And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
Read Chapter 17
Caesarius of Arles
AD 542
As we mentioned, that widow prefigured the church, and her son was a type of the Gentiles. The son of the widow lay dead because the son of the church, that is, the Gentiles, was dead because of many sins and offenses. At the prayer of Elijah, the widow’s son was revived; at the coming of Christ, the church’s son or the Christian people were brought back from the prison of death. Elijah bent down in prayer, and the widow’s son was revived; Christ sank down in his passion, and the Christian people were brought back to life. Why blessed Elijah bent down three times to arouse the boy I believe that the understanding of your charity has grasped even before I say it. In the fact that he bowed three times is shown the mystery of the Trinity. Not only the Father without the Son, nor the Father and Son without the Holy Spirit, but the whole Trinity restored the widow’s son or the Gentiles to life. Moreover, this is further demonstrated in the sacrament of baptism, for the old person is plunged...
“He stretched himself on the child three times and cried out to the Lord, ‘O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.’ ” These words contain many symbols. [The Scripture] shows us immediately that through the invocation of the three names a human being will come back to life. If he kills the ancient Adam with the help of the Messiah in the holy baptism. The divine Paul says, “If we have died with the Messiah, we believe that we will also live with him.” And what follows agrees precisely with this meaning: “He stretched himself on the child,” because in this life, which he will give us after we are dead to that ancient Adam, “he will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.” And here you can also see a symbol of the triple descent of the Son of God to the dead: the first symbol consists here in the fact that he was made flesh and included his infinite nature into the womb of the Virgin; the second, that he stretched his body...
