Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist
Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord
- Feast day
- January 7
- Lived
- 1st century
- Patronage
- Repentance, monastics, those preparing for baptism
Greater than any born of women, in the Lord's own words, Saint John the Forerunner stands beside Christ opposite the Theotokos in every Orthodox Deisis icon, interceding for the world.
Life
Son of the priest Zacharias and Elizabeth, born six months before Christ, John lived in the wilderness of Judaea from childhood, clothed in camel hair and eating locusts and wild honey. He preached a baptism of repentance at the Jordan and pointed out Christ to his own disciples: 'Behold the Lamb of God.'
He baptised the Lord at the Jordan, the event the Church keeps as Theophany on January 6, and was imprisoned and beheaded by Herod Antipas for condemning his unlawful marriage to Herodias.
Feasts
No saint has more commemorations in the Orthodox calendar: his Conception (September 23), Nativity (June 24), the Synaxis after Theophany (January 7), the Beheading, kept as a strict fast day (August 29), and three findings of his precious head (February 24 and May 25). Tuesday of every week is dedicated to him.