Memorial Day of the Holy Prophet Ezekiel (03/08)





In captivity, the prophet Ezekiel lived at the Howar River. There, at the age of 30, the future of the Jewish people and all humanity was revealed to him in a vision. The Prophet saw a shining cloud, in the middle of which there was a flame, and in it — a mysterious semblance of a spirit-driven chariot and four winged animals that had faces: a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. In front of their faces were wheels strewn with eyes. Above the chariot stood, as it were, a crystal vault, and above the vault — was a semblance of a throne, as if from a sparkling sapphire. On this throne there is a shining «-like Man», and around Him there is a rainbow.

According to the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church, the most blessed «-like Man», sitting on the sapphire throne, was the prototype of the incarnation of the Son of God from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who appeared as the Throne of God.

Particularly important are two significant visions of the prophet — about the temple of the Lord, filled with glory, and about the dry bones in the field to which the Spirit of God gave new life.

The vision of the temple was a mysterious prototype of the liberation of the human race from enemy work and the structure of the Church of Christ through the atoning feat of the Son of God, incarnated from the Blessed Virgin Mary, called by the prophet « gates closed», which only the Lord God went through (Ezek. 44, 2). The vision of dry bones in the field — is a prototype of the universal resurrection of the dead and the new eternal life of those redeemed by the death of the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The holy prophet Ezekiel had the gift of miracles from the Lord. He, like the prophet Moses, divided the waters of the Howara River with prayer to God, and the Jews crossed to the other side, avoiding persecution by the Chaldeans. During the famine, the prophet asked God for increased food for the hungry.

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