On the Conception of Saint John the Baptist (St. Justin Popovich)

 The Conception of Saint John the Baptist

September 23

By St. Justin Popovich

This day celebrates the mercy, miraculousness and wisdom of God; the mercy towards the pious and righteous parents of Saint John, the old man Zechariah and the old woman Elizabeth, who wanted and begged God for a child all their lives; the miracle of John's conception in the over-aged womb of Elizabeth; and the wisdom in the design of human salvation. This is because God had particularly great intentions with John, namely, that he would be a Prophet and Forerunner of Christ the Lord, the Savior of the world. Through His angels, God announced the birth of Isaac from the childless Sarah, and Sampson from the childless Manoah and his wife, and John the Forerunner from the childless Zechariah and Elizabeth. Through His angels, God announced the birth of those with whom He had special intentions. How could children be born from old parents? If anyone is curious to find out, let him not ask people about it, because people do not know of it, nor do natural laws, because it is above the laws of nature, but let him turn his gaze to the power of the almighty God, who created the whole world from nothing, and who did not need any parents, old or young, to create the first man, Adam. Instead of curiosity, let's give praise to God, who often reveals His power, mercy and wisdom to us beyond the laws of nature, in which, without God's special miracles, we would fall into despair and God-forgetfulness.

From The Lives of the Saints: September. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

On the Beheading of John the Baptist and on Herodias (St. John Chrysostom)

On the Beheading of John the Baptist and on Herodias

By St. John Chrysostom

Again Herodias is raving, again she is making a disturbance, again she is dancing and again she is trying to have John the Baptist beheaded by Herod. Again Jezabel is going around trying to seize the vineyard of Naboth and chase Elijah ito the hills. I think that I am not only one to have fallen into a trance, but all of you listening to the voice of the Gospel are as astonished as I am at John's frankness of speech and Herod's empty-headedness and the animal frenzy of the godless women. What do we hear ? Herod has John arrested and thrown him into prison. Why? Because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

The empty-headedness of Herod induced by the wretched women is contemptible. What is one to say? How is one to describe the wickedness of those unchastised women? It seems to me that there is no wild beast in the world to match an evil woman. I mean, of course, the evil woman and not the good and reasonable woman. I know modest and good women, whose lives I must recount for the edification and love of the good.

Why Confessions Should Be Made Before Priests and Not Icons

Near Delphi in the village of Kirra, the renowned Orthodox preacher Demetrios Panagopoulos was preaching in a church while the parish priest was hearing confessions. That December night, the priest told the preacher how a grandmother in her 80's or 90's came to him for confession earlier for the first time in her life.

She told the priest that for the past 55 years or so, before she communed, she would walk down a path from her house to the church, where nearby there was a secluded little chapel dedicated to the Honorable Forerunner John the Baptist, and there should would light the oil lamps.

Homily One on the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (St. Luke of Simferopol)

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on June 24/July 7, 1951)

Prophet and Forerunner of the coming of Christ, worthy of praise, we are perplexed, who honor you with love.

Well, how can we not be perplexed, how can we offer praise worthy of that about which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, that among those born of women, no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared.

How can we praise the one who is higher than all the saints after the Most Holy Theotokos?

This is the first of the saints in the kingdom of heaven.

The merits of the saints are so great that we cannot count them. What can be said about him, about the one who appeared to the world in the spirit and strength of Elijah?!

What was the spirit of Elijah the Prophet? You know that it was a fiery spirit, burning with love for God. And the power of the Prophet Elijah is also indescribable, for by the power of his prayer he stopped the rain in the land of Canaan for three and a half years, and in a contest with pagan priests about faith, he called fire from heaven on a sacrifice on which water was poured.

It was in such a spirit and in such power that John the Forerunner of the Lord came.

The Holy Prophet Isaiah says that he is the one who should be called “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight” (Is. 40:3) .

And he completed this task. What was this task?

The great venerable Makarios of Egypt likens the nation inhabited by sinners to a dense forest, overgrown with thorny bushes, likens it to dense thickets of reeds and says that it is extremely difficult to get through in such a thicket, you need to push the branches apart with your hands, push away the thickets of reeds.

Namely, such was the nation inhabited by Jews before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was an extremely sinful nation, which had departed from faith in the True God and gone into idolatry.

These were people who sacrificed their children to Baal and Astarte, shedding their blood.

And so the task before John the Forerunner was to prepare the way for the Lord in this dense forest. Such a task has never been entrusted to a person, and the greatest spiritual powers were needed in order to fulfill it.

Let us remember that the holy Forerunner of the Lord prepared for the fulfillment of this task, having lived for more than twenty years in the wild Judaean desert. He lived alone and away from people, with animals; he wore thorny felt clothes and slept on the rocks of the desert.

Why was it necessary? So that, in unceasing prayer to God, in the most difficult fasting, abstinence and vigil, to acquire strength similar to the power and spirit of Elijah. And the holy Forerunner of the Lord acquired such strength.

He shook the hearts of the Jews with his sermon on the banks of the Jordan. He prepared the way for the Lord with this preaching of his, with this fiery call to repentance.

His sermon was so powerful, so influencing to human hearts, that crowds of people came from all over Judea to listen to the denunciations of the Forerunner, to repent and be baptized with the baptism of repentance.

This baptism was necessary in order to prepare for the true baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, which was established by our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Forerunner was completely fearless: he never thought about his own safety, he stood up for the truth so strictly that he was not afraid to expose even King Herod in ugly adultery and iniquities. And for this he was executed.

Didn't God Himself testify to the world about his immeasurable greatness when he sent the archangel Gabriel to announce to the priest Zechariah that this greatest of people would be born from him!

Didn't the archangel say that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb?

This is why I will praise John the Baptist with my weak lips.

And I will draw your attention to another one.

When the archangel Gabriel announced to the priest Zechariah that a Forerunner would be born from him, Zechariah did not believe, although he was full of faith in God. Although he and his wife Elizabeth were righteous, nevertheless this righteous man did not believe.

And did God forgive him this wavering in faith? No, He punished him with a heavy punishment, through the mouth of the archangel he commanded him to be dumb for nine months, until the time of the fulfillment of the prophecy.

This was the punishment of the righteous for unbelief.

And if the Lord so punished the righteous for his wavering in faith, then what will happen to us sinners if our faith is not firm?

We read from the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “But without faith it is impossible to please God; for it is necessary that he who comes to God believe that He exists, and rewards those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Well, how can you believe in the One Whom you do not imagine? How can you love someone in whom you don't believe? Without faith and without love, there is no way to please God. Remember this.

What is required of us is unshakable faith, faith undisturbed by anything.

If you ever waver in faith, then do not remain in your wavering, but be careful so as not to suffer a heavy punishment for it.

The priest Zechariah, punished by God, was pardoned by Him, and not only pardoned, but received a great gift of prophecy, for you heard what he said when his son John the Baptist was born. He said:

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, that he visited his people, and created deliverance for them, and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David, his servant, as he proclaimed through the mouth of his holy prophets who were from time immemorial, that he would save us from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us ... " (Luke 1:68-71).

What's this? Isn't it a prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not a prophecy about the Savior of the world, the Messiah?

Of course, yes, of course, a very clear prophecy of the coming of the Savior.

You see, the Lord does not leave without punishment those who hesitate in faith, but the Lord, having punished Zechariah, forgave, and not only forgave, but also gave the forgiven the great gift of His grace - the gift of prophecy.

Therefore, if you ever happen to waver in your faith, do not lose heart. Falls are inevitable in our Christian life.

Remember how the priest Zechariah, the father of the Forerunner, was forgiven by God, and hope that if you repent, He will raise you up in your Christian dignity and give you the gifts of His grace so that you can follow Him further.

The Lord will help.

And if you believe this, you know that the Lord will not leave you even after your fall.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

An Image of the Greatness of John the Forerunner (St. Theodore the Studite)

 By St. Theodore the Studite

Therefore, it seems to me appropriate to represent the greatness of the Forerunner in the following image. Just as an ordinary king, leaving the royal chambers, has as his predecessors lictors and mace-bearers, and then hypats, iparchs and brigadiers, and then some high dignitary, behind whom the king himself immediately appears, shining with gold and precious stones: so should one think about the true and the only universal King, Christ our Lord. For He, who was to enter into the universe with flesh, was preceded by the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - then the God-seer Moses, Aaron and Samuel, and the whole chorus of the prophets; finally, John appeared, and immediately after him the Lord Christ, about whom John says: "This was he of whom I spoke: He that comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me" (John 1:15), - and the last in order is the highest in dignity, according to comparison. Thus, the great Forerunner is higher than the prophets, and the apostles, and all others, according to the word of the true Word Christ: he is higher than the prophets, as succeeding them, and the apostles, as preceding them.

From the Homily on the Nativity of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist.

 

 

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Homily on the Third Finding of the Honorable Head of Saint John the Forerunner

 By Presbyter Athanasios Menas

Today we celebrate the Third Finding of the Honorable Head of the Honorable Forerunner and Baptist John. This is the prophet, according to the word of the God-man, who is the greatest of the prophets. He is the preeminent preacher of repentance, for the period when God ordained people to repent until the Second Coming. Those who wish to repent live the Orthodox ascetic praxis.

Remarkable is the emphasis and separation that Christ makes for those who wear soft clothing and live with indifference and unrepentance, in contrast to the humble appearance, works and words of the Honorable Forerunner and the testimony of the Prophets before the Forerunner regarding the person of Jesus Christ.

Three Miracles of Saint John the Baptist to Monks of Dionysiou Monastery

 

 

 

The late Monk Lazarus Dionysiatis (+ 1974) is well-known for his book Dionysian Narrations in which he records the valuable memories of those Dionysian Fathers of Dionysiou Monastery at Mount Athos. Among these are various tales of miracles and visions of Saint John the Baptist, who is the patron saint of the Monastery. Below are three examples:

1. I will now tell you a true story that happened to a young monk, who, taking courage in me, confided it to me, very confidentially:

"The Honorable Forerunner, who is depicted in a strict form in the shrine located inside the Katholikon of the Monastery of Dionysiou, in front of the right column, you obviously know him! Every time I talk to him and look him in the face, it seems to me that he is alive. Inside me, I feel like a child talking to his father. When, for the first time, on Monday night, I was reading Compline and the Salutations of the Saint, as I was a sexton and I was standing in front of this Icon of the Honorable Forerunner, with much reverence and love, when I arrived at the words of the Salutations: 'I am sweetened in praising your virtues, O Forerunner, but I hesitate since I cannot find the words. Grant to me the ability to do this.' Then - O your wonders, my protector, Honorable Forerunner! - I felt supernatural grace within my heart, and it seemed like the Honorable Forerunner lifted up my entire body, high above the earth, filling my entire being with unspeakable joy and rejoicing."

A Rare Icon of Christ and John the Baptist Playing at the Jordan River as Children

This icon is attributed to Theodoros Poulakis, from the first half of the 17th century, from the Ionian Islands.

It depicts Christ wearing a luminous white chiton and a circular golden halo, represented in a contrapostal posture, his right hand raised in astonishment, his left hand pointing in negation as if trying to prevent John from looking into the bowl he is holding, the latter wrapped in a blue himation, a golden ring floating above his head, a lamb and a cross appearing between the two boys, a genre scene in the foreground with ducks swimming in the river, a deer watering itself and a bucket hanging from the tree-branch behind, in the immediate background the buildings of a settlement, including a church, amidst a variety of trees, in the far background at the right a domed structure depicted in grisaille, above God the Father portrayed as the Ancient of the Days, emerging from the clouds in blessing, accompanied by three cherubs, the subject rendered realistically, painted mostly with pastel colours, the saturated green tones of the foliage naturally dividing the composition in the celestial and earthly worlds.

The Cave Church of Saint John the Forerunner of Damialis in Crete

In the west of the island of Crete, passing from Kastelli Kissamos in the direction of the famous beaches of Falassarna and Balos, you will see on the side of the road the Cave Church of Saint John the Forerunner of Damialis, as the locals call it.

The place name Damialis was given because in this area during the Turkish occupation there was the damia, that is, the stable of Ali, an Ottoman cattle breeder who was active in these places.

The place where the church was built, as you can see in the photographs, is a large cave in one part of which the church was formed, and in the second beautiful representations were erected from the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of the Lord, in an imposing way, while the middle part of the cavitation is the yard.

When Saint John the Baptist Appeared to Elder Eumenios Saridakis on a Boat and Covered Him

By Monk Simon

One time, Father Sophronios [later known as Father Eumenios Saridakis] fell ill there in the Monastery [the Monastery of Saint Niketas located in Achendria of Archanes Asterousia, in Crete].

As he told us:

"Some skin was coming off of my body. The Abbot told me, 'Go to Athens to be examined.' They gave me the fare, and I got on the boat to go to Athens.

Father John Kalaides and his Patron Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist

By Miltiades Tsesmetzes, Teacher

The holy Father [John Kalaides] honored Saint John the Forerunner very much, whose holy name he worthily bore.

Every year we visited him, on this day [January 7th], to wish him many years and to receive his blessing. I will never forget a year we went to wish him well for his celebration and he miraculously healed in front of our eyes a very special person of ours, touching him on the back, exactly where he had for a long time strong pains! This was done without knowing the slightest thing about his problem!

The Life of Saint John the Baptist (St. Sebastian Dabovich)

By St. Sebastian Dabovich

 

Saint John the Baptist was the son of the Jewish Priest Zacharia. His mother was Elizabeth, a blood-relation to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. This righteous couple were childless, for Elizabeth was barren. They prayed much and long; as true Israelites they desired the consolation of being blessed with children, aspiring,—but in this instance with an humble and holy resignation—to the birth of the great Messiah, who was coming to save mankind, and, as they thought, to free and unite Israel. Although Zacharia and Elizabeth sorrowed in their old age to a day which was beyond the natural limit of child-bearing, still they continued hopefully praying. The prayers of faith of this priest and his patient spouse ascended on high, from whence came down an angel with the message telling them that the Creator of nature and the God of wonders had been pleased to fulfill their desire. Accordingly, Elizabeth bore unto her husband Zacharia a male child, who was called John. 

 

Homilies on Holiness and the Saints - The Honorable Forerunner and Baptist John (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Honorable Forerunner and Baptist John

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Hagiou Vlasiou

During the past two months, in the short Eucharistic sermons, we analyzed what holiness is in the Church and who belongs to the army of saints. We saw the Prophets, the Apostles, the Evangelists, the Fathers and Teachers, the Martyrs, the Venerables and the Ascetics, and especially Christ and His Mother, our Panagia.

In the category of saints, however, belong all those who strive to keep the will of God in their daily lives, those who have Christ in them, those who have the mind of Christ and have a sacred desire to enter the Kingdom of God.

The purpose and mission of Christians is to become saints. The command we have all received is, "Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev. 10:44).

Saint John the Baptist and the Monk Who Sought to Flee from Dionysiou Monastery

The icon of the Honorable Forerunner of the Monastery of Dionysiou (16th century). It is located on the right column of the katholikon of the Monastery.

 

By Monk Lazarus of Dionysiou

On January 13, 1952, while sitting on the balcony outside the pharmacy, I was looking at the dock of the Monastery [Dionysiou Monastery of Mount Athos] where the transport ship that had come from Daphne [the main port of Mount Athos] had stopped.

The newly appointed treasurer Hieromonk Paul, who arrived from Monoxylitis [Metochion of the Monastery of Dionysiou to the west], got out of the boat. Also inside the ship was brother Leontios who was appointed by the Monastery as caretaker, according to the established order, in the recording and delivery of the things of the Metochion, and the former treasurer Dometion, who also returned with his luggage.

The last one, however, I saw him sitting in the boat, while the other brothers had gone out and had already started going up the uphill road to the Monastery. Seeing all this, I wondered what was happening? Why does the former treasurer of Monoxylitis, after he came with his furniture, remain in the boat and does not take out his luggage on the waterfront?

Homily Nine on the Great Litany of the Divine Liturgy - The Honorable Forerunner (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 Homily Nine on the Great Litany of the Divine Liturgy

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Honorable Forerunner

At the end of the Great Litany, that is, of the "Litany of Peace", after we have mentioned the Panagia and all the Saints, the Priest urges us to dedicate our lives to the God-man Christ. We spoke about the Panagia in a previous sermon. Today we will dwell on the phrase "with all the Saints" and because of the feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist, we will refer to him, who is among the Saints.

Saint John the Forerunner was given the name John, which is interpreted as the "grace of God", and it was given to him by God Himself. He is called the Forerunner, because he preceded Christ and prepared the way for His work. He is called Baptist, because he was found worthy to baptize Christ in the Jordan River. This is a great personality who was praised by Christ Himself, who said: "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist" (Matt. 10:11).

Homily on the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 

 By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

We now solemnly remember with awe and reverence the beheading of the honorable head of the holy, glorious, prophet, forerunner and baptist of the Lord, John. Why is the beheading of John so venerable, so important and dear to everyone?

Because of the truth, he suffered; because of the truth, his head was cut off; and the truth is dear to all, because in it is the salvation of all.

What would happen on earth if the truth was not observed between people, if the truth was not so kept, respected? Then no one could live on earth. The society of unrighteous and deceitful people cannot exist for a long time: they will be destroyed by themselves or they will destroy each other. Where righteousness is not observed, there is an end near of everything, and unrighteous gain is always dust. Where the truth is not stored, there soon everything perishes, and lawless life is death.

"The Honorable Forerunner Saved Me!": A Miracle of Saint John the Baptist in the DR Congo

Prodromos with Fr. Chariton

 By Fr. Chariton Musungai,
the Hierarchical Commissioner of the First Diocese of Goma

One of our first Christians here in Goma (DR Congo) was Prodromos Mukandirwa Kibira, a father of seven. He is always present at all the services of the church and our good fellow-worker.

On Wednesday, February 24, the day of the feast of the Honorable Forerunner, the First and Second Finding of his Honorable Head, a friend asked him to visit a sick person together. Before leaving his house, he took and put in his pocket an icon of the Honorable Forerunner. He had heard, when he was still a catechumen, that it is good to always have a Cross, an Icon or even the New Testament on us for protection.

To get to their destination quickly, they took a taxi. Taxis here are two-wheelers. In front is the driver and behind him the passengers. As they were leaving, a terrible car accident happened to them. They crashed with another motorcycle, as a result of which the driver and the friend of Prodromos were killed on the spot.

The Cave Where Saint Elizabeth Hid With Saint John the Baptist and the Tomb of Saint Elizabeth

When the Lord Jesus had been born and Herod began to slaughter the children of Bethlehem, he sent men to find and kill the son of Zechariah – for Herod had heard all that had happened to Zechariah, and how John has been born. Upon seeing the soldiers coming, Elizabeth took John into her arms – he was a year and a half old at that time – fled from the house with him, and ran to a rocky and desolate place. When she saw the soldiers following her, she cried out to the mountain: “O Mountain of God, receive a mother with her child!” and the rock opened and hid the mother and child. Then Herod, enraged that the child John had not been slain, ordered Zechariah be slain before the altar. The blood of Zacharias was spilled on the marble and dried solid as stone, and remained as a witness as Herod’s evil deed. In the place where Elizabeth hid with John a cave opened, water flowed out of it, and a fruit-bearing palm grew, all by the power of God. Forty days after the death of Zechariah, the blessed Elizabeth died. The child John remained in the wilderness, fed by an angel and protected by God’s providence, until the day he appeared at the Jordan.

Birth of Saint John the Baptist: Epistle and Gospel Reading

 

 

Nativity of the Holy and Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John

June 24

Matins Gospel Reading

Gospel According to Luke 1:24-25, 57-68, 76, 80

English

At that time, Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias conceived, and for five months hid herself, saying, "Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men." Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zacharias after his father, but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marveled. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways." And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

What Does the Honorable Forerunner Teach Us? (Archim. George Kapsanis)

 By Archimandrite George Kapsanis
Former Abbot of Gregoriou Monastery on Mount Athos

(Delivered in 1991)

The message of Saint John the Baptist in the wilderness of the Jordan can be summed up in the phrase: "Repent; the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). Christ was the Kingdom of Heaven, because Christ was the Son of God, who would inaugurate the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world, which is the Kingdom of Heaven. For where the Holy Spirit is, there is also the Kingdom of Heaven. But Christ and the Holy Spirit cannot be received by someone without repentance. Repentance is the necessary condition for receiving Jesus Christ as the God-man and receiving the Grace of the Holy Spirit. As long as man lives unrepentant, hardened in his selfishness, in his self-reliance, in his self-love and in his passions, he can neither receive Christ as the God-man nor the Grace of the Holy Spirit. That is why the Holy Forerunner, in order to open people's hearts and accept Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, taught "repent".