Many times in our lives, consciously or unconsciously, we seek models of life and behavior. We want to have a guide. This usually happens at a young age, without excluding the possibility of it happening at an advanced age. Many times we embrace what everyone else does. What is fashionable, so as not to be backward and reactionary.
In the field of family life, the good Christian has many Holy choices to make. There are several husbands and wives who reached high levels of holiness, such as: Aquila and Priscilla, Galatians and Episteme, as well as Zacharias and Elizabeth, to whom this work will be dedicated.
Forerunner. He lived in the days of Herod, king of Judea. John Chrysostom and other Fathers say that Zacharias was not a simple priest, but a high priest and entered the Holy of Holies. His origin was from the priestly order of Abijah and he was righteous and blameless (Luke 5:25).
Elizabeth was the wife of Zechariah, descended from the priestly tribe of Aaron (Luke 1:5). She was the cousin of the Theotokos (Luke 1:36). The evangelist Luke reports that “they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord” (Luke 1:6).
The couple's life was in line with the will of God. They lived praying, fasting, giving alms and praising God. They had reached a very old age without having a child despite the fact that they greatly desired and prayed for it. At that time, childlessness was considered a curse and society condemned childless people because they had no hope of bringing the Messiah to life.
The wills of men are different from those of God. The impossible for man became possible. Nothing is impossible for God, all things are possible. So, one day, Zacharias received the visit of the archangel Gabriel in the holy of holies. The Archangel announced to him the joyful event. The very old and barren Elizabeth would give birth to a son and he would be named John. Zacharias expressed lively doubts, citing the fact of his old age and barrenness. He asked the archangel for a sign of confirmation. The Archangel replied: “I am Gabriel, and God has sent me to reveal His plan to you. But since you want a sign, I tell you that you will remain silent until the day that what I have told you is fulfilled. And this will be your punishment, because you did not believe my words."
After completing his priestly duties, the deaf and mute man returned home and tried to inform Elizabeth with signs about the evangelization of John and the muteness. He obeyed the will of God and had intercourse with Elizabeth. Saint Elizabeth became pregnant.
When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, she received a new and great joy. The Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, visited her relative Elizabeth in her blessed home. When she approached and embraced her, “the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, as the sound of your kiss reached my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken from the Lord” (Luke 1:41-45).
On the eighth day after the birth of the child, according to custom, the relatives gathered to name the child. The relatives argued that he should be given the name Zacharias, that is, his father. Saint Elizabeth, with divine inspiration, suggested the name John, although no one in the family had that name. Finally, they turned to the deaf-mute Zacharias. As soon as he wrote the name John on a tablet, a miraculous sign occurred: Saint Zacharias began to hear, speak, and praise God. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, he prophesied that God would appear as Light in the souls of people who are in the shadow and darkness of sin. This Light would lead the faithful to the path of peace. The apparent punishment cured Zacharias' unbelief. And even when God visits people with trials and tribulations, He does not annul His saving promises and does not withdraw His mercy from His creation (Luke 1:79).
With immense joy and great gratitude to God, they raised John, who “grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel” (Luke 1:80).
When the blasphemous and bloodthirsty Herod ordered the slaughter of infants up to two years of age, Saint John was miraculously saved. His mother had him in her arms and the soldiers were chasing her to arrest them. She prayed fervently to God and asked that her son be saved. Indeed, a miraculous sign, the mountain opened, mother and son entered and then closed.
Saint Zacharias, after the birth of Christ, named the Virgin Mary Theotokos and placed the Virgin Mary in the position of the virgins in the temple.
Herod ordered the killing of Saint Zacharias because he called the Virgin Mary the Mother of God and because his son John was saved. Indeed, Herod's men slaughtered him between the temple and the altar.
Their memory is celebrated on the 5thη September.
photo SAN SIMERA.GR
