My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE GLORIOUS PROPHET JOHN THE BAPTIST (Part II)
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Fourth Tone
O PROPHET and Forerunner of the Church of God’s coming to us, all we
who with longing now extol thee are at a loss to honor thee worthily.
For thy mother’s barrenness and father’s long silence, by thine all-
renowned and hallowed birth, were both ended, and the Incarnation of
the Son of God is preached unto all the world.
Kontakion Hymn. Third Tone
She that once was barren doth today bring forth Christ’s Forerunner,
John, the culmination and the crown of all of the Prophets. For
when he, in River Jordan, laid his hand on Him Whom the Prophets
preached aforetime, he was revealed as God the Word’s forechosen
Prophet, His mighty preacher, and His Forerunner in grace.
He that was greater than all who are born of women, the Prophet who received God’s testimony that he surpassed all the Prophets, was born of the aged barren Elisabeth (Luke 1:7) and filled all his kinsmen, and those that lived round about, with gladness and wonder. But even more wondrous was that which followed on the eighth day when he was circumcised, that is, the day on which a male receives his name. Those present called him Zacharias, the name of his father. But the mother said, "Not so, but he shall be called JOHN." Since the child’s father was unable to speak, he was asked, by means of a sign, to indicate the child’s name. He then asked for a tablet and wrote, "His name is JOHN." And immediately Zacharias’ mouth was opened, his tongue was loosed from its silence of nine months, and filled with the Holy Spirit, he blessed the God of Israel Who had fulfilled the promises made to their fathers, and had visited them that were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, and had sent to them the light of salvation. Zacharias prophesied concerning the child also, saying that he would be a Prophet of the Most High and Forerunner of Jesus Christ. And the child John, who was filled with grace and waxed strong in the Spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his showing to Israel (Luke 1:57-80). His name is a variation of the Hebrew, "JOHANAN," which means "Yah is gracious."
The Theotokos Visits Righteous Elisabeth (Luke 1:39-45)
"And Mariam rose up in those days and went into the hill
country with haste, into a city of Juda; and she entered into
the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elisabeth" (Luke 1:39-40).
The Virgin visited Ein Karem, located about five miles west of Jerusalem, but some eighty miles from Nazareth. To walk this distance would have taken the Virgin and her companions approximately thirty hours. "And it came to pass, as Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:41).
Saint Ephraim writes: "Our Lord prepared His Herald in a dead womb, to show that he came after a dead Adam. He vivified Elisabeth’s womb first, and then vivified the soil of Adam through His body."
"And she cried out with a loud voice, and said, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb" (Luke 1:42). Saint Bede states: "Her voice was not so much loud as one devoted. She was not capable of praising the Lord with the devotion of a moderate voice. Being full of the Holy Spirit, she was on fire, harboring in her womb one of whom none of those born of woman would be greater. She rejoiced that He (the Christ) had come there–He was conceived from the flesh of a virgin Mother. And, "indeed, ‘blessed is the fruit of thy womb,’ says Elisabeth "since through thee (Mary), we have recovered both the seed of incorruption and the fruit of our heavenly inheritance, which we lost in Adam."
"And whence in this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43).
The Virgin’s birth-giving was confirmed beforehand by aarren eldress’ marvelously flowering forth. Righteous Elisabeth is the first to address Mary with the sublime salutation of "the Mother of my Lord" (η Μήτηρ του Κυρίου μου). An early Father who used the title "Theotokos" Saint Athanasios the Great: "He took flesh of a virgin, Mary Thetokos (Θεοτόκου), bearer of God, and was made Man."
The title "Theotokos" was formally held sacred at the Third Ecumenical Synod (431 A.D.) in Ephesus. Saint Kyril of Alexandria (444 A.D.) states: "I am amazed if some should question at all whether the Holy Virgin should be called the Mother of God. For if our Lord Jesus is God, how is the Holy Virgin who bore Him, not the Mother of God? The inspired Disciples transmitted this faith to us, even if they have not made mention of the term. Thus have we been taught to think by the Holy Fathers."
Saint John of Damascus (675-749 A.D.) wrote: "We hold that God was born of her, not implying that the Divinity of the Logos/Word received from her the beginning of its being, but meaning that God the Logos/Word Himself, Who was begotten of the Father timelessly before teh ages, and was with the Father and the Spirit without beginning and through eternity, took up His abode in these last days for the sake of salvation in the Virgin’s womb, and was without change made flesh and born of her. Hence, it is with justice and truth that we call the Holy Mary the Mother of God. For the name, "Theotokos," embraces the whole mystery of the dispensation.“
"For behold, as the sound of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe in my womb leaped in exultant joy" (Luke 1:44)
Saint Ambrose said, "Elisabeth was indeed the first to hear the voice of Mary, but John was the first TO FEEL HIS LORD’S GRACIOUS PRESENCE. Sweet is the harmony of prophecy with prophecy, of woman with woman, of babe with Babe. The women speak words of grace, the babes move in a hidden manner. And as their mothers approach one another, so do they engage in a mysterious converse of love. And in a twofold miracle, though in diverse degrees of honor, the mothers prophecy in the Spirit of their little ones. Who, I ask, was it that performed this miracle? Was it not the Son of God, Who made the unborn be?"
"And happy is she who believed, for there shall be a fulfillment of those things which were spoken to her from the Lord" (Luke 1:45).
Saint Ambrose writes: "You see that Mary did not doubt, but believed, and therefore, obtained the fruit of faith…Let the soul of Mary be in each…For every soul receives the Logos/Word of God, PROVIDED THAT UNDEFILED AND UNSTAINED BY VICE, IT GUARDS ITS PURITY WITH INVIOLATE MODESTY." (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 