Picture Elijah with your eyes, and a boundless crowd standing around with the sacrifice lying on the stones, and all the rest of the people in quiet and silence with only the prophet praying. Then suddenly a flame descends from heaven upon the sacrificial animal. These amazing spectacles are full of dread. So now, move from there to the sacrifice being now completed. Not only is it awesome to see, but it surpasses all amazement. For the priest stands there, not bringing down fire, but the Holy Spirit. And the priest himself makes much supplication, not so that a kind of torch may consume the gifts lying there by descending from above, but that the grace coming on the sacrifice through it may lift up the souls of everyone and shine forth more brightly than silver refined by fire. So will anyone be able to think of this awe-inspiring rite with contempt except through madness or lunacy? Or don’t you know that a human soul was not even able to bear the fire of that sacrifice but that all would be utterly destroyed if there were not a lot of help from the grace of God.
Ὑπόγραψόν μοι τὸν Ἠλίαν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τὸν ἄπειρον ὄχλον περιεστῶτα καὶ τὴν θυσίαν ἐπὶ τῶν λίθων κειμένην καὶ πάντας μὲν ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ τοὺς λοιποὺς καὶ πολλῇ τῇ σιγῇ, μόνον δὲ τὸν προφήτην εὐχόμενον, εἶτα ἐξαίφνης τὴν φλόγα ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερεῖον ῥιπτουμένην, θαυμαστὰ ταῦτα καὶ πάσης ἐκπλήξεως γέμοντα. Μετάβηθι τοίνυν ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τὰ νῦν τελούμενα, καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὰ ὄψει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαν ἔκπληξιν ὑπερβαίνοντα· ἕστηκε γὰρ ὁ ἱερεύς, οὐ πῦρ καταφέρων, ἀλλὰ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ τὴν ἱκετηρίαν ἐπὶ πολὺ ποιεῖται, οὐχ ἵνα τις λαμπὰς ἄνωθεν ἀφεθεῖσα καταναλώσῃ τὰ προκείμενα, ἀλλ’ ἵνα ἡ χάρις ἐπιπεσοῦσα τῇ θυσίᾳ δι’ ἐκείνης τὰς ἁπάντων ἀνάψῃ ψυχὰς καὶ ἀργυρίου λαμπροτέρας ἀποδείξῃ πεπυρωμένου. Ταύτης οὖν τῆς φρικωδεστάτης τελετῆς τίς μὴ μαινόμενος μηδὲ ἐξεστηκὼς ὑπερφρονῆσαι δυνήσεται; ἢ ἀγνοεῖς ὅτι οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἀνθρωπίνη ψυχὴ τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο τῆς θυσίας ἐβάσταζεν, ἀλλ’ ἄρδην ἂν ἅπαντες ἠφανίσθησαν, εἰ μὴ πολλὴ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτος ἦν ἡ βοήθεια;