09/06/2026
🔸 September 5 - Saints Zachariah and Elizabeth 🔸
Today, we commemorate the Holy Prophet Zachariah and the Righteous Elizabeth, the parents of Saint John the Forerunner. Zachariah and Elizabeth were both “righteous before God” (Luke 1:6), and were descended of the lineage of Aaron. Elizabeth was a cousin of the Theotokos through her mother Zoia, who was the sister of the Virgin Mary’s mother Anna. Zachariah was as a priest in the Jerusalem Temple.
While Zachariah was serving in the Temple one day, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him, announcing that his wife would bear a son, and that he was to be called John. Since they were barren and beyond the age of child-bearing, Zachariah doubted the Archangel’s words for which he was struck mute. Elizabeth did bring forth a son, and on the day of his circumcision, the decision was left to Zachariah to choose a name for the boy.
In the presence of Elizabeth’s relatives, Zachariah wrote on a tablet, “His name is John”, upon which he immediately regained his speech and praised the Lord. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zachariah began to prophesy about his son John as the Forerunner of the Lord: “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77).
When King Herod heard from the Magi about the birth of the Messiah, he ordered for all the infants in Bethlehem aged 2 and under to be massacred. Elizabeth fled with her son John, and when she saw the soldiers in pursuit, she prayed to God for their safety. Immediately, a cave opened up and concealed them. This cave can be seen today beneath the Monastery of St John in the Wilderness in Judea.
As St Zachariah was serving in the Temple, soldiers sent by Herod tried in vain to learn from him the whereabouts of his son. Then, by command of Herod, they murdered the Prophet Zachariah between the temple and the altar (Matthew 23:35). St Elizabeth died 40 days after her husband, and St John, preserved by the Lord, dwelt in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to the nation of Israel.
