Holy Glorious Prophet Elias

July 20, 2025

Feast of the Holy Glorious Prophet Elias

And [Elijah] said to her, “Give me your son,” and he took him out of her arms and carried him up to a loft where he slept and laid him on his own bed. He cried to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, have You brought tragedy upon the widow with whom I live by killing her son?” And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, I pray that You let this child’s soul come into him again.”

The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he was revived. Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and returned him to his mother, and Elijah said, “See, your son lives!” (1 Kings 17:19-23)

The icon is of the Holy Glorious Prophet Elias (July 20th).

News

14.5 million Christians remain in Middle East

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CWN - The Christian population in nine Middle Eastern states is 14,526,000, down from 14,740,000 in 2010, according to a report published by the Vatican newspaper.

The total population of Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey is 258 million.

The report draws on a recent study by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association on Christians in the Middle East. The study documented sharp recent and historical declines in Christian population:

  • in Syria, from 2.2 million (2010) to 1.2 million
  • in Egypt, from 19% of the population (1910) to 10%
  • in Lebanon, from 53% (1932) to less than 40%
  • in Jerusalem, from 20% (1946) to less than 2%
  • in Palestine, from 20% (1948) to 1.2%

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