ELIJAH, Saint. — Patriarch of Jerusalem, born on the 19th or 20th of July, 518 A.M. His life, closely linked to that of St. Flavian II of Antioch, reflects the difficulties of those times, when Emperor Anastasius persecuted the orthodox in favor of Monophysitism.
E., an Arab — 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 refused to approve the deposition of Euphemius of Constantinople decreed by Anastasius, nor did he have communion with the Alexandrian Monophysites; yet 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 credit, he rejected the Council of Chalcedon. He did not, however, side with Severus of Antioch. It is certain, moreover, that in 516 E. resigned his see rather than reject Chalcedon. E. was included by Baronius in the Martyrology (July 4). The Syrians celebrate him on Feb. 18.