The Moldovan Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Prophet Ilie (Elijah or Elias) on August 2. Saint Ilie is celebrated as a miracle worker and the one who brings rain during a drought period. He is also considered the guardian of crops. On this day, the people go to church to bless the first harvest of this year.
Priest Eugen Onicov, of the Chisinau Church “Saint Pantelimon”, has told IPN that Saint Ilie is one of the 16 most important prophets in the Old Testament. He lived over 800 years before Christ, during the reign of King Ahab, in the Israeli territory of Samaria. It is the popular belief than when it rains with thunders and other spectacular meteorological phenomena on Saint Ilie’s day, the saint is crossing the skies with his chariot of fire to protect the living.
It is on the Feast of Saint Ilie that the fruit and vegetables as well as the bee honey are blessed. They eat honey with cucumbers on this day, but this is not a religious, but rather a popular practice. They say the summer rains come after this feast.
