Icon of John the Baptist. Orthodox icon of the beheading of John the Baptist Who cut off the head of John the Baptist

On May 6, the Church celebrates the memory of one of the most revered Christian saints, Great Martyr George the Victorious. Many different, sometimes not very consistent legends are associated with his name. Historical motifs, church tradition and folk tales are reflected in the iconography of the saint

Modern ideas about the work of icon painters increasingly associate the writing of icons with the work of professional masters. The apparent simplicity of some icons did not mean at all that the master could not write a beautiful, highly artistic work. It was about the price. Art critic Zhanna BELIK tells about the cost of icon-painting works in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries and the principles of pricing in icon-painting

The memory of one of the saints most beloved by our people - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Bishop of the World of Lycia is celebrated twice in the church calendar: in winter on December 19 and almost in summer on May 22. Byzantine iconography has preserved many images of St. Nicholas. What did he look like? PHOTO GALLERY.

The iconography of the most revered saint after the Virgin Mary - John the Baptist - is extensive and complex. The most common icons are the beheading and acquisition of his honest head

In the Greek text of the Gospel, the apostles are called "co-disciples". On July 12, the Church honors the memory of two of them: Peter, the most steadfast of the disciples of Christ, on the cornerstone of his faith, the Savior metaphorically promised to build the Church, and Paul, the former persecutor of Palestinian Christians, who believed in the Son of God and converted the Greek world to Christianity.

There are many icon painters in the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church, but the most famous, of course, is Andrei Rublev. Probably everyone knows this name in our country, even not the most educated person, and it is well known outside of Russia, especially after Tarkovsky's film, but what do we know about the great icon painter? Irina YAZYKOVA, a well-known historian of Christian art, tells about this.

The Pskov-Caves Monastery is the only one in Russia that has never been closed. Few people know that during the last threat of its closure in the Khrushchev era, the front-line monks were ready to defend the monastery from the atheists, like Stalingrad from the Nazis. Their determination was not put to shame. A miracle happened.

The first image of the saint, embroidered on the cover shortly after his death, the cell icons of St. Sergius, the image of the “abbot of the Russian land” falling to Christ on the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin, and the ancient iconography of “Vision to the youth Bartholomew”, which we used to imagine from the painting by Mikhail Nesterov, - all this can be seen in the gallery of icons.

Is the sculpture a prayer image, or is it just a commemorative sign, evidence of a historical event and a reminder of a historical person, art historian Irina YAZYKOVA argues

"Fathers of the Local Council of 1917-1918": an icon of association
The unique icon represents both the hierarchs who supported the Patriarchal Church, the ROCOR activists, the activists of the “right opposition” to Metropolitan Sergius, and the holy co-religionist, who in the 20th century served according to pre-Nikonian rites. Behind each image is a vivid story of martyrdom and confession, which cannot be forgotten.

For modern icon painting, the image of the great saint, glorified in the 20th century, is very important. On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the acquisition of the relics of St. Seraphim, we are publishing the works of nun Juliana (Sokolova), Archimandrite Zinon (Theodore), monk Gregory (Circle), Alexander Lavdansky and other famous icon painters of our time. PHOTO GALLERY

The oldest watercolor on the plot from the life of St. Seraphim of Sarov was painted by the St. Petersburg artist Pyotr Fedorovich Borel. He also owns lifetime portraits of three Filarets - Drozdov, Amfiteatrov and Gumilevsky, Theophan the Recluse and other Russian saints. PHOTO GALLERY

Renouncing her name, dressed in a man's dress, St. Petersburg's holy fool, blessed Xenia, did everything to give up her "I". Her portraits have not been preserved, and even her relics are under wraps. And yet she became one of the most famous and beloved Russian saints, and you can immediately recognize her on the icons.

In the icon-painting originals (the original is a guide for the icon painter, a collection of samples that determine all the details of the canonical images of various persons and events reproduced on the icons), John the Baptist is characterized as follows: “Jew type, middle-aged, body and face are very thin, body color is pale -darkish, beard black, less than medium size, divided into strands or tufts, hair black, thick, curly, also divided into strands; clothes are made of coarse camel hair, like a bag, while the saint is girded with a leather belt.

On one of the most traditional types of iconography of the saint, the prophet is depicted to the waist (half-length image), facing the praying person. Such writing sets the person as much as possible for prayer and personal appeal to the saint depicted on the icon.

The prophet is written in clothes made of camel skin. Such an image is based on a description of him taken from the Holy Scriptures: “John wore a garment of camel hair and a leather belt around his loins...” (Mark 1:6).
On some types of prophet, over camel hair, he may have a woven tunic or himation (a cape made from a piece of cloth).

The right hand of the prophet is raised in a blessing gesture, and in the left hand, according to tradition, a scroll is depicted. The symbolic meaning of the scroll is a symbol of the exit of the holy prophet of God to preach with a call to repentance. Sometimes the scroll is shown rolled up, and sometimes with different versions of the text from the Holy Scriptures:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2);

“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23);

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one about whom I said, “A man is coming after me, who has gone ahead of me, because he was before me” (John 1:29, 30).

We add that there are a lot of iconographic types of the image of the holy prophet John the Baptist in Orthodoxy. Almost all of them, in their meaning, are tied to episodes from the life of the prophet, as well as to the holidays established by the Church in his honor.

On the left shoulder of the prophet lies a long cross-staff - this is a symbol of the hermitage of John the Baptist and his testimony about Christ. In particular, this is an indication of the future crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Types of iconography of St. John the Baptist

The iconography of St. John the Baptist is one of the most diverse among all possible images of the saints of the Christian Church. The vast majority of these images are based on the main episodes from the life of the prophet, and very few have extra-life stories. Let's talk about some types of iconography of St. John the Baptist in more detail.

The conception of St. John the Baptist is one of the rarest iconographic types of images associated with the life of John the Baptist (the prophet himself is not depicted on this icon). According to the righteous parents of the prophet depicted on the icon, it is also called “Kissing Zechariah and Elizabeth”. Righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth are depicted on this icon in each other's arms - this is an expression of love, devotion, support for their other half. This type of iconography is similar to another type of icons depicting the righteous Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Mother of God, and called "Kissing Joachim and Anna."

Nativity of John the Baptist - this iconographic type is based on the text of the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1, 1), which describes this event. In its style, the icon is similar to the image of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The central figures that are depicted on the icon are the righteous Elizabeth, lying on a bed, and the righteous Zechariah, who sits nearby and writes the name "John" on the tablet. There are also additional plots on the icon: the shelter of the righteous Elizabeth in the cave from the persecution of Herod, the murder of the righteous Zechariah for refusing to tell where the baby John is, etc.

St. John the Baptist in the desert is a fairly common type of depiction of a saint in Orthodox iconography. The prophet is portrayed as a man of mature age, who is preparing to soon go out to preach repentance. Saint John the Baptist is depicted in his ascetic attire, in the pose of a praying man. Often, before the prophet, his honest head is depicted, lying on a platter - this is a symbolic indication of the future martyrdom of St. John the Baptist.

The Baptism of the Lord - this type of iconography refers directly to the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and is very common in the Orthodox tradition. However, since the holy prophet John the Baptist baptized the Lord, he is also present on these icons.
Saint John the Baptist is depicted standing on one of the banks of the Jordan River. His body is bowed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and his hands are raised. The central figure of the icon is, of course, the Lord Himself, however, in addition to Him and the holy prophet, the icon also depicts angels (as witnesses of Baptism and recipients of the Lord), as well as images of the Most Holy Trinity - God the Father in the form of the edge of heaven, from where a voice was heard: “You are My Beloved Son, in You I am well pleased!” (Luke 3:22) and God the Holy Spirit, Who descended on the Lord Jesus Christ in the form of a dove. This type of iconography is very versatile and has many hidden meanings.

The beheading of John the Baptist is another widespread type of iconography of the holy prophet of God. We can say that the icons of this type present several plots connected together at once. The central part of the icon is the image of the warrior Tsar Herod Antipas, who swings his sword at the bowed figure of the prophet John. Here, as a rule, the honest head of the prophet is also depicted - after the execution, placed on a dish. On some (but not all) varieties of icons of this type, next to the main plots, another one is placed - a warrior brings the severed head of the prophet to the maiden Salome on a platter. All these plots are based on the text of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 6:21-28), which tells about the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist.

The honest head of St. John the Baptist - on this type of icons, the honest head of the prophet is depicted quite large - lying on a platter; often, bowed figures of angels and an image (at the top of the icon, in the center) of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself are placed above it. A halo encircles the honest head - as a symbol of the fact that the prophet of God, by his ministry and martyrdom, acquired the Kingdom of God and the Lord's grace. This iconographic type is also quite common in the Orthodox tradition.

Finding the head of St. John the Baptist is another multifaceted type of iconography of the prophet. On icons of this type, the central image is again the honest head of St. John the Baptist, which is surrounded by those who, according to the tradition of the Church, acquired it by the will of God - the righteous Joanna and the righteous Innocent. There are even more complex iconographic compositions, when all three miraculous cases of finding the honest head of the prophet are depicted on one icon in separate plots.

The descent of the prophet John the Baptist into hell (sermon) - on this type of prophet of God, he is depicted preaching the coming of the Savior to the prisoners of hell, both the righteous and sinners. In the left hand of the holy prophet is an unfolded scroll with a prophecy about the Messiah. Most of the righteous, listening to the word of John in hell, are also depicted with unrolled scrolls, where other prophecies about the coming of the Savior are visible. They all expect that soon, following John the Baptist, the Lord Himself will come and lead them out of hell into the Kingdom of His Father in Heaven.

John the Baptist, aka John the Baptist, is respected by Christians as a forerunner. In Orthodoxy - the second most important after the Holy Mother of God. In the name of John, many churches were consecrated in Russia and in the world. Muslims, Mandaeans and Baha'is call the prophet Yahya, Arab Christians - Yuhann. As a historical figure appears in the "Jewish Antiquities" of Josephus Flavius.

It is depicted on icons with the following attributes: a severed head (the second in the picture), a scroll in his hands, a bowl, a thin reed cross. The saint is dressed in baggy clothes made of shaggy wool, girded with a wide leather belt, less often - in a woven chiton or himation. In the paintings, honeycombs, a lamb, a shepherd's crook, and the index finger of the right hand facing the sky are added to these features. Statues of the Baptist are popular with Catholics.

Childhood and youth

Theologians draw the facts of the biography of John the Baptist from the four canonical gospels, apocrypha and hagiographic literature. The Evangelist Luke tells about John's childhood.

John was born in the family of the high priest Zechariah and the righteous Elizabeth, a distant relative of the future Mother of God. The forthcoming appearance of a child in a barren elderly couple was predicted by the archangel Gabriel, visiting the future father in the Temple, while Gabriel ordered that the boy be given an unusual name for the family. Zechariah did not believe the messenger, for which he deprived Zechariah of the power of speech. The muteness of the priest lasted until the birth of the child.

The child began to prophesy even in the mother's belly. When Mary came to visit Elizabeth, the baby began to thrash, and Elizabeth felt grace. That is, John rejoiced at the meeting with the Messiah even before those around him noticed the pregnancy of the immaculate virgin. The Church of the Visitation was built on the site of Zechariah's country house, where the future mothers met.

In Ein Karem, a suburb of Jerusalem, where the prophet was born, a monastery of the Franciscan order (“St. John on the Mountains”) was built. The mute Zechariah confirmed in writing the desire to give his son the name John, indicated by the angel, after which he was able to speak again.

According to Scripture, the Forerunner was born six months earlier than the Savior. Based on this information, the date of the celebration of the Nativity of John the Baptist is calculated - June 24 according to the Julian calendar in Orthodoxy. Among the people, the holiday is known as the Day of Ivan Kupala. From the point of view of solar symbolism: the Nativity of Jesus is celebrated after the winter solstice, when the day becomes longer, and St. John’s Nativity after the summer solstice, when the day is shortened.

In order to save the child from the hands of the servants of King Herod, who exterminated children, the mother left the city with him for the desert, where John lived until adulthood, preparing for his future ministry. It is believed that the secret place was the monastery of the Essenes - a secret Jewish sect. High Priest Zechariah was killed by Herod's soldiers at his workplace.

Christian ministry

In the desert, God spoke to young John, after which John went to preach, the beginning of the journey is considered to be 28 or 29. The Prophet was an ascetic, dressed in a shaggy tunic made of camel hair, girded himself with a rawhide belt, ate honey from wild bees and locusts, and did not drink wine. In his sermons, he urged sinners to fear God's wrath and repent. He rebuked the Sadducees and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and pride.

The prophet urged warriors to be content with salaries, not to offend civilians; publicans - not to demand anything from the population in excess of what is required by law; the rich to share food and clothing with the poor. As a symbol of repentance and purification, John appointed ritual bathing in the jets of the Jordan River, called baptism. A circle of followers gathered around the Baptist. John's disciples imitated the teacher's asceticism and assumed that John was the predicted Savior.

When a delegation of clergy arrived from Jerusalem to test this version, John denied it. He called himself the voice of the hermit, calling people to renewal. He predicted the imminent coming of the Messiah, but was surprised when he met Jesus who had come to be baptized, because he considered himself unworthy even to tie the Savior's shoelaces.

Jesus insisted that God's plan should be followed, and he was baptized in the Jordan. Performing the ritual, the Baptist placed his right hand on the crown of Christ, in connection with which the saint's right hand was later especially revered. Baptism was accompanied by miracles that revealed to people the Messiahship of Jesus: a dove flew down from heaven and a voice sounded, calling Jesus the beloved son and blessing him.

After the sign, the first two apostles, who had previously been among the disciples of John the Baptist, joined the Savior. While Jesus was meditating in the wilderness, John was arrested. Saint John in Orthodoxy is considered the most important prayer book for all Christians.

They read the Akathist to the Forerunner to understand their sins and their causes, to church unbelievers, to help prisoners. The author of an old prayer compared the Forerunner with the morning star, outshining the radiance of other stars, which portends the morning of a sunny day.

Death

The prophet John severely denounced the crimes of the rulers, urging them to repent. In particular, he publicly condemned the immoral behavior of the tetrarch of Galilee Herod Antipas, who was married to Herodias, his niece. The beautiful Herodias Antipas recaptured from his half-brother, Herod Philip. John appeared in the palace of the tyrant and, right in front of the guests in the banquet hall, denounced him for a gross violation of Jewish laws.

The tetrarch did not repent, but, on the contrary, arrested the prophet and put him in prison. What to do with him next remained unclear: the execution of such a well-known person among the people could cause unrest among the population of Galilee. But the diatribe angered Herod's wife. The publicly insulted woman longed for revenge, which she accomplished with the help of her daughter Salome.

At the celebration in honor of the birthday of Herod Antipas, Salome danced so beautifully that Herod before the guests promised the girl to fulfill her every wish. Incited by her mother, Salome asked for the head of John as a gift. A squire sent to prison cut off the prophet's head and presented the girl with an eerie gift on a silver platter. The head of Salome was handed over to Herodias, and the body of the servant was given to the disciples of the Baptist.

In memory of these events, the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist is celebrated. In the Orthodox Church, this is a day of strict fasting. In the folk tradition, Beheading has acquired a number of customs and superstitions: it is forbidden to work with sharp objects, eat round vegetables and fruits, and cut bread. The disciples buried the headless body of John the Baptist in Sebastia, near the tomb of the prophet Elisha, but after that miracles began to happen to the body of the saint.

In about 362, the pagans opened and destroyed the burial, burned the bones and scattered the ashes. However, the Christians managed to save some of the relics. In the 10th century, Theodore Daphnopatus told Christians that the Apostle Luke wanted to take the body to Antioch, but the Sevastians allowed only the right hand of the saint to be taken away. Later, the imperishable Hand of John the Baptist moved to Constantinople, in honor of which the corresponding holiday was established, which is now not popular.

Herodias hid the head of the prophet in the palace chambers, but the maid stole the relic and buried it in an earthen jar on the slope of the Mount of Olives. A few years later, while digging a ditch, the servants of the nobleman Innokenty found the jug and identified the relic. This event is celebrated by the parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church on February 24, according to the old style. Before his death, Innokenty hid the shrine well.

In the years when Emperor Constantine the Great ruled in Jerusalem, two pilgrims accidentally found the head, but the lazy people instructed a fellow traveler to carry the relic. The fellow traveler (a potter by profession) left the monks and became the guardian of the shrine. After his death, the jug with the miraculous head passed to the keeper's sister. Later, the relic went to an Arian priest, who hid the head in a cave near Emessa.

In 452, John appeared in a dream to the archimandrite of a nearby monastery and pointed out the place where the head was hidden. The relic was found and transferred to Constantinople. The second Finding of the head is celebrated simultaneously with the first. During the unrest in Constantinople, the shrine was sent for storage to the city of Emessa, then they were hidden in Comani during the iconoclastic persecutions.

The embassy of Emperor Michael III in 850, guided by the insights of Patriarch Ignatius, found the head of the saint in Komany. This was the third Finding, celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church on May 25 according to the Julian calendar. For each holiday, its own canon has been developed - the order and list of prayers read during the solemn service by priests.

The further history of the relic is not exactly known, and now twelve churches claim the title of owner of the authentic head of John the Baptist. Also in the Christian world, there are seven jaws (in addition to heads), eleven index fingers, nine arms and four shoulders. All these relics are considered authentic and perform miraculous healings.

Memory

• 1663 Jost van den Vondel's poem "John the Baptist"
• 1770 - the battleship of the Russian imperial fleet "Chesma" was built, which had the second name "John the Baptist"
• 1864 - Stefan Mallarme's poem "Herodias"
• 1877 - the story "Herodias"
• 1891 - play "Salome"

Orthodox holidays

• September 23 (October 6) - Conception of John the Baptist
• June 24 (July 7) - Nativity of John the Baptist
• August 29 (September 11) - Beheading of John the Baptist
• 7 (January 20) - Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
• February 24 (March 8) in a leap year, February 24 (March 9) in a non-leap year - the first and second Finding of the head of John the Baptist
• May 25 (June 7) - the third Finding of the head of John the Baptist
• October 12 (25) - Transfer of the Hand of John the Baptist

MOSCOW, June 7- RIA Novosti, Alexei Mikheev. The last prophet of the Old Testament, John the Baptist, predicted the coming of Jesus Christ into the world and baptized him in the Jordan River. But then, on the orders of King Herod, John was beheaded, and since then, Muslims, Christians, and scientists have been arguing about exactly where it is located. Today the Orthodox Church celebrates its third acquisition. About the history of the shrine - in the material of RIA Novosti.

Church archaeologists have a joke: "Ten heads of John the Baptist are known in the world, but only three of them are authentic." Indeed, Muslim Damascus, Catholic Amiens and Rome, Orthodox Athos and even Armenian Gandzasar are fighting for the right to possess the "most correct" shrine. The acquisition (miraculous finding) of the head of the prophet is recorded by the Christian church canon three times.

Resurrected and became Christ

Saint John denounced the king of Galilee Herod for defiantly marrying his niece Herodias, who at that time was already married to his brother. Adultery was considered among the Jews one of the most terrible sins, punishable by a painful death. John's rebuke infuriated Herodias. According to the gospel story, her daughter Salome on the sovereign's birthday "danced and pleased Herod and those reclining with him," and he promised to fulfill any of her requests. After consulting with her mother, Salome asked for the head of the prophet, and the king fulfilled his oath. Herodias did not allow to bury her trophy humanly and simply buried it near the palace - according to some sources, having previously outraged. The body was secretly taken away and buried by the disciples of the saint.

And then the detective begins. The pious wife of one of the king's servants witnessed how Herodias treated the head of the prophet, dug it up and reburied it on the Mount of Olives. And when rumors reached the royal court about the preaching and miracles of Jesus, Herod, just in case, decided to check whether John’s head was still in place and, not finding it, was convinced in his guess that Christ was the resurrected John the Baptist.

The potter and the heretic

And now, years later, a Christian nobleman builds a church on the mountain and discovers a vessel with a relic. All his life he carefully keeps the found head of the saint, and before his death he hides it in the temple he built. But the years go by, the church decays, collapses, and the head of John the Baptist is again considered lost.

And after many years, two wandering monks find her, put her in a sack and take her with them, but on the way, tired, they allow a completely unfamiliar potter to carry the sack. And then, according to legend, the Forerunner himself appears to him and orders him to leave the negligent monks, taking the shrine with him. Before his death, the potter bequeathed to give the relic to a pious Christian, but it, having passed through many hands, ended up in the hands of a completely impious person - the heretic Eustathius walked around the world and healed the sick with the shrine, passing off a miracle as his own. And when the deception was revealed, he buried the head of the prophet in a cave.

To the west!

In 452, monks find the relic and solemnly transfer it to the imperial capital, Constantinople. However, during the iconoclastic persecution, when thousands of shrines were destroyed by order of the authorities, the head of the prophet was secretly taken to the territory of modern Abkhazia. And she comes back almost four centuries later - since then, Christians have been celebrating this day as "The Third Finding of the Honorable Head of John the Baptist."

“This is where the story of the head of St. John is usually completed, because the further history is connected with the Catholic West. After returning to Constantinople, the relic was placed in the court church, but part of it somehow ended up nearby, in the Studian Forerunner Monastery, where it was still in 1200 The pilgrim Anthony saw it in 1204. However, already in 1204 it was transferred by the Crusaders to Amiens in northern France," says priest Maxim Massalitin, rector of the Resurrection Church in Rabat (Morocco).

In addition, the lives of the saints mention three more places where parts of the relic ended up - Athos, Italy and a certain "Ugric cloister" somewhere on the territory of modern Romania.

Everything is explained simply - on April 13, 1204, the crusaders captured and plundered Constantinople. Canon Vallon de Sarton from Picinia found in the ruins of one of the palaces a case containing a silver dish with the Greek inscription "John the Baptist". On it, under a glass cap, were the remains of a human head without a lower jaw and with a small hole above the left eyebrow - according to legend, Herodias in her hearts dealt a strong blow to the severed head of the saint. De Sarton solemnly transferred the shrine to Picardy. Later, she will be placed in a cathedral built especially for her in Amiens.

An extra jaw, or How to rob a saint

In 1789, a revolution takes place in France. All over the country, relics are being removed from churches, and all the more or less precious church utensils are confiscated by the state. The Revolutionary Convention removes all decorations from the head of St. John the Baptist, and orders her to be sent to the cemetery. However, the mayor of the city, Louis-Alexandre Lekouw, secretly returns to the treasury and, risking his life, takes the shrine to his home. And after the cessation of revolutionary persecution of the church, the head of St. John in 1816 was returned to the Amiens Cathedral. Later, the missing jaw is also found in Verdun, but an authoritative commission recognizes it as a much later artifact.

“This is the end of the modern chronicle of the head of John the Baptist. Many Orthodox come to France, but not everyone knows how many shrines still, despite the outrageous revolutions and the oblivion of the Christian past, the French land keeps in itself. It is joyful that now the head of the saint John the Baptist, not only Orthodox prayers are performed, but also liturgies,” says Father Maxim.

However, in Damascus, inside one of the three main shrines of the Islamic world, the Umayyad Mosque, there is the burial place of the prophet Yahya - that's what Muslims call John the Baptist. It was stumbled upon by chance during construction, and local Christians assured the caliph that this was the ancient tomb of the prophet. Before the war began in 2011, the white marble tomb attracted thousands of pilgrims from all over the Middle East. Inside it, one could throw a note, a photograph, or "donate money to the prophet" as a gift. In Syria, they are firmly convinced that the head of the prophet who baptized Christ is inside.

"O Yahya! Hold fast to the Scriptures - We gave him wisdom in infancy, as well as compassion from Us and purity. He was pious, respectful of his parents and was neither proud nor disobedient" - this is how the Qur'an describes the last prophet of the Old Testament.

In the meantime, daily prayers to the saint at his honest head are served in the church of St. Sylvester in Rome, and in the Great Lavra of Athos, and even in Nagorno-Karabakh - the head of the Baptist, cut off at a drunken feast, has become one of the main world shrines.

© Christie's Images Ltd "Our Lady with the Christ Child and St. John the Baptist". Sandro Botticelli

Icon of John the Baptist- the most revered in the Orthodox Church after the icon of the Mother of God. It is no coincidence that the widespread icon of the Deesis rank shows the prophet John the Baptist standing on a par with the Holy Virgin Mary. The image of John the Baptist depicts the prophet as he was described in historical chronicles: a very thin face and body of an adult man in coarse clothes made of camel hair, girded with a leather belt, in his hands an open scroll. The scroll - "charter" with a quote from the Gospel serves as a reminder that the prophet John the Baptist, with his sermons, called the people to baptism through moral cleansing from the filth of sin, thereby serving as a harbinger of the teachings of Christ. For this, in the Orthodox tradition, the prophet is often called John the Baptist, the Baptist of the Lord (the Forerunner is the One Who Was Before).

Sometimes in the depiction of the image of John the Baptist, the waters of the Jordan River are visible, where the Forerunner baptized Jesus Christ, and the scene of the beheading of the prophet, which ended his earthly life.

The icon of John the Baptist helps when praying to her in cases of epilepsy, headaches, head injuries.

The childhood of the Holy Prophet John the Baptist is known from the Gospel of Luke. Father - priest Zechariah, mother - Elizabeth, a relative of the Virgin Mary, descended from the family of King David. Righteous Elizabeth was barren, the attempts of an elderly couple to have a child were in vain. Once in the Jerusalem temple, the priest Zechariah appeared Archangel Gabriel and announced to him the birth of a son, who "many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord." But Zechariah did not believe the good news, and Gabriel punished the priest with dumbness.

Six months later, in Nazareth, the Archangel Gabriel appeared before the Virgin Mary and informed her that she would give birth to the Son of the Most High from the Holy Spirit, and told about the miracle of conception that took place with her infertile relative Elizabeth. Mary joyfully hurried to Hebron, to Elizabeth, and until the very birth she was next to her.

Relatives wanted to give the newborn the name Zacharias, but Elizabeth opposed, and named her son John (given by God, God's grace). Surprised relatives demanded that the priest Zechariah give written consent to this name. “John is his name,” the priest wrote on the tablet, and immediately “his mouth and his tongue were loosed, and he began to speak, blessing God.”

Soon after the birth of Jesus, King Herod ordered to kill all the little children in the lands of Bethlehem, angry at the Magi for not informing him of the whereabouts of the Infant. Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt, the mother of John the Baptist Elizabeth, fearing revenge from Herod, hid with the baby in the desert. Priest Zechariah, father of the prophet John the Baptist, died while serving in the temple, refusing to give the servants of Herod the whereabouts of his son. St. John the Baptist stayed in the desert and lived there, eating wild honey and locusts, dressed in simple clothes made of coarse camel hair, girded with a simple leather belt. All this time John the Baptist spent in unceasing prayers, preparing himself for the main task of his life. After the fulfillment of 30 years, the prophet John the Baptist had the voice of God, commanding him to go preach in the country of Jordan "the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" and prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. John the Baptist baptized the people who came to him in the sacred waters of the Jordan River, calling on people to cleanse themselves morally even before religious immersion in water. So strong was the influence of St. John the Baptist on the minds and moods of the people that many thought that he was the Christ. A large number of disciples gathered around John the Baptist who shared his beliefs. Among his disciples were the future apostles Andrew the First-Called and John the Theologian.

More and more people believed in the coming of the Messiah, and finally, Jesus Christ himself appeared to the righteous prophet John the Forerunner to receive baptism from his hands. John the Baptist was greatly surprised at the decision of the Savior to accept baptism from his own hands. “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” he said to Jesus, but he only answered that everything that should happen, let it happen. So Saint John the Baptist baptized Jesus. After the rite of baptism, the Savior offered up a prayer, and a miracle happened - the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus Christ in the guise of a dove and the Voice of God was heard: "You are My Beloved Son; My good will is in you!".

Being a pious man, pure and intolerant of any unrighteousness, the prophet John the Baptist, even after the baptism of Jesus Christ, continued to expose human sins, for which he paid with his life. One of the most powerful enemies of the prophet John the Baptist was King Herod Antipas, whom the preacher constantly stigmatized because, in violation of Jewish customs, he took Herodias, the wife of Herod Philip, his brother, as his wife. Enraged, King Herod Antipas ordered that St. John the Baptist be imprisoned. Antipas was so afraid of the people's wrath that for a long time he could not decide to execute the righteous John the Baptist, beloved by ordinary people. But on the birthday of Herod Antipas, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, pleased the birthday man so much with her immodest dance that the king promised to fulfill her every wish. Taught by an evil and vengeful mother, Salome ordered that the head of John the Baptist be brought to her. King Herod Antipas sent the executioner to prison and he cut off the head of the prophet Forerunner and brought it on a platter to Salome, and she gave it to Herodias. Herodias abused the head of the righteous man and for several days, in a fumes and intoxication of hatred, pierced his tongue with needles, which spoke only the truth in his life. The body of the Holy Righteous John the Baptist was buried by his disciples. Then, on the orders of the same Herodias, the head of John the Baptist was buried in the city dump. In historical manuscripts for ten centuries, the miraculous finding of the head of the righteous St. John the Baptist is depicted three times.

Herod was punished for his act - a few years later, King Aref (father of Fasela, Antipas' first and legal wife) completely defeated the troops of Antipas, thereby taking revenge on the dishonorable and treacherous king. Caligula, accusing Herod Antipas of organizing a conspiracy against the Roman emperor, exiled the former ruler of Galilee to Gaul, where he died two years later in oblivion and poverty.

The holy prophet John the Baptist, thanks to his unshakable faith, his unselfish service to God and his whole righteous, pure life, rightfully deserved an undeniably important place in the Christian church.

The icon of John the Baptist and the prayer to the image of the Forerunner help people of handicraft professions: coopers, furriers, weavers, tailors, tanners, peasants and farmers.