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TROPARION in Tone 2

The memory of the righteous is celebrated with songs of praise,
But the Lord's testimony is sufficient for you, O forerunner.
You were shown indeed to be the most honorable of the prophets,
For in the waters you baptize the one whom you preached.
After suffering with joy on behalf of the truth,
You proclaimed even to those in hell the God who appeared in the flesh,
Who takes away the sin of the world,
And grants us great mercy.

KONTAKION in Tone 5

The glorious beheading of the forerunner,
Is part of a certain divine dispensation,
For he preached in hell the coming of the Savior!
Then Herodias lamented,
For she loved not the law of God, nor the living age,
And had asked for him to be unjustly put to death,
For she loved that which is false and temporal.

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The Beheading of the Prophet, ForeRunner of the Lord, John the Baptist: The Evangelists Matthew (Mt 14:1-12) and Mark (Mk 6:14-29) provide accounts about the Martyr's end of John the Baptist in the year 32 after the Birth of Christ.

Following the Baptism of the Lord, Saint John the Baptist was locked up in prison by Herod Antipas, holding one-fourth the rule of the Holy Land as governor of Galilee. (After the death of king Herod the Great, the Romans divided the territory of Palestine into four parts, and into each part put a governor. Herod Antipas received from the emperor Augustus the rule of Galilee). The prophet of God John openly denounced Herod for having left his lawful wife -- the daughter of the Arabian king Aretas -- and then instead co-habiting with Herodias -- the wife of his brother Philip (Lk 3:19-20). On his birthday, Herod made a feast for dignitaries, the elders and a thousand chief citizens. The daughter of Herod, Salome, danced before the guests and charmed Herod. In gratitude to the girl he swore to give her anything, whatsoever she would ask, anything up to half his kingdom. The vile girl on the advice of her wicked mother Herodias asked, that she be given at once the head of John the Baptist on a plate. Herod became apprehensive, for he feared the wrath of God for the murder of a prophet, whom earlier he had heeded. He feared also the people, who loved the holy ForeRunner. But because of the guests and his careless oath, he gave orders to cut off the head of Saint John and to give it to Salome. By tradition, the mouth of the dead head of the preacher of repentance once more opened and proclaimed: "Herod, thou ought not to have the wife of Philip thy brother." Salome took the plate with the head of Saint John and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in a unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod's steward Chuza, buried the head of John the Baptist in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod was possessor of a parcel of land. (The Uncovering of the Venerable Head is celebrated 24 February). The holy body of John the Baptist was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebasteia, there where the wicked deed had been done. After the murder of Saint John the Baptist, Herod continued to govern for a certain while. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, later sent to him the bound Jesus Christ, over Whom he made mockery (Lk 23:7-12).

The judgement of God came upon Herod, Herodias and Salome, even during their earthly life. Salome, crossing the River Sikoris in winter, fell through the ice. The ice gave way for her such that her body was in the water, but her head trapped beneathe the ice. It was similar to how she once had danced with her feet upon the ground, but now flailing helplessly in the icy water. Thus she was trapped until that time when the sharp ice cut through her neck. The corpse was not found, but they brought the head to Herod and Herodias, as once they had brought them the head of Saint John the Baptist. The Arab king Aretas in revenge for the disrespect shown his daughter made war against Herod. Having suffered defeat, Herod suffered the wrath of the Roman emperor Caius Caligua (37-41) and was exiled with Herodias first to Gaul, and then to Spain. And there they were from view.

In memory of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, the feastday established by the Church is also a strict day of fast -- as an expression of the grief of Christians at the violent death of the saint. On this day the Church makes remembrance of soldiers, killed on the field of battle, as established in 1769 at the time of a war of Russia with the Turks and the Poles.

www.oca.org/pages/orth_chri/feasts-and-saints/august/aug-29.html

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Rom 8:2-13 / Matt. 10:16-22 / Rom. 13:11-14:4 / Luke 1:1-25,57-68,76,80 (St John)


Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist

Barrenness and prophecy are two interconnected themes which permeate today's feast. Today we celebrate the birth of the Lord's forerunner and baptizer. Today we join all the faithful who gather around the throne of the Lord to praise the greatest of all prophets.

From the barrenness of Elizabeth the living God reveals His power and glory. From the barrenness of Elizabeth we are taught that the love of God restores fruitfulness to the whole creation, for sin and death had rendered all of creation barren. The reign of death aborted all life which was destined from all eternity to abide in the bosom of God. But today we bear witness to the unfolding of the creation's renewal which is affirmed in the birth of John the Baptist. What had been bound to death now reflects its true identity. From the barrenness of Elizabeth we discover the raising up of life. And it is this life born of human parents who will announce the coming of the one eternally begotten from the unoriginate Father and who by the Holy Spirit was born in the flesh from a virgin mother.

By the will and energies of the triune and tripersonal God the barren womb of Elizabeth is filled with life. Celebrating the nativity of Saint John must compel us to be a people who ceaselessly thank God who has delivered us from the horrible barrenness of death which seeks not only our biological demise but also strives to smother all spiritual and therefore artistic creativity. It is spiritual creativity expressed in words, images, movements and sounds which raises the human person above the opaque veils that prevent the human spirit from peering and ultimately entering the Kingdom of God.

As members of the living, resurrected body of Christ we are entrusted to proclaim that the barrenness of creation has been filled with life. From creation's desolation God has brought into its midst the great prophet John who prepared the way of the God-man. Like St. John, we are to continue to announce the prophetic word which awakens the creation from its barren slumber. Like the Prophet and Baptist we are to lead an anxious and searching creation to a repentance that enables it to enter the embrace of the Life Giver.

Saint John prepared Israel for the coming of the Messiah. His call to repentance and baptism formed a faithful remnant that would recognize and receive the Messiah. It is this remnant that provided the human foundation of the Church. Now we are entrusted to call the world to repentance and the baptism of water and the Spirit. Through this repentance and baptism we prepare ourselves and the creation for the Lord's glorious second coming. In this second period of preparation all spiritual and artistic creativity become words of radiant hope. These words uttered from the divine silence proclaim and reveal regenerated, transfigured life born from the barrenness of sin and death. Here lies the joy of our feast. Here is the beginning and end of the mission of the Church. Amen!

(+ Theodosius, Archbishop of Washington, DC, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America June 24, 1998)

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