Thursday, 29 August 2013, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.
His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania delivered a sermon at the “Saint John the Baptist” church in Pantelimon district of Bucharest, in which he evoked the virtues of Saint John.
“Saint John the Baptist was blessed by God to be the forerunner of the Lord. The prophets predicted him in the Old Testament as the angel who was the forerunner of the Lord who cried out: Prepare the ways of the Lord, make His ways straight. His birth was wonderfully announced by Archangel Gabriel while his father, priest Zaharia, was in the temple. (…) The Gospels say that he was dressed in a camel hair coat tied with a leather belt, wore sandals, and that he was a hermit who has never eaten bread or drunk wine, but ate only locusts and wild honey, living a hard life of prayer, so that he became, just like Saint Elijah of the Old Testament, a prototype of the monks, of those who live in the desert, pray and fast much and are fed especially through prayer and through the merciful love of God”, His Beatitude showed.
His Beatitude Daniel explained to the faithful why this day is a fasting one, according to the Church order: “This feast is on a fasting day because Saint John the Baptist was killed because of two great vices: gorging and debauchery. This is why our Church wisely ordered, based on the saints’ experience that this day should be a fasting one in order to better remind us the sufferance of Saint John the Baptist who was one of the great fasters and praying men in the desert, and to draw our attention to the fact that whenever we fast on an important day in our life we must be moderate not fierce killers of our fellow beings, by word or deed”.
The mission of Saint John the Baptist as Forerunner is to show the world that the Saviour of the world, Messiah, whom the Jewish people was waiting for is Jesus of Nazareth
Then, the Patriarch of Romania showed that the work of Saint John the Baptist, as Forerunner of the Lord, was to confess the divinity of Jesus Christ: “Saint John the Baptist has the mission to prepare the way of the Lord; his baptism is not the Christian baptism, because he himself said: I baptize you with water, for preparation, but the One who comes after me will baptize you with Holy Spirit and fire. Thus, he showed that the true baptism is the baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, the Christian baptism, while John’s baptism was only the beginning or preparation for the baptism in the water and in Holy Spirit. Saint John the Baptist has the Forerunner mission, namely to show that the Saviour of the world or Messiah whom the Jewish people was waiting for was Jesus of Nazareth. He introduces Him at Jordan, when Jesus comes to be baptised although He had no sin. John hesitates to baptize Jesus, but Jesus tells him: We must fulfil all righteousness, namely the plan of God for the salvation of the world. Then he sees a pigeon coming and sitting over Jesus’ head, the heaven opening and a voice from heaven saying: This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. Thus, he introduces Jesus to the crowds and confesses His divinity saying This is the Son of God, because God had told him that the One over whom he would see the Holy Spirit coming as a pigeon was the One who would save the world. So, we have – in the mission of Saint John the Baptist as Forerunner – this confession of the divinity of Jesus Christ”.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel has also spoken about Saint John the Baptist’s intercessor role to God: “Saint John the Baptist is considered by Jesus Christ, our Saviour, as the greatest man born by a woman, so that the Church remembers him in her religious services just after the Mother of God. In general, on the iconostasis of our churches, the Mother of God is on the right side of Jesus Christ, and then Saint John the Baptist. In the Deisis icon, namely of the Last Judgement, Christ, the Lord, is in the middle, on the judgement throne, the Mother of God is on His right side, and Saint John the Baptist is on His left side, as intercessor for the people who repented but did not live long enough to do deeds worthy of repentance. Therefore, God has mercy, through the prayers of the Mother of God and of Saint John the Baptist, the Teacher of repentance, for those who died in repentance state even though they could no longer show their repentance in deeds. Thus, at the last judgement the state in which death found us is taken into account, if we were found in state of faith or not, of repentance or not.”
Saint John the Baptist is venerated in the Church through six remembrance days, His Beatitude Daniel said, showing that of all these days “three remembrance days are marked with red in the calendar: 7 January – Saint John the Baptist, 24 June – Birth of Saint John the Baptist, and 29 August – Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. We still have 23 September – Conception of Saint John the Baptist, 24 February – First and second finding of the holy head of Saint John the Baptist, and 25 May – the Third finding of the holy head of Saint John the Baptist. The last three of them are marked with black in the calendar. Thus, after the Mother of God who has nine remembrance days in the calendar, out of which five marked with red, Saint John the Baptist has six remembrance days”.
“Saint John the Baptist is the prototype of those who live in the desert, the prototype or the spiritual icon of those who fast and pray a lot, of those who fight against the sin, passions, or against the bad spirits of the world, and this is why he is the great protector of the family, of the monks and of all faithful who try to live honest and pure in this world”, His Beatitude said.
Saint John the Baptist is the teacher of repentance and of restrain
The Patriarch of Romania showed the importance of restrain for the life of the faithful: “Saint John the Baptist is a teacher of repentance and of restrain too. He shows us how bad and killing the vices of drunkenness and debauchery are. A lot of families are addicted to these vices and they often give birth to children who suffer because of the parents’ violence, quarrels or division. This is why innocent children like Saint John the Baptist are the first victims of these vices. Therefore, Saint John the Baptist prays a lot for those who suffer as victims of drunkenness, debauchery, of the power in society used not for the people’s welfare, but for their evil. Thus, we pray to him, especially these days when Saint John is remembered, to help us fight against all vices and increase the pure holy love, and cultivate joy for our good health and restrain. Those who are not willing to fast will have to do it, and whoever does not observe the fasting established by the Church will live on the diet given by doctors. This is why restrain is both a spiritual and a medical work”.
The safest and strongest source of pure love is the prayer
To end with his speech, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel spoke to the faithful present about the importance of prayer as the safest source for pure love: “It should be mentioned that in our time society is a consuming one, in which greed replaces restrain, moderation, so that lots of people suffer because of other people’s greed, as well as because people are fed almost exclusively with material things. This is why they have no more time to feed their soul with prayer, with the lecture of the Holy Scriptures, of the Saints’ lives, with the participation in the religious services and with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord, because society is excessively materialistic and the spiritual life diminished. When love among people gets cold it is a sign that they pray little. The safest and strongest source of pure love is prayer. Saint Isaac the Syrian says: “Pure love is generated through prayer”.
Gifts for the church parish of “Saint John” – Pantelimon
To end with the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel offered the church parish of “Saint John the Baptist” several books come out at the publishing houses of the Romanian Patriarchate.
His Beatitude congratulated the parish priest for the missionary work, for the construction of the social centre and for the bedecking of the place of worship.
Finally, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel visited the building where from this autumn forward the social centre of the parish, with a social canteen and a consulting room will operate.
