Nativity of the Holy John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord

Life

Six months before his appearance in Nazareth to the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the great Gabriel, Archangel of God, appeared to the high priest Zechariah in the Temple of Jerusalem. Before he announced the miraculous conception of the unwed Virgin, the archangel announced the miraculous conception of the childless old woman. Zechariah did not immediately believe the words of the messenger of God, and therefore his tongue was bound with muteness, and he remained mute until the eighth day after the birth of John. On that day the relatives of Zechariah and Elizabeth gathered for the circumcision of the infant and for the giving of a name. When they asked the father what name he wished to give his son, he, being mute, wrote on a tablet: John. And at that moment his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak. The home of Zechariah was on the heights between Bethlehem and Hebron. Throughout all Israel the news had spread of the appearance of the angel of God to Zechariah, of his muteness, and of the loosing of his tongue at the moment when he wrote the name John. The news had also reached Herod. Therefore Herod, when he sent men to slaughter the children in Bethlehem, also sent men to the mountainous dwelling of the family of Zechariah to kill John as well. But Elizabeth hid the child in time. Enraged at this, King Herod sent executioners to the temple to Zechariah (for it happened that it was again Zechariah's turn to serve in the Temple of Jerusalem) to kill him. Between the porch and the temple Zechariah was killed, and his blood curdled and turned to stone on the flagstones, and remained so as a permanent witness against Herod. Elizabeth hid with the child in a cave, where she soon died. The infant John remained in the wilderness alone in the care of God and the angels of God.

From the Hymn of Praise

By the miracle of God John came into the world,Like Isaac, son of Sarah and Abraham.By the miracle of God he remained alive,From the bloody knife of Herod.