1 Kings 18: 20-39

“[On Mount Carmel Elijah] was like a magician getting ready to pull a rabbit out of a hat. First he had a trench dug around the altar and filled with water. Then he got a bucket brigade going to give the offering a good dowsing, too. Then as soon as they’d finished, he got them to do it again for good measure. By the time they’d finished a third go-round, the whole place was awash, and Elijah looked like he’d just finished swimming the channel. He then gave Yahweh the word to show his stuff and jumped back just in time. Lightning flashed. The water in the trench fizzed like spit on a hot stove. Nothing was left of the offering but a pile of ashes and a smell like the Fourth of July. The onlookers were beside themselves with enthusiasm and at a signal from Elijah, demolished the losing team down to the last prophet. Nobody could say whose victory had been greater, Yahweh’s or Elijah’s.

In the picture above by Pietro Lorenzetti, hermits are near the Fountain of Elijah, dressed in their Carmelite habit - including a striped cloak designed to symbolize Elijah's cloak which was scorched as he went up to heaven in the chariot of fire. The order later received papal dispensation to change these cloaks because they were a source of ridicule outside the monastery.

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