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Conception of the Forerunner of Christ John People, destined by Providence for great deeds in the kingdom of grace, are conceived and born under the special care of God. Often God chose weak nature as the instrument of birth of His chosen ones, instilling in them that in order to fulfill His great and holy plans, it is not the strength of nature that is needed, but the power of God and perfect weakness. This came true in the conception of the Forerunner by Elizabeth, who, according to the voice of the Church, “who first did not give birth, barren children, conceived a lamp to enlighten those who have the whole universe, afflicted with blindness.” In the days of Herod, king of Judah, there was a certain Zechariah, a priest of the Abiite line, and his wife from the clan of Aaron, Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, acting in everything according to the commandments and statutes of the Lord. They had no children, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were already advanced in years. One day Zechariah ministered before God in his turn; There were a lot of people in the church for prayer. During the incense, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing on the right side of the incense altar. Seeing the Angel, Zechariah was embarrassed and fear came over him. Do not be afraid, Zechariah, the Angel said to him: your prayer has already been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many people will rejoice at his Christmas. It will be a great thing before the Lord that he should not drink wine or strong drink; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel will be shaven to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him with the spirit and power of Elina, to turn the hearts of the father to the children, and those who are opposed in the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare the Lord for a perfect people. According to this understanding, asked Zechariah, I am old, and my wife is tired in her days. “I am Gabriel, standing before God,” answered the Angel, and I was sent to speak to you and bring this good news to you: you did not believe my words before, which will come to pass at this time. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he hesitated in the sanctuary. When he came out, Zechariah could no longer speak; Those present realized that he had seen a vision in the church. After the days of his service had passed, Zechariah returned to his home. Elizabeth, his wife, conceived and thanked the Lord that He had looked upon her in order to save her from discord among people (Luke I, 5-25). So the conception of the Forerunner was wonderful and glorious according to the special vision and promise of God! In the sixth month after his conception, the Forerunner leaped with joy in his mother’s womb, when I met with the Mother of God, I confessed the Lord. In memory of the conception of the Forerunner, according to God's special intention, the Orthodox Church celebrates a holiday, which, without a doubt, was established in the first times of Christianity. For the Orthodox Church immutably acts according to the words of the Gospel, and the Gospel depicts the conception of the Forerunner as a high and joyful event and encourages us to thank God for this event and celebrate it. Indeed, the very instructions on the day of the Baptist’s conception that have reached us date back to the ancient times of Christianity. From the 4th century, the conversations of St. John Chrysostom, spoken by him on the day of the conception of the Forerunner during the Divine service. In the 8th century St. John of Damascus and IX Byzantium wrote many church songs on the day of the conception of the Forerunner, now sung on this day during divine services. Glorifying the conception of the Forerunner, according to the special vision of God, the Church glorifies the righteous parents of the Forerunner in its hymns. “First of all, she who did not give birth to barren children rejoiced: for she conceived this lamp of the sun, having come to enlighten the whole world: rejoice, Zechariah, crying out with boldness: the prophet of the Most High is about to be born. Zechariah the Great rejoices brightly with the all-glorious wife Elizabeth, worthy of conceiving John the Baptist, whose Archangel rejoices at the gospel, and we will duly honor men, as the hidden place of grace.” St. torment. Andrew and John and John's children Peter and Anthony During the capture of Syracuse in May 868, four Christians, John with his minor sons and Andrew, were captured by the Muslims. They went to share with Emir Ibrahim himself, ruler of northern Africa and Sicily, who ordered the children to be raised in Muslim law and then made Anthony a tax collector and Peter treasurer. But they secretly remained Christians until chance or some enemy discovered it. Ibrahim, not having time to persuade them to change their faith, condemned them to a painful death: after merciless scourging, the executioners first took away their arms and then their legs with wooden implements. After this, the father was killed in front of the lifeless corpses. Andrei was kept in prison for a long time for this reason, and when he remained adamant to the faith, he was also killed (891 years old). She labored as a virgin under Emperor Basil the Macedonian. Expensive, high wealth - virgin purity. How to comply with it? It is inconvenient to fervently pray to the one for whom all things are possible and who, in His goodness, is ready to help and love to give purity (Phil. 4:13, James 1:5). One must be afraid of pride and arrogance: with these dispositions one easily falls into impurity. Practice moderation in food and drink (Rom. 13:13). Guard your senses, sight, hearing, touch: the eyes are the doors of death (Jeremiah IX, 21). Look at the holy and the holy will be in your mind and heart. Beware of dealing with the other sex, reading seductive books and voluptuous paintings. He who loves danger will fall into it (Eccl. 3:27). Physical labor tames lust a lot. Especially saving is the fear of God, the fear of death and Gehenna (Dan.13:22). The Virgin of God Mary, who labored hard for purity, rested in a godly manner around 886 313 Holy Martyr Iraida the Virgin of Alexandria Suddenly, sometimes a visit from God descends into the soul of a person and suddenly the weak creature comes face to face with the highest feat, and is then ready to accomplish it. And at every time and in every activity, the perception of God’s grace is inherent in man: it is not determined either by age, or by mental and scientific development; is determined only by one spiritual state of a person - the comprehension of divine truth and the desire for its source - God - Christ. So, young in years, but already a nun - Iraida (Alexandrian), who accepted and contained in her almost childish soul the saving truth - faith in Jesus Christ, accepted the visitation of the Lord and suddenly contained in her soul an immense impulse - to lay down her life together with the defenders of the one truth and the only good - the faith of Christ. Probably no broad plans, no deep tasks were set in the inexperienced and innocent thought of Iraida when, one day, she went to perform her simple feasible task of monastic service - to bring water for her monastery... She calmly and carelessly approached the shore for water and suddenly another task, a different task appeared before her: not to draw water to quench a bodily thirst, but to hand over her whole life to quench a spiritual thirst - to bear witness herself as a defender of the truth of Christ, together with those doomed to martyrdom for her sake... When, approaching the shore, Iraida saw a ship docked with the prefect of the city, who was carrying with him in chains many presbyters, deacons, holy wives and virgins for confessing the name of Christ (all about 150 people), she suddenly felt that her soul completely loved the same God, for faith in Whom all these people were imprisoned in chains... that her place was among those who were ready to die to imprint this divine faith... And leaving her humble everyday occupation, Iraida suddenly joined the great worldwide cause of confessing Christ. She joined the prisoners, allowed herself, a young woman, to be chained with the same heavy chains with which the holy martyrs were oppressed, and, following them, was taken to Antinoe, where, together with everyone else, she was condemned to cruel torture and beheading by the sword. The young nun, who had barely begun her life, did not retreat in the face of torment and death itself. Courageous and strong with the power from above, which suddenly overshadowed the ready vessel of grace - her pure soul, Iraida was the first of all the prisoners 314 to accept the death penalty, uniting her forever with Christ. This was during the reign of Maximian, at the beginning of the 4th century. A Greek legend was written about her under Patr. Euphemia (906–909) a contemporary, but not published. Fabricii bibi. Gr. X, 286. This saint is not mentioned in Vershinsky’s monthly book. Among these prisoners, the following are known: Archelaus, Biril, Photius, remembered a second time along with Iraida on March 5th.