Elijah Waits in Silent Solitude
The first window in the Basilica’s St. Elias (Elijah) Adoration Chapel begins in the middle of the story, where we find Elijah drinking from the brook in a ravine in an out-of-the-way spot called Wadi Cherith. The set of windows depicts five scenes from the life of the prophet, from this moment of dwelling in the desert during the drought God has sent upon Israel and ending with his appearance with Christ and Moses at the Transfiguration.
In this scene, Elijah has withdrawn to the desert, where God had sent the brave bearer of bad news following his announcement to the evil King Ahab that drought was on the way. From inspired action to isolation and dryness, Elijah waits. The brook provides water and God sends ravens to bring him bread and meat twice every day.
As the drought advances, Elijah rests in Lenten solitude, uncertain contemplation, and soul searching, waiting on God for direction. “Silence is God’s first language,” as St. John of the Cross later wrote.
The prophet remains at Wadi Cherith until the brook dries up. Then God directs him to Zarephath, where he encounters a widow. She is gathering sticks to light a fire and cook a last meal for her son and herself as they face death from starvation. Elijah convinces her to instead feed him with the last of her flour and oil, promising her survival in bottomless pots of flour and oil, until the return of rain. God continues to sustain Elijah, with the widow and her son, minimally, yet miraculously. Later, when the widow's son dies, God resurrects him in answer to Elijah’s prayers. Still, the prophet waits, not knowing what we do: that he is destined to call down fire from Heaven on Mt. Carmel and demonstrate, alone before all the Children of Israel and prophets of Baal, the preeminence of the God of Israel.
As seen in the Apostolate of the Little Flower, VOL. 88, NO. 1
The St. Elias Chapel Windows
In 1955, a young artist named Rodney Winfield designed the Basilica windows that depict the lives of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross lining each side of the nave. It was Winfield’s first major stained - glass design project for the Emil Frei Company.
In 2007, when he was 83 years old, Winfield designed the windows for the St. Elias Chapel in the newly renovated undercroft of the Basilica. It was one of his last commissions.
The ceremony blessing of the undercroft’s new windows on Jan. 22, 2008, was attended by Mr. Winfield with Stephen Frei, the Frei company’s fourth-generation president. The St. Louis company, now under its fifth generation of family management, is one of the nation’s most respected artisanal stained glass firms. Mr. Winfield worked with four of those five generations as one of their most celebrated designers. He passed away in 2017 at age 92.