Icons & Creation
Images of sacred art from the Orthodox Church's Tradition of iconography teach care for Creation visually in line, shape and color.
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St. Elias
The Holy Prophet Elijah was the most awe-inspiring and powerful of the Old Testament prophets. His icon represents the Orthodox understanding of dominion because his total submission to God’s will gives him authority over the elements of creation.
In patristic literature the iconographic theme of Elijah in his desert cave symbolizes the ideal relationship between God, man and nature. Saint Basil provides an especially pertinent interpretation of this icon from the fifth century: “The dwelling of Elias was in a cave high on Mount Carmel. While the wilderness received him, the provision for his life’s journey was hope in God. Despite his simple way of life, he did not die of hunger. Instead the ravens brought him food. Those birds, whose habitual nature was to steal food, became servants at his table.” In other words in the presence of his radiant holiness, the birds natures were transformed so that they became his faithful guardians and providers.
This story serves as a prophetic prefiguration of both the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and his return when “the lion shall lie down with the lamb.” For us today it also defines the path toward a right exercise of the responsibility to “take dominion.” This is because Elias exemplifies that the dominion over nature given by God to man is attained only by those who first attain dominion over their own human nature. This interior mastery over human nature and its passionate tendencies becomes the prerequisite for a right dominion and mastery over exterior nature. In this way the Christian, transformed in Christ, restores created nature back to its paradisal state. This is depicted in the icon by the raven providing food for Elijah because God, through creation, then provides for all human needs. Then a spring of water, representing the Holy Spirit, as depicted at the feet of Elijah, will pour up out of the earth to nurture that person and bring fruitfulness to all the surrounding area.
The high message of this icon for ecology is that only a human nature restored through Christ to its full divinized qualities will be able to restore the lost harmony of creation. The more fundamental theme of this icon is simply “To be a Christian is to be an ecologist.”
St. Elias is especially venerated by those who labor in the openness of unfettered nature – such as shepherds, woodsmen, fishermen, and today ecologists.
