The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Life

Herod Antipas, the son of the elder Herod who slew the infants of Bethlehem at the time of the birth of the Lord Jesus, was the ruler of Galilee at the time of the preaching of John the Baptist. This Herod was married to the daughter of a certain Arabian prince, Aretas. But Herod, an evil shoot from an evil root, cast off his lawful wife and unlawfully took to himself as consort Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, who was still alive. Against this lawlessness John the Baptist rose up and mightily rebuked Herod. Herod cast him into prison. During a feast at his court in Sebastia of Galilee, Salome, the daughter of Herodias and Philip, danced before the guests. And the drunken Herod, carried away by the dance, promised the dancer to give her whatever she should ask of him, even up to half his kingdom. Prompted by her mother, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod ordered that John be beheaded in prison, and his head brought on a platter. The disciples of John took the body of their teacher by night and honorably buried it, while Herodias pierced the tongue of John with a needle and buried the head in an unclean place. What happened afterward with the head of John can be read under February 24. But God's punishment quickly overtook this company of evildoers. Prince Aretas, to avenge the honor of his daughter, attacked Herod with his army and utterly defeated him. The vanquished Herod was condemned by the Roman Caesar Caligula to exile, first in Gaul and then in Spain. As exiles Herod and Herodias lived in misery and humiliation, until the earth opened and swallowed them. And Salome perished by an evil death on the river Sicorus (Sicoris). The death of Saint John occurred before Pascha, and the celebration on August 29 was established because on that day the church which Emperor Constantine and Empress Helena built over his grave in Sebastia was consecrated. In that church were also placed the relics of the disciples of John: Elisha and Obadiah.

From the Hymn of Praise

O holy John, wondrous Baptist,Thou wast the Forerunner of the glorious Savior,By thy purity thou didst awaken human soulsAnd like a fearsome trumpet from the Jordan thou didst thunder,