July 7/June 24 the Orthodox Church celebrates a feast in honor of the Nativity of the honorable glorious prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John

The righteous parents of St. John the Baptist, the priest Zechariah and Elizabeth, who lived in the ancient city of Hebron, reached old age, but had no children, since Elizabeth was barren. Once St. Zechariah was officiating in the Jerusalem temple and saw the Archangel Gabriel standing on the right side of the censer altar. He predicted that Zechariah would have a son who would be the herald of the Savior, the Messiah, expected by the Old Testament Church. Zachariah was embarrassed, fear attacked him. He doubted that in old age it was possible to have a son, and he asked for a sign. It was given to him, being at the same time a punishment for unbelief: Zechariah was stricken with dumbness until the time the words of the archangel were fulfilled.

Saint Elizabeth conceived and, fearing ridicule over her late pregnancy, hid for five months until she was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was a distant relative of hers, to share her joy. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, was the first to greet the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. Together with her, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Son of God incarnated in Her were greeted with “games, like songs” by St. John, who was still in the womb of his mother, the righteous Elizabeth.

The time has come, and Saint Elizabeth gave birth to a son, all relatives and friends rejoiced with her. On the eighth day, according to the Law of Moses, he was circumcised. His mother named him John. Everyone was surprised, as no one of their kind bore that name. When they asked Saint Zacharias about this, he asked for a tablet and wrote on it: “John is his name,” and immediately the bonds that bound his speech, according to the prediction of the archangel, were resolved, and Saint Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, glorified God and uttered prophetic words about the One who appeared in peace of the Messiah and about his son John, the Forerunner of the Lord.

After the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ and the veneration of the shepherds and wise men, the impious King Herod ordered that all babies be beaten. Hearing about this, Saint Elizabeth ran away with her son into the desert and hid in a cave. Saint Zacharias as a priest was in Jerusalem and performed his priestly service in the temple. Herod sent soldiers to him with orders to discover the whereabouts of the infant John and his mother. Zechariah replied that he did not know this, and was killed right in the temple. Righteous Elizabeth with her son continued to live in the wilderness and died there. The youth John, guarded by an angel, was in the wilderness until the time when he went out to preach about repentance and himself was able to baptize the Lord who had come into the world.

When John reached the age of 30, God commanded him to go to the Jordan Valley to announce to everyone about the imminent appearance of the Savior in the world, to preach that salvation is possible only through repentance of their sins, and to baptize people with the baptism of repentance. John demanded that repentance be sincere and be accompanied by the correction of the person and his good deeds. People who confessed their sins, John baptized by immersing them in the waters of the Jordan.

Jesus Christ also came from Nazareth to be baptized by John, but the prophet, knowing Who was in front of him, said: “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” The Lord answered: "... so we need to fulfill all righteousness," i.e. Providence of God and Old Testament prophecies. John obeyed and baptized Jesus Christ.

Shortly after the baptism of the Lord, John was thrown into prison by the Galilean king Herod for exposing the lawless marriage of Herod with Herodias, the wife of Herod's brother. At the instigation of the daughter of Herodias, Salome, who pleased Herod with her dances, Herod ordered the beheading of John the Baptist. John's disciples took his body and buried it. According to the testimony of the Lord Himself, “... of those born of women, no greater than John the Baptist has risen” (Matt. 11:11).

Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Troparion, Tone IV —

O prophet and forerunner of the coming of Christ,/ we who honor thee with love are at a loss how to praise thee worthily;/ for by thy glorious and honored nativity/ thou didst loose the barrenness of her who gave birth to thee/ and the muteness of thy father,/ and dost proclaim unto the world// the incarnation of the Son of God.

Kontakion, Tone III, "Today the Virgin..." —

Today she who before was barren/ giveth birth unto the forerunner of Christ,/ and he is the fulfillment of all prophecy;/ for, laying his hand in the Jordan upon Him Whom the prophets foretold,// he hath been shown to be the prophet, herald and forerunner of the Word of God.