jerome, that truth for its support wants but few defenders; no number of opponents can either destroy or harm it.

A.M. 3097.]

Flight of Elias.-3 Kings, xix. [A.C. 907. The wicked Jezabel being told by Achab how her prophets had been put to death, sent to let Elias know that before the end of four-and-twenty hours, he should experience the same fate. The holy prophet trembled at the threat, and fled from the territories of Israel to Bersabee of Juda. There he dismissed his servant, and went forward one day's journey into the southern desert. By these sudden alternations of courage and timidity in so great a prophet, we see, says St.

Gregory, how inconstant man is of himself amidst the various incidents of life, and how soon, after the most heroic actions, he falls back, if not strengthened from above, into his natural state of despondency and weakness.

Elias after escaping into the desert, being spent with fatigue, and oppressed with anguish of mind, sat down under a juniper-tree, and begged of Almighty God to take him out of life. He then lay down upon the ground to sleep, and as he slept, an Angel appeared and wakened him, saying, "Arise and eat." He opened his eyes, and saw a pitcher of water and a loaf, placed near his head; he ate and drank, and composed himself to sleep again. The Angel came a second time, and bade him to eat again, because he had a great way to go. The prophet rose up, and being strengthened with the miraculous bread, which, by the commentators of Holy Writ, is considered as an emblem of the Blessed Eucharist, that heavenly Bread which nourishes our souls with spiritual life during our pilgrimage on earth, he continued his journey for forty days and forty nights together, until he came to the mountain of Horeb, where he concealed himself in a cave. There he received an order from Almighty God to proceed to Damascus, where he should anoint Hazael king over Syria; he was also ordered to anoint Jehu to be king of Israel, and Eliseus to be his own successor in the prophetical office.

In obedience to this order, he left the mountains of Horeb. On his way towards Damascus, he found Eliseus ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen in a field. He cast his mantle over the future prophet, as he had been commanded, when Eliseus feeling that some wondrous change had been wrought within him, left his oxen, and ran after Elias, saying, "Let me only go and take my last farewell of my father and mother, and I will follow thee." Elias said, "Go, and return, for that which was my part, I have done to thee." Eliseus went, and having taken a yoke of the oxen with which he was ploughing, he invited the people to partake with him of a parting feast, and then rose up and professed himself the inseparable follower and disciple of Elias.

Eliseus. says St. Ambrose, being the studious imitator of