The Sinaksar for the birth of St. John the Forerunner and Baptist
The memory of June 24
When the indispensable Sun of truth, our Saviour, rose to shine upon the world and had already bowed the heavens and settled in the purest of virginal wombs, at that very time the barren birth of His day, St. John the Forerunner, was to take place: he, as herald, was to precede the appearance
(Mark 1:7) Jesus' words to his disciples: "You are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves". - John 13:35.
When the time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son in her old age, and Sarah's womb was in the process of giving birth to Isaac.
So one miracle precedes another: before the Virgin gives birth to Christ, the one who died in her days gives birth to the Forerunner of Christ, so that those who saw the supernatural birth of an old woman would believe in the supernatural birth of an unmarried virgin and say to themselves:
The barren old woman, the strong and incorruptible Virgin, to make her a pure Mother".
That's why the miraculous birth of the Savior of the world is preceded by the miraculous birth of the Ancestor.
This was to prepare the world for another miracle: seeing a mother in the twilight of her days, people became more capable of seeing the Virgin giving birth to a Son; having witnessed the miraculous birth of an elderly Elizabeth, they prepared themselves for
The "strange" birth of Christ by a virgin.
For in both cases, by the will of Almighty God, to whom all nature is subject, "the ordinance of birth prevailed over the ordinance of nature".
When Elizabeth's relatives and neighbors and acquaintances heard of her birth, they were overjoyed, because the Lord had shown her great mercy and had taken away her "danger of barrenness".
(Luke 1:13-14) At that time, Zechariah's relatives and those who had been eagerly awaiting the Messiah of deliverance rejoiced.
For although they did not know of the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, yet their spirit, wings of the Holy Spirit, was mysteriously stirred to joy by the very birth of the Ancestors, and they saw in this event as a kind of assurance that they would await the long-awaited Messiah.
On the eighth day the parents came to the child to circumcise him and were going to name him after his father, Zechariah.
But his mother, Elizabeth, who was a prophetess, was not willing to give birth to a son. And when the prophet had spoken to her, she insisted that her son be called by the name the angel had given him.
Zechariah returned to his home in the temple, his tongue as if stuck, and could not tell his wife that he had seen an angel who had told him that he would conceive a son and that he was to be named John.
Thus, guided by the Holy Spirit, the holy mother names the infant John - prophetically, as she foresaw the coming of the Mother of God to her when she said: "How is it with me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"
When they made signs to him, he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John. " Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he spoke, praising God.
And all were astonished at the many miracles which she had seen, when the woman in her old age brought forth a child, and when the father of the lame man thought of the name of his son as of his mother, and when the dumb man, by the writing of the name, began to speak, and the writing of the hand was pronounced in a tongue, as if the name of
John was the key to his father's lips, which, after Zechariah wrote his name, were opened to praise God.
All who heard him were astonished, and they were filled with fear. They began to speak about all this in the holy city of Hebron, one of the most ancient cities in the southern region of Palestine.
Asia, you know.
It was known as an ancient city even in the time of Abraham, and according to Flavius (a Jewish historian who lived in the early Christian era), it was estimated to be about 2,300 years old at that time.
The city has long been considered sacred to Jews, as it contains the tombs of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah.
And the city was in a low plain, and the hills were round about it; and the valley was full of olive-gardens, and fig-gardens, and apricot-gardens, and pomegranates, and vineyards.
Now the city has about 10,000 inhabitants, who are engaged in glass-making, bread-making, fruit-growing and wine-making.] , which had the house of Zechariah.
It was about an eight-hour drive from Jerusalem and was situated on an elevated site just outside Bethlehem.
It was called "High City" because of the high mountains on which it was located; at the same time, its boundaries were called "Mountain Country", as it is written in the Gospel account about the journey of the Holy Mother of God to her relative Elizabeth: "In those days Mary rose up (from Nazareth of Galilee),
And she hastened to the hill country, to a city of Judah, that is,
where she entered Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth".
(Luke 1:66-68) Thus, all who heard about these miraculous signs were amazed and wondered, saying: "What will this child be?"
When Herod heard about this, he was greatly puzzled and said, "What then is this child going to be?"
"When our Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, there came out of the east wise men.
They were astrologers, that is, they served the stars and observed the heavenly bodies.
When they had asked about the newborn king of the Jews, Herod sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the male children there. He heard about John, the son of Zechariah.
And the governors asked, "Is this the one who is to be king of the Jews?"
So Herod was enraged and wanted to kill him. He sent executioners to the house of Zechariah in Hebron, but they did not find him.
When the ungodly slaughter of the children began in Bethlehem, the cry from Bethlehem reached Hebron, not far from the City of David, and the cause of the weeping in Bethlehem was made known.
St. Elizabeth took the infant John and immediately hurried to the highest mountains of the desert, where St. Zechariah was in Jerusalem, fulfilling his appointed ministry.
When she saw the army approaching from the height of the hill, she cried out to the rock, "Mountain of God, welcome the mother and the child!"
But when they did not find him, they returned empty - handed.
And Zechariah said, Behold, I serve Jehovah the God of Israel, and I do not know where my son is.
Herod was angry, and he sent his soldiers to him again, saying, "If you do not tell the children, he himself will die".
And the king said to him, Where hast thou hidden thy son? Give him out; for the king said to us, We will slay thee, if thou wilt not give us thy son. And he said, Ye will slay me, but Jehovah will take away my soul.
(Matthew 23:35) His shed blood, after being absorbed, remained on the marble and became like a stone, testifying to Herod's crime and his eternal condemnation.
And he said unto them, Behold, there is a cave, and a spring, and a palm-tree in the midst thereof.
And when the time of the feast came, the tree bowed, and when it bore fruit, it rose up again. And it came to pass after forty days after the murder of Zechariah, that St. Elizabeth lay in the cave.
From that time on, St. John was kept by an angel until his adulthood, kept until the day of his appearing to the people of Israel, so kept and covered by the hand of God St. John, to go before the face of the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, and prepare the way for the coming salvation of the human race.
to our God and Savior Jesus Christ be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Prophet and forerunner of Christ, we are worthy to praise the unfathomable, the love that surpasses the flesh, for barrenness of birth and fatherlessness are resolved by your glorious and honest birth, and the incarnation of the Son of God is preached in the world.
Before the unfruitful day of Christ, the Forerunner gives birth, and he is the fulfillment of every prophecy; for the prophets preached, laying hands on him in the Jordan, the word of God appeared prophet, preacher, together and forerunner.