Bishop's service on the day of the Beheading of the Prophet John the Baptisttranslated

On September 11, on the day of the Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, Metropolitan Theodosius of Samara and Novokuybyshevsk led the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir in the city of Samara. His Eminence was served by the clergy of the church and the clergy of the Samara Metropolis. The event of the Beheading of John the Baptist is described in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. The holy prophet openly denounced the Galilean ruler Herod Antipas for his lawless cohabitation with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For this, John the Baptist was imprisoned. During the feast on the occasion of Herod's birthday, Herodias' daughter Salome pleased the ruler and his guests with her dance. Herod vowed to fulfill her every wish. At the instigation of her mother, she asked to be given the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The ruler was saddened, because he revered the prophet and feared the people, but for the sake of the oath given to the guests, he ordered the request to be fulfilled. John the Baptist was beheaded in prison, and his head was brought to Salome on a platter and given to Herodias.

According to church tradition, Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Khuza, secretly took the holy head and buried it in a vessel on the Mount of Olives. The body of his holy Forerunner...