Michael D. O’Brien's "Father Elijah: An Apocalypse"

Michael D. O’Brien is the author of several fiction and non-fiction works, based on his staunch Catholic Conservative views.

Born in 1948, in Ottawa, he started working as an artist in 1970, specializing in religious imagery (neo-Byzantine style) for churches, universities and private collections throughout the world.

He wrote numerous essays and articles, published in journals like Catholic World Report, Communio, Inside the Vatican, or The Chesterton Review. He was also the editor of the Nazareth Journal, for seven years (O’Brien).

His non-fiction books, mostly focusing on the decline of the Western Civilization, due to the loss of Christian values, include: The Family and the New Totalitarianism, Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture, Remembrance of the Future: Reflections on Our Times, A Landscape with Dragons: the Battle For Your Child’s Mind, Arriving Where We Started: Faith and Culture in the Postmodernist Age, William Kurelek: painter and prophet and The Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary.

His fiction books include: Theophilos, Island of the World, The Father’s Tale, Winter Tales, The Small Angel and Voyage to Alpha Centauri.

However, the most appreciated worldwide are the novels forming the Children of the Last Days series: Strangers and Sojourners, Plague Journal, Eclipse of the Sun, Father Elijah: An Apocalypse, Sophia House and A Cry of Stone.

The first published novel in the series, Father Elijah: An Apocalypse (Ignatius Press, 1996), was considered a worldwide bestseller, translated into ten languages (O’Brien).

The Novel

The main character is David Schäfer, a Pole of Jewish descent, Holocaust survivor and former Israeli politician, converted to Catholicism and living as a Carmelite monk.

 His life changes when he receives a letter from the Pope himself (fictional, but patterned after John Paul II), assigning him an incredible mission: to stop the Antichrist and postpone the End of Days.

This is because the Church suspects that the President of the newly formed Federation of European States, a charismatic politician, much like Elijah was once, is on the verge of becoming the archenemy of Christ. The unique idea of this novel is that the potential Antichrist can be stopped, if convinced to abandon evil, and that is Father Elijah mission (“Book Review: Father Elijah: An Apocalypse”, O’Toole).

To make things worse, the president seemingly accepts Elijah’s arguments. There is also some sort of a love story, Elijah’s main support in the president’s entourage, Judge Anna Benedetti, reminding him of his wife, killed by terrorists years before. Thus, he hardly manages not to fall in love with her, through prayer.

Even if the president’s global domination plans are finally unveiled and brought to the Pope’s attention, the evil leader manages to steal the documents, with the aid of a traitor within the Church (a cardinal), kills judge Benedetti and frames Elijah.

Aided by Angel Rafael, the priest escapes the police and confronts the president. The latter clearly opts for Satan, so God takes Elijah to the desert, preparing him for the last battle (O’Toole).

Themes

The main inspiration source is, obviously, the book of Revelation, seen not only as a vision of John’s times, a meditation, or a history of the Chrurch, but as a combination of all three, a true story about the future of mankind and the End of Days (O’Toole).

The idea is not new, the Left Behind series, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, or the Omega Code movie series having a similar vision on a modern-day apocalypse, and the theme of a future European President as the Antichrist being popular in apocalyptic circles worldwide.

The novelty here, besides offering a Catholic point of view, is the idea that a potential Antichrist might not actually become one, if he accepts the Gospel. That is Father Elijah’s mission. Thus, O’Brien’s version of the apocalypse is much more open-ended.

The complex intrigue and action, taking the priest through various parts of the world (America, London, Paris, Rome, Capri, Finland, Warsaw, Turkey, Israel), involves priests, cardinals, politicians, but also supernatural beings (“Book Review: Father Elijah: An Apocalypse”).

Actually, one of the strongest points of this novel is the proper dosage of supernatural. Miracles happen, but not as plot devices, but rather as natural realities for a believer (O’Toole).

Furthermore, the main character has a complex history (one may even consider it as unrealistically intricate) and personality. In fact, Elijah, while a devout Catholic, is extremely doubtful about the Pope’s claims and the Divine plan up to the end.

This is not surprising, since the inner struggle between good and evil, grace and sin, is one of the main themes of the novel, from Father Elijah himself to the, yet potential, Antichrist (O’Toole).

Central to the whole story are also the author’s socio-politically Conservative views.

The humanist, secular and liberal (yet, still vaguely religious) European leader, a subtle opponent of the Church, conceals the supreme evil. This is why the book grew very popular in American Ultra-Conservative circles, equating the Antichrist to the Liberal U.S. administration. The decline of the Free World and Western Civilization is one of O’Brien’s main ideas, and he links it to the abandonment of Christian (especially Catholic) values (O’Toole).

Contested by many is the attack on dissenters within the Church and, especially, on American “liberal” Catholic journalism. They are accused of opposing their own sense of infallibility to the Pope’s infallibility. Likewise, the degree of control the Church has over Catholic newspapers in the U.S., as shown in the book, is considered unrealistic by reviewers familiar with this environment, just like O’Brien’s portrait of the American Catholic Church (Doman).

The bottom line is that Father Elijah, while basically an apocalyptic thriller, is also a sharp critique of materialism, liberalism and opposition to Church doctrines and Papacy (Manganiello 246-248).