"The God who answers with Fire is God."
-Elijah
Who would doubt that what the prophet [Elijah] preached on Mount Carmel referred specifically to Mary? For when the fire (which is the love of God) descended on Mary - about which it says 'I have come to send fire on earth' [Luke 12:49] - it utterly consumed with fire the errors of idols and afterwards through Mary showers of pity and grace fell on what had been dried up and in this way restored it all. And so the fire of Divine Love came upon Mary and in this way her womb was on fire. And just as Elijah was swept up in a fiery chariot, so the Son of God was taken up in the Virgin's womb as in a fiery chariot. In this way the House of God is on fire, as the prophet says: 'The house of Jacob is a fire and the house of Joseph is a flame' [Obadiah 18]. Therefore behold on the mountain the feet of one who brings good tidings and announces peace (that is Elijah); that is to say, through Mary, through whom the showers of grace fell from heaven.
Medieval Carmelite Heritage, ed. Adrianus Staring, O.Carm. (Rome, 1989), p. 228
Within the Carmelite tradition, Mary first appears in a vision to Elijah, as he sat on the top of Mt. Carmel, looking out over the Mediterranean Sea. Elijah sees a cloud “no larger than a man’s hand,” which brings with it rain in torrents over the parched land of Israel (1 Kgs 18:41-46). For hundreds of years Carmelites have interpreted the cloud as Mary, symbol of the reign of grace which Mary inaugurates by bearing Christ into the world.
http://earthymysticism.com/carmelite-spirituality/the-story-of-carmel/
In the Carmelite tradition, Elijah and Mary are brought together most closely in the image of the cloud that forms over the sea.
1 Kings 18:42:45
[42] So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Eli'jah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees.
[43] And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times."
[44] And at the seventh time he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising out of the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, `Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.'"
[45] And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
Mary is the cloud that rises out of the sea. The sea is saltwater, undrinkable, a vast body of water, next to which the kingdom can still thirst and die. The sea is salty, impure, an image of fallen humanity with its admixture of sin. Mary rises out of this sea, pure and perfect, laden with the water of grace that will pour out through her to all humanity--not the source of Grace herself, nevertheless the container into which all is poured until it overflows out to all people, limitless, and life-giving. Not God, but human, Mary rises from the sea, pure and Immaculate in her conception, formed as a vessel of God's grace and a place of refuge for His people.
http://floscarmeli.stblogs.org/archives/blessed-virgin-mary/
While the image of Mary appears over and over in the OT as the "Ark of the Covenant," this particular interpretation of scripture is distinctly carmelite-- requiring prophetic vision and mysticism to delve into and ultimately... believe.
In meditation on the message and mission of Elijah, we see over and over again the message and mission of Mary: teachings us to be active and still pure contemplatives, both living in the world and knowing how and when to retreat from it. The burning zeal which Elijah experienced, his confusion and willingness to follow at all costs.... these were later seen in Mary as behaviors we, members of her order are called to follow and observe. Together with Mary and Elijah, we adore the Holy Trinity, intimately brought to life by the animation of the most Holy Spirit, with zeal and with profound trust and in perfect yearning and godly sorrow. It is from Mount Carmel that Elijah calls those who ate at Jezebel's table to face the choice: "Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Josh 24)
Together with them, let us stand in the gap as a holy reminder that there will be a reckoning, that no less than everything is required of us and that the God of Love awaits us-- whom shall we fear? (Psalm 27:1)
"Perhaps this is one of the secrets of life-- to know 'Glory' when we see it..." --Charlotte M. Mason
"1 Kings 18:42:45
ReplyDelete[42] So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Eli'jah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees.
[43] And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times."
[44] And at the seventh time he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising out of the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, `Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.'"
[45] And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
Mary is the cloud that rises out of the sea."
I'm Catholic but to come to this conclusion from those passages is complete insanity.