John the Baptist Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Eastern Christianity==== <!-- a number of articles redirect here --> [[File:Meister von Gracanica (I) 001.jpg|thumb|[[Serbo-Byzantine architecture|Serbo-Byzantine]] fresco from [[Gračanica Monastery]], [[Kosovo]], {{c.|1235}}]] The [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] faithful believe that John was the last of the [[Old Testament]] [[prophet]]s, thus serving as a bridge between that period of [[revelation]] and the [[New Covenant]]. They also teach that, following his death, John descended into [[Christian views on Hades|Hades]] and there once more preached that Jesus the Messiah was coming, so he was the Forerunner of Christ in death as he had been in life. Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches will often have an [[icon]] of Saint John the Baptist in a place of honor on the [[iconostasis]], and he is frequently mentioned during the [[Divine Services]]. Every Tuesday throughout the year is dedicated to his memory. The Eastern Orthodox Church remembers Saint John the Forerunner on six separate feast days, listed here in order in which they occur during the [[liturgical year|church year]] (which begins on 1 September): * 23 September – {{interlanguage link|Conception of the Honorable Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John|ru|Зачатие Иоанна Предтечи}}<ref>In late antiquity this feast in some churches marked the beginning of the [[Ecclesiastical Year]]; see Archbishop Peter (L'Huiller) of New York and New Jersey, "[http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/peter_archbishop_liturgical_matters.htm Liturgical Matters: "The Lukan Jump"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630055836/http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/peter_archbishop_liturgical_matters.htm |date=30 June 2017 }}", in: ''Newspaper of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey'', Fall 1992.</ref> * 12 October – [[Translation]] from [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Malta]] to [[Gatchina]]: of [[True Cross|a Particle of the Life Giving Cross]], [[Our Lady of Philermos|the Filersk Icon of the Mother of God]], and the [[relic]] of the {{Interlanguage link|Right Hand of John the Baptist|ru|Десница Иоанна Крестителя}} * 7 January – {{Interlanguage link|Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John|ru|Собор Иоанна Предтечи}}. This is his main feast day, immediately after [[Epiphany (feast)|Theophany]] on 6 January (7 January also commemorates the transfer of the relic of the right hand of John the Baptist from [[Antioch]] to [[Constantinople]] in 956) * 24 February – {{Interlanguage link|First and second finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John|ru|Обретение главы Иоанна Предтечи}} * 25 May – {{Interlanguage link|Third Finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John|ru|Обретение главы Иоанна Предтечи}} * 24 June – [[Nativity of Saint John the Baptist#In Eastern Christianity|Nativity of Saint John the Forerunner]]<!--- Adapt if & when separate article is created ---> * 29 August – The [[Beheading of John the Baptist|Beheading of Saint John the Forerunner]]<!--- Adapt if & when separate article is created --->, a day of strict fast and abstinence from meat and dairy products and foods containing meat or dairy products In addition to the above, 5 September is the commemoration of [[Zechariah (New Testament figure)|Zacharias]] and [[Elizabeth (Biblical person)|Elizabeth]], Saint John's parents. The [[Russian Orthodox Church]] observes 12 October as the Transfer of the Right Hand of the Forerunner from [[Malta]] to [[Gatchina]] (1799). Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page