Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John

My father Zacharias was a priest of the lineage of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, and my mother Elizabeth was of the lineage of Aaron and was the sister of Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. The Holy Gospel testifies of them that both were righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly; but they had no child, for my mother was barren and both were well advanced in years.

My father was serving as a priest in Jerusalem in the days of Herod, and was of the course of Abijah, whose turn fell in the eighth week; he was the chief among the other priests of his division. Once, while fulfilling his course, he was ministering before God, and according to the custom of the priests it fell to him to enter the Temple of the Lord to burn incense; and the multitude of the people were praying without at that time.

Entering the sanctuary, my father saw an Angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense, and fear came upon him at the sight of the Angel. But the messenger of God calmed him and said: «Fear not, Zacharias: thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And many shall rejoice at his birth».

Thus the bearer of good tidings, the holy Archangel Gabriel, entering the altar to the priest who was then ministering before God, announced my conception. For there are few mothers whose conception is glorified and celebrated by the Holy Church, and all these conceptions were announced by an Angel and accomplished by the grace of God.

My father answered the Angel: «That which thou proclaimest to me, joyful messenger, is both unexpected and strange, for it is unnatural to bear children in old age; I am old, and my wife is advanced in years: how can we conceive and bear a son?»

The Angel told him that this was the will of God, for Whom nothing is impossible, and reminded him: «Is it unknown to thee that God was able to create Adam from the earth, to form Eve from the bone of Adam, and to grant a son Isaac to the aged Sarah?» And he revealed of himself: «I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God». And he said that the son who would be born would be great before the Lord and in spiritual greatness would surpass the prophet Jeremiah: if the latter received sanctification before his birth, the former would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb; Jeremiah was destined only to prophesy of the Messiah, while this one would be counted worthy both to lay his hand upon Him and to baptise Him.

My father still doubted and asked for a sign, and therefore heard: «But because thou believest not my words, thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed». And immediately dumbness bound his lips, while the bonds of my mother’s barrenness were loosed; and the Angel departed to the throne of the Almighty.

Since Zacharias had tarried in the sanctuary while conversing with the Angel, the people who were in the church marvelled. When he came out to the people, he was compelled to make signs that he had become dumb; then those present understood that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. Having completed his course, my father returned to his house, which was in the hill country, in Hebron, a city of Judah.

When the Unsetting Sun of righteousness — our Saviour — desired to shine upon the world and had already bowed the heavens and dwelt in the most pure virgin womb, at that very time the birth of His Forerunner from a barren woman was to take place. Righteous Anna conceived the Theotokos, Elizabeth — the Forerunner, and the Virgin Mary — Christ our Saviour.

And Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth. My mother, having a prophet for a husband and having given birth to a prophet-son, was herself also filled with the prophetic gift and prophetically recognised the coming to her of the Mother of God when she said: «And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?» (Lk. 1:43).

To my father the Angel announced that I would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from my mother’s womb and would go before the face of the Lord in the spirit and power of Elias; and behold, the Mother of my Lord herself came into the house of my father before my birth.

Thus one wonder preceded another: before the Virgin gives birth to Christ, she who was advanced in days gives birth to Christ’s Forerunner, so that those who had seen the supernatural birth from one grown old might believe also in the preternatural birth from an unwedded virgin and say to themselves that the almighty Right Hand of God, which had loosed the barrenness of the aged woman, is also able to make the incorrupt Virgin a pure Mother.

And behold, when the time was fulfilled for my mother to give birth, she brought forth a son in her old age, from a womb grown old, as in the most ancient times Sarah gave birth to Isaac. All her kinsfolk, neighbours and acquaintances, hearing of this birth, rejoiced with her, because the Lord had shown her great mercy — He had taken away from her the reproach of childlessness. Thus were fulfilled the words of God’s messenger: «thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth» (Lk. 1:13–14).

On the eighth day after my birth the priests and kinsmen of my father came to his house to take part in the rite of the circumcision of the child, and they wished to call me by my father’s name — Zacharias. But my mother did not consent to this; guided by the Holy Spirit, she called the child John — prophetically, for she could not have heard this from her husband; Zacharias had returned from the temple to his house with his tongue, as it were, bound.

Then the priests and kinsmen began to ask my father by signs what he would have the child called. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote upon it: «His name is John» (Lk. 1:63). And immediately the mouth of Zacharias was opened and his tongue was loosed from the bonds of muteness, and he began to speak, glorifying God.

All marvelled at so many wonders: both that one grown old had given birth to a child, and that the father who had been mute was of one mind with the mother concerning the child’s name, and that the dumb man, after writing the name, began to speak. And they thought with wonder: «What manner of child shall this be!» (Lk. 1:66). And my father, being filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied: «And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways» (Lk. 1:68–79).

When our Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea and wise men came from the east inquiring about the newborn King of the Jews, then Herod, having sent soldiers to Bethlehem with orders to slay all the male children there, remembered also me, the son of Zacharias, of whom he had heard many wondrous things, and began to consider: is he not the future king of the Jews? And, tormented by malice, he devised to slay me also, and for this purpose he deliberately sent murderers to Hebron, to the house of my father.

When the godless slaughter of the children began in Bethlehem, the outcry and lamentation that arose in Bethlehem reached even to Hebron, which stood at no great distance from the city of David, and here they learned the cause of the weeping. I was then already a year and a half old. My mother, taking me, at once hastened to the highest mountains of the wilderness; my father at that time was in Jerusalem, fulfilling the course of his priestly service that had fallen to him.

Having hidden in the mountains, my mother with tears prayed to God, asking Him to protect her with me. And when from the height of the mountains she saw the approaching soldiers, who were diligently seeking us and were already near, she cried out in terror, turning to a rocky cliff: «O mountain of God! Receive a mother with her child!» And immediately the mountain parted, received us within, and thus concealed us from the pursuing murderers. So the soldiers, not finding the one they sought, returned to him who had sent them empty-handed.

Then Herod sent to the temple to my father his armorbearer to say to him: give me your son. Saint Zacharias answered: «I am now serving the Lord God of Israel, and where my son is at present I do not know».

Herod was greatly enraged and again sent to him his armorbearer to say that if he did not hand over his son, he himself would die. And soldiers came to him, fierce as wild beasts, ready to carry out the command of the lawless king, and with fury they said to the priest of God: where have you hidden your son? Hand him over to us, for the king has commanded us to kill you at once if you do not hand over your son to us.

Zacharias answered them courageously: «You will kill my body, but the Lord will receive my soul». And immediately the murderers, carrying out the lawless command, rushed with fury upon the saint and slew him between the temple and the altar (Mt. 23:35). His shed blood, having soaked in, remained on the marble and became like stone, as a witness to the crime of Herod and his eternal condemnation.

Thus my father, clothed with the vestment of the priesthood, was a lamp and beholder of mysteries and was slain by the sword in the temple of God; and now he prays together with me to Christ for the salvation of your souls.

My mother, hidden by God together with me, remained in the parted mountain. In it, by God’s command, a cave was formed for us; near it a spring appeared and a date-palm grew, full of fruit. Every time the hour for taking food came, the tree would bend down, offering us its fruit, and when we were satisfied, it would straighten up again.

Forty days after the slaying of my father, my mother reposed in the said cave. From that time I was fed by an Angel until I came of age and was preserved in the wilderness until the day of my appearing to the people of Israel. Thus the hand of God preserved and sheltered me, that I might go before the face of the Lord in the spirit and power of Elias and prepare the way for Him Who comes to save the human race.

An Angel had foretold to my father that I would be great before the Lord not in body but in spirit, that I would be a faster and would lead such an abstinent life as no other. And such was the testimony of the Son of God Himself: «For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine» (Lk. 7:33). Thus I lived in the wilderness — a virgin and a desert-dweller — until the day of my appearing to Israel came.

When the day of my appearing to the Israelites came, I came forth from the wilderness — a zealot for the law of God, a reprover of human sins and a preacher of repentance. I turned many of the sons of Israel to the true Lord God and prepared the people to receive the Lord and Saviour, going before Him in the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah.

As the forerunner, it was fitting for me to precede the appearance of the Lord, preaching and saying: «There cometh one mightier than I after me» (Mk. 1:7). Thus also did my father prophesy of me on the day when his tongue was loosed: «thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace» (Lk. 1:76–79).

Many stars appear before the rising of the sun, but only the daystar precedes the sun itself. So also I, the daystar of the Sun of Righteousness that knoweth no setting, went before Him and called the people to repentance; and now, as before in the world, I preach repentance.

An angel announced to my father that Jeremiah was destined only to prophesy concerning the Messiah, while his son would be counted worthy both to lay his hand upon Him and to baptise Him. And this was fulfilled at the Jordan, where I baptised Christ: I ministered to the mystery of divine baptism, laying my hand upon the head of the Master.

Jordan was afraid at His coming in the flesh and turned back in fear; I, fulfilling my prophetic ministry, hid myself in trembling; the angelic ranks were in awe, beholding Him being baptised in the streams in the flesh; and all who were in darkness were enlightened. In the streams I was counted worthy to baptise the One foretold, and having laid my hand upon Him in the Jordan, I appeared as prophet and preacher, and at the same time Forerunner.

How could I fail to know Him Whom I myself had baptised, over Whom I had seen the Holy Spirit descending from heaven, and concerning Whom I had heard the voice of the Father bearing witness? Many prophets preached of the coming of the Messiah, but to me it was granted not only to preach with the word, but also with my own finger to point out to the people the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. And, pointing to Him with my finger, I said: «Behold the Lamb of God» (Jn. 1:36).

Before me all the prophets and the law itself prophesied; but I was the fulfilment of all the prophets, the end of the Old Testament, the forerunner of the new grace. Therefore the Angel also said to my father that his son would be great and greater than all those born of women. And it was not for myself that I gathered disciples: I pointed with my finger to the Lamb of God so that they would follow Him and not me.

Herod, called Antipas, son of the elder Herod who had slain the infants of Bethlehem — an evil shoot from an evil root, who held Galilee in his power — was at first married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia, and lived with her for a considerable time. But afterwards, being captivated by the beauty of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, he drove away his first lawful wife and married his brother’s wife, contrary to the law; and he took the wife from his brother while the latter was still alive, committing a great iniquity as a plunderer, an adulterer and an incestuous man.

Seeing such lawlessness, I did not remain silent, but before all I reproved Herod as an adulterer and a robber who had taken his brother’s wife, and I said to him: «It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife Philip’s wife». Herod, unable to bear the reproof, ordered that I be shut up in prison, bound with fetters — in the fortress of Machaerus, near the Dead Sea, on the border with Arabia.

His wife Herodias was especially angry with me and greatly desired my death, but she could not kill me, for Herod himself protected the prisoner from his wife’s murderous intent. Herod considered me a righteous and holy man; earlier he had listened to me with pleasure and, heeding my words, had done much good. Yet he feared men more than God: «and when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet» (Mt. 14:5). Therefore he did not dare to put the prophet, beloved and honoured by all, to open death, but only tormented me with imprisonment in the dungeon, wishing to close the mouth of his reprover that would not be silenced.

I remained in prison for a long time. My disciples gathered to me, and I often taught them the virtuous life according to the law of God, and proclaimed to them the Messiah Who had already come into the world, to Whom I also sent them.

Thus it is said in the Gospel: «And when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto Him, Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another?» (Mt. 11:2–3). I sent them to ask not because I myself did not know: for how could I not know Him Whom I had baptized and over Whom I had seen the Holy Spirit descending from heaven, of Whom I had heard the voice of the Father bearing witness, and Whom at last I had pointed to with my finger, saying: «Behold the Lamb of God» (Jn. 1:36).

I sent my disciples to question the Lord so that they might see with their own eyes the glorious miracles which the Lord performed, and that they might be fully convinced that He had come to save the human race. For my bonds were already near their end, and it was needful for me to entrust my disciples to Him Whom I had preached.

After some time the day came on which Herod was accustomed to celebrate his birthday. Gathering all his princes, commanders, elders and the tetrarchs of Galilee, he made for them a great feast. During this feast the daughter of Herodias danced and by her dancing greatly pleased Herod and those reclining with him; instructed by her cruel mother, she asked of Herod my head and received what she asked, for Herod had sworn to her to give her whatever she might ask, even up to half his kingdom.

The wretch would not break his oath, would not grieve the vile mother of the dancer, but forgot that fear by which until then he had not dared to kill me, forgot my life also and, as one drunken with wine, was inflamed with the intent to shed innocent blood. And straightway he sent an executioner to the prison, ordering him to cut off my head and bring it on a platter.

Thus for rebuking the unlawful cohabitation of Herod with Herodias was I beheaded in the prison, already late at night; for that abominable feast is called by the holy Evangelist Mark a supper, and that supper lasted far into the night. And my head was brought on a platter in the midst of the feast, with blood still dripping, and, as some relate, the head uttered the same words of rebuke even after the beheading, saying to Herod: «It is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip’s wife».

What great fear seized all those reclining and standing at that supper! And the dancer took this head in her audacious hands and carried it to her mother; Herodias, taking it, pierced the tongue that had rebuked her iniquities with a needle.

Herodias did not allow my head to be buried together with my body, for she feared that if the head were joined to the body I might rise again and begin once more to rebuke her and Herod. My disciples, however, took my body that same night from the prison and buried it: it had been cast outside the walls of the fortress and was found there by my disciples, who with honour carried it to Sebaste, a city of Samaria, and there buried it near the tomb of the Prophet Elisha.

And it was meet for me to precede with my death both the birth of the Lord and His death: just as on earth I had preached the coming of the Lord, saying: «There cometh one mightier than I after me» (Mk. 1:7), so also to the souls of the holy forefathers in hades it was meet for me to preach the coming of the Lord and to tell them that the Messiah awaited by the world had already appeared.

Preceding the descent of the Lord into hades, I proclaimed to those in hades God come in the flesh, and I gladdened the holy forefathers; with them I was led forth from hades after its destruction at the Resurrection of Christ, and I was accounted worthy of many crowns in the Kingdom of Heaven — as a virgin, as a desert-dweller, as a teacher and preacher of repentance, as a prophet, as Forerunner and Baptist, and as a martyr.

Herod and Herodias did not escape the vengeance of God: my blood cried out to God against Herod, as once the blood of Abel cried out against Cain, and after no long time he was deprived of his kingdom and his life together with Herodias and the dancing-girl.

My head Herodias buried deep in her palace, in a secret dishonourable place. Only the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, named Joanna, of whom the holy Evangelist Luke makes mention, knew that place. Grieving in her heart over my slaying and the outrage done to my honourable head, she took that head secretly by night, placed it in an earthen vessel and buried it on the Mount of Olives, in one of Herod’s estates.

Meanwhile rumours of Jesus Christ reached Herod, and he together with his wife began to think that this was John risen from the dead. They began to seek my head and, not finding it, were perplexed; Herod even said thus to his household concerning Jesus: «This is John, whom I beheaded. He is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him» (Mt. 14:2).

After a long time a certain very noble dignitary named Innocent believed in Jesus Christ. Leaving the world, he came to Jerusalem, bought on the Mount of Olives that place which had once belonged to Herod, built himself a cell there and became a monk. Wishing to build for himself a small stone church, he began to dig a trench for the foundation — and by God’s providence he found hidden in the earth an earthen vessel with my head; by various signs and by revelation from God he understood whose head it was, and began to keep it with reverence.

Before his death, seeing the spread of unbelief, the monk again hid the holy head in the bosom of the earth, placing it in the very spot where his cell and church had stood. After his death that church fell into decay, collapsed and was even levelled with the ground, so that for a long time no one knew where the honourable head was to be found.

When the great Emperor Constantine ascended the throne and enlightened his land with holy baptism, then his mother, the holy Helen, began to renew and cleanse all the Jerusalem shrines. At that time two monks who were labouring in the East came to Jerusalem to venerate the Precious Cross and the Tomb of the Lord. To one of them in a dream I appeared, revealed the place where my honourable head had been buried, and commanded him to take it from the depths of the earth; but he considered it all a mere dream, believed it not himself, and persuaded the other likewise.

The following night I appeared a second time, but now to each monk separately, and said: «Awake, forsake your unbelief and sloth, and do what has been announced to you». Awakening, both went to the place that had been shown them, began to dig the earth there, and found the priceless treasure. Placing the head in a bag made of camel’s hair, they set out on their way back.

At that time a certain poor potter from the city of Emesa was forced by poverty to leave his homeland and go to another country; on the road he met those two monks and continued his journey with them. The monks, finding a fellow traveller, gave him the sack with the head to carry, and he, not knowing what he was bearing, calmly continued on his way.

Then I appeared to him and said: «Leave your companions and flee from them with the sack that you hold in your hands». For I saw the sloth and negligence of those monks, who at first had not believed my appearance, and afterwards had not wished to carry my honourable head themselves, but had entrusted it to a simple man unknown to them; to this poor man I wished to show kindness and to direct him onto the path of a good and God-pleasing life.

The potter returned home, and the Lord, for the sake of my head, blessed his house with every abundance; he did not become proud, but gave generous alms to the poor and needy and always venerated the honourable head. Before his death he placed the holy head in a vessel, enclosed it in a coffer, sealed it, and gave it to his sister.

Passing from one person to another, the honourable head was finally given to the hieromonk Eustathius, who lived not far from Emesa in a certain cave. He was infected with the heresy of Arius and began, like a thief, to ascribe to himself and to his heresy the grace of healings that came forth from the head. When the inhabitants of Emesa learned of his evil belief and drove him out, he hid the vessel with the holy head by night deep in the earth in that cave; but he could not return: pious monks settled in the cave, and a monastery was founded on that spot.

The archimandrite of that monastery, Marcellus, a man full of virtue, saw me in a vision and received a blessing from me; then a certain hand struck him three times on his right side, and a voice sounded: «Behold, I am given to you; arise, follow the star that will go before you, dig in the place to which it will lead you, and you shall find me». Following the star, he entered the cave, dug for a long time, calling upon the name of the Lord, and found the sacred vessel in which the honourable head rested.

The Bishop of Emesa, Uranius, having celebrated the Divine Liturgy with the assembled clergy, took the vessel with the honourable head and brought it forth from the earth. One of the presbyters, named Malchus, did not believe this and boldly laid his hand upon the vessel – and because of his unbelief his hand withered and stuck to the vessel; but afterwards, at my appearance, he touched the vessel at the translation of the head and received healing.

After some time my holy head was transferred from Emesa to Constantinople. Here, at the place called Hebdomon, by imperial command a beautiful temple was built, in which the honourable head was laid.

In the time of the iconoclastic heresy, when many holy icons were burned, others cast into the sea and rivers, trampled underfoot and variously desecrated, then certain pious Christians, fleeing from Constantinople filled with heretics, secretly took my head with them and brought it to Comana, where the holy John Chrysostom had once reposed. Here they again hid it in the depths of the earth, placing it in a silver vessel.

This precious shrine remained there unknown until the times of Emperor Michael and his mother, the Empress Theodora, who again established Orthodoxy. In the reign of Michael the shrine was found anew by divine will and transferred to Constantinople by Patriarch Ignatius – to the honour and glory of Christ our God.

From the earth my head shone forth, emitting rays of incorruption and healing to the faithful: from above it gathers a multitude of Angels, and below it calls the human race to send up with one voice glory to Christ God.

When the holy Evangelist Luke, preaching Christ, came to Sebastia, the thought came to him to take my body to Antioch. But it was impossible to take it: the inhabitants of Sebastia greatly venerated the relics and guarded them carefully. Therefore he was able to separate only the right hand that had baptized the Lord and Master Jesus Christ; this he brought to his city of Antioch as a precious treasure.

In the region of Antioch there dwelt a great and terrible serpent, which the pagans deified and to which as to a god they annually offered in sacrifice a maiden chosen by lot. Once the lot fell upon the daughter of a certain Christian; her father with tears besought Christ God and me for the deliverance of his daughter from a cruel death and, coming to the church where the holy hand was kept, secretly bit off with his teeth one joint of the little finger. And when the serpent crawled quite near and opened its mouth still wider, the father cast the joint of the sacred finger straight into the midst of its throat, and the serpent immediately died; and a multitude of pagans believed in Christ God.

When the Arabs took possession of Antioch, the most venerable hand was, as it were, taken captive. But in the reign of the porphyrogenitus brothers Constantine and Romanus, the deacon Job was inspired by God Himself to carry the holy hand out from under Arab dominion; arriving at Chalcedon, he revealed to the Christians what he had with him. The emperors sent a royal ship for it, and the patriarch himself held the holy hand; the emperors and all the people came out to the shore, meeting it as though the Baptist himself were invisibly coming from heaven.

This translation took place on the eve of the holy Theophany, before the blessing of the waters; therefore my synaxis is celebrated on the day after the Theophany of the Lord with great rejoicing.

The memory of the righteous is with praise, but the testimony of the Lord is sufficient for you, O Forerunner: for you have shown that you are truly more honorable than the prophets, as in the streams of baptism you were deemed worthy to preach. Moreover, having suffered for the truth, rejoicing, you preached the good news to those in hell of God revealed in the flesh, who takes away the sin of the world and gives us great mercy.