ELIJAH, Saint. - Patriarch of Jerusalem, b. in 430, d. on 19 or 20 July 518. His life, closely bound up with that of St. Flavian II of Antioch, reflects the difficulties of those times, in which the emperor Anastasius persecuted the orthodox in favor of Monophysitism.

E., an Arab and at first a monk of Nitria, was expelled from there (457) by Timothy Aelurus of Alexandria and took refuge in Palestine, where he founded a monastery not far from Jericho. Appointed patriarch of Jerusalem (494), he was unwilling to approve the deposition of Euphemius of Constantinople decreed by Anastasius, nor did he hold communion with the Monophysites of Alexandria; but at the same time he had no relations with the See of Rome, from which the Byzantines were then divided because of the Acacian schism.

E. had to take part in the Monophysite Council of Sidon (511-12) and, according to a document perhaps not worthy of credence, rejected the Council of Chalcedon. He did not, however, go over to the side of Severus of Antioch. It is certain, moreover, that in 516 E. renounced his see rather than reject the Chalcedonian faith. E. was introduced by Baronius into the martyrology (4 July). The Syrians celebrate him on 18 February.

Bibliography

BIBL.: Acta SS. Iulii, II, Antwerp 1731, pp. 28-32.

Ignazio Ortia de Urbina

@incollection{ec5_elia_santo, author = {Ortiz, de Urbina Ignazio}, title = {Elia, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {235}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/elia-santo} }

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Elijah, Saint

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