Commemorated on August 29
The Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist:
The Evangelists Matthew (Mt.14:1-12) and Mark (Mark 6:14-29) provide
accounts about the martyric end of John the Baptist in the year 32 after
the Birth of Christ.
Following the Baptism of the Lord, St John the Baptist was locked up in
prison by Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch (ruler of one fourth of the Holy
Land) and governor of Galilee. (After the death of king Herod the Great,
the Romans divided the territory of Palestine into four parts, and put a
governor in charge of each part. Herod Antipas received Galilee from
the emperor Augustus).
The prophet of God John openly denounced Herod for having left his
lawful wife, the daughter of the Arabian king Aretas, and then instead
cohabiting with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip (Luke 3:19-20).
On his birthday, Herod made a feast for dignitaries, the elders and a
thousand chief citizens. Salome, the daughter of Herod, danced before
the guests and charmed Herod. In gratitude to the girl, he swore to give
her whatever she would ask, up to half his kingdom.
The vile girl on the advice of her wicked mother Herodias asked that she
be given the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod became
apprehensive, for he feared the wrath of God for the murder of a
prophet, whom earlier he had heeded. He also feared the people, who
loved the holy Forerunner. But because of the guests and his careless
oath, he gave orders to cut off the head of St John and to give it to
Salome.
According to Tradition, the mouth of the dead preacher of repentance
once more opened and proclaimed: "Herod, you should not have the wife of
your brother Philip." Salome took the platter with the head of St John
and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the
tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in a
unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod's steward Chuza,
buried the head of John the Baptist in an earthen vessel on the Mount of
Olives, where Herod had a parcel of land. (The Uncovering of the
Venerable Head is celebrated (February 24). The holy body of John the
Baptist was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebastia,
there where the wicked deed had been done.
After the murder of St John the Baptist, Herod continued to govern for a
certain time. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, later sent Jesus
Christ to him, Whom he mocked (Luke 23:7-12).
The judgment of God came upon Herod, Herodias and Salome, even during
their earthly life. Salome, crossing the River Sikoris in winter, fell
through the ice. The ice gave way in such a way that her body was in the
water, but her head was trapped above the ice. It was similar to how
she once had danced with her feet upon the ground, but now she flailed
helplessly in the icy water. Thus she was trapped until that time when
the sharp ice cut through her neck.
Her corpse was not found, but they brought the head to Herod and
Herodias, as once they had brought them the head of St John the Baptist.
The Arab king Aretas, in revenge for the disrespect shown his daughter,
made war against Herod. The defeated Herod suffered the wrath of the
Roman emperor Caius Caligua (37-41) and was exiled with Herodias first
to Gaul, and then to Spain.
The Beheading of St John the Baptist, a Feast day established by the
Church, is also a strict fast day because of the grief of Christians at
the violent death of the saint. In some Orthodox cultures pious people
will not eat food from a flat plate, use a knife, or eat food that is
round in shape on this day.
Today the Church makes remembrance of Orthodox soldiers killed on the
field of battle, as established in 1769 at the time of Russia's war with
the Turks and the Poles.
Troparion - Tone 2
The memory of the righteous is celebrated with hymns of praise,
but the Lord¹s testimony is sufficient for you, O Forerunner.
You were shown in truth to be the most honorable of the prophets,
for you were deemed worthy to baptize in the streams of the Jordan Him whom they foretold.
Therefore, having suffered for the truth with joy,
you proclaimed to those in hell God who appeared in the flesh,
who takes away the sin of the world, and grants us great mercy.
Kontakion - Tone 5
The glorious beheading of the Forerunner,
became an act of divine dispensation,
for he preached to those in hell the coming of the Savior.
Let Herodias lament, for she entreated lawless murder,
loving not the law of God, nor eternal life,
but that which is false and temporal.
SOURCE:
SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)