St. Elisha

St. Elisha was a prophet of Israel in the ninth century before Christ, the disciple, companion, and appointed successor of the great prophet Elijah, whose mantle fell to him when Elijah was taken up in the fiery chariot. Having asked for a double portion of his master's spirit, Elisha carried on the prophetic mission in the northern kingdom for some fifty years, counseling kings, defending the true worship of the Lord against idolatry, and guiding the communities of the sons of the prophets.

The Scriptures record a great number of wonders worked through him as signs of God's mercy and power: he purified poisoned water and multiplied a widow's oil, raised to life the son of the Shunammite woman who had shown him hospitality, healed the leprosy of the Syrian commander Naaman in the waters of the Jordan, and multiplied loaves to feed the hungry. Venerated in Jewish and Christian tradition alike as a man of God, the prophet Elisha is commemorated on 14 June.