Saint John The Baptist – John the Forerunner

Saint John the Baptist – Leonardo da Vinci

Saint John the Baptist’s main Feast Day, celebrated by The Greek Orthodox Church, is “The Synaxis of Saint John the Forerunner”, on the seventh of January.

Saint John the Baptist, who was a Jewish travelling preacher, is not only a major Saint in Christianity but is known as a prophet in Islam, Baha’i (Persian Monotheism) and Mandaeism (Gnostic religion) and is the last prophet of The Old Testament.

In The New Testament Saint John the Baptist prophesied the coming of The Messiah, a person far greater than himself: Jesus Christ, which is why in The Greek Orthodox Church he is also called Saint John the Forerunner (Ioannis O Prodromos); the one who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus Christ.

Mary – Jesus and John the Baptist – Deesis Mosaic – Hagia Sophia (Saint Sophia) – Istanbul (Constantinople) – Turkey

Saint John the Baptist’s parents, Zachariah, a Jewish priest and Elizabeth, cousin to The Virgin Mary, today known as Saint Elizabeth, had no children and were of an age where it was unlikely that they ever would.

Prophet Zachariah and his wife righteous Elizabeth – Feast Day September 5th – The Parents of John the Baptist

One day whilst in the Temple Zachariah was visited by the angel Gabriel who told him that his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a son and they were to name that son John.

Zachariah writing “I name this child John” – Jacapo Carucci, known as Jacapo da Pontormo

The Angel of the Desert

Born in Judea, six months before Jesus, Saint John the Baptist grew up to realize he had been chosen by God to prepare the people for the coming of The Messiah by turning them away from sin and baptizing them.

John could be seen roaming the wilderness of the desert, dressed in camel’s hair clothing, eating locust and wild honey, preaching his message and owing to this he is sometimes called “The Angel of the Desert” and is often depicted on icons as having wings.

Saint John the Baptist – El Greco – circa 1600 – Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

John meets Jesus

As John’s fame grew word got back to Jesus about this man who had become a phenomenon and he sought him out and became one of his followers.

The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist – Pieter Bruegel the Elder – 1566 – Museum of Fine Arts – Budapest

John baptized Jesus, along with many others, in the River Jordan.

Today we celebrate the baptism of Jesus Christ as Epiphany on the sixth of January.

John Loses his Head

“The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist” – Puvis de Chavannes

John’s downfall came when Herod had him thrown into prison for publicly accusing him of divorcing his wife, Phasaelis, and unlawfully marrying his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias.

When at Herod’s Birthday celebration, Salome, Herodias’s daughter, danced for Herod, he was so delighted he exclaimed that he would reward her with anything her heart desired.

Salome Dancing Before King Herod, 1887 by George Rochegrosse

After discussing Herod’s offer with her mother Salome requested from Herod the head of Saint John the Baptist.

Herod was hesitant to do Salome’s bidding but he was a man of his word and so Saint John the Baptist lost his head.

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (c. 1527) by Bernardino Luini

The Relics of John the Baptist

According to The Greek Orthodox Church after his death Saint John the Baptist went to Hades, the Ancient Greek underworld, where he continued to preach the coming of The Messiah and so therefore he became the Forerunner of Jesus Christ in both life and death.

Greek Orthodox Church of St John the Baptist. Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of Jeff Rozwadowski.

John the Baptist is said to have been be buried at Sebaste in Samaria but after the place was desecrated, around 362, his relics were taken to Jerusalem and later to Alexandria, in Egypt.

The Nabi Yahya Mosque (Mosque of the Prophet John) in the Palestinian village of Sebastia, near Nablus, is traditionally venerated as the burial place of the body of Saint John the Baptist

Nabi Yaha Moaque Sebastia – Traditional burial place of Saint John the Baptist.

The head of John the Baptist is said to have either been buried in the fortress of Machaerus (Jordan) or at Herod’s palace in Jerusalem.

Skull of St. John the Baptist – Brought back in 1206 from the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople – Now in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Amiens – France

Other relics, found during the reign of Constantine, are said to have been taken to Emesa in Western Syria and hidden where they were allegedly found in 453.

Skull of Saint John the Baptist – Munich

If claims are to be believed John the Baptist was a man of many heads and a multitude of hands!

Locations where the head of the Baptist is said to be found are:

Damascus: The Great Mosque of Damascus

Rome: San Sivestro in Capite

Munich: Residenz Munich, former Royal Palace of Bavaria.Antioch, Uncertain where, exactly.

France: Amien Cathedral, (Said to be taken there by The Knights Templar).

England: The Parish Church of Tenterden, Kent.

England: Halifax, West Yorkshire.

The Head of St. John the Baptist at San Silvestro in Capite – Rome – Italy

Head of Saint John the Baptist – Topkapi Palace.Istanbul.Turkey

The right hand of John the Baptist, the hand with which he baptized Jesus Christ, is said to be found in the following places:

Montenegro: Serbian Orthodox Monastery.

Turkey:Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.

Greece: Mount Athos (The Holy Mountain).

The left hand of John the Baptist, according to legend, can be found in:

West Bengal: Armenian Apostolic Church of Saint John.

Egypt: Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great.

Right Hand of Saint John the Baptist – Cetinje Monastery. Montenegro.

In an Orthodox convent church dedicated to St. George, at Raychani, Rajčan, North Macedonia, is a tiny bone in an elaborate silver setting, said to be from the hand of John the Baptist.

Right hand of Saint John the Baptist – Topkapi Palace. Istanbul. Turkey.

In 2010 bones were unearthed in the ruins of the Bulgarian Church of Saint John on the Black Sea island of Saint Ivan, which, when the DNA was tested two years later, proved to be the bones of a Middle Eastern man of the first century AD.

These relics (below) a knuckle, a tooth, part of a skull, a rib and a forearm bone, are now kept in Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, Sozopol, Bulgaria.

Relics thought to be of Saint John the Baptist – Found on The Black Sea island of Saint Ivan.

Head of John the Baptist allegedly in Halifax West Yorkshire, England!

The most surprising claim of all, one that I have never heard of, is that the Head of John the Baptist is to be found in my neck of the woods; West Yorkshire!

The head of John the Baptist appears on the official coat of arms of Halifax.

The coat of Arms of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England – Depicting the head of John the Baptist.

A legend recorded in the late sixteenth century, in William Camden’s “Britannia”, states that the name Halifax derives from; “Halig”, holy, and “Fax”, face.

William Camden states that the first religious settlers brought with them the face or head of John the Baptist.

Apparently not only in life did John the Baptist spread himself around but in death also!

January Seventh

Feast Day of John the Baptist

In the Greek Orthodox Church, all named Ioannis or Yiannis (the Greek version of the name John), and Ioanna, or Yianna, the female version, celebrate their Name Day on the seventh of January.

Yiannis is such a popular name in Greece that there is a saying:

“There’s not a house in Greece that doesn’t have a Yiannis” and my house is no exception!