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- First (4th c.) and Second (9th c.) Findings of the Precious Head of St John the Baptist
- After the Forerunner was beheaded at the order of Herod and his illicit wife Herodias, his head was discarded in what the Synaxarion
calls "an unseemly location," presumably a privy. According to some,
it was secretly recovered by Joanna, one of the Myrrhbearing women, and
given honorable burial near Jerusalem. There it was found, through a
revelation of the Forerunner, by two monks who had come to Jerusalem to
worship at the tomb of our Savior (the first finding). Putting the head
in a bag, the monks returned home. On the way, they met an indigent
potter from Emesa. That night the Forerunner appeared to the poor man
and instructed him to make off with the relic. He returned with it to
Emesa and immediately began to prosper in his business. Just before he
died, he put the holy relic in a chest, which he left to his sister with
these instructions: never to open it without instructions from the one
hidden inside it; and to pass it on to a pious man beloved of God.
Thus the Head of the Baptist passed through many generations, eventually
being concealed in a cave near a monastery founded during the reign of
Marcian (450-457), whose abbot was the godly Marcellus.
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The blessed Forerunner appeared several times to Marcellus, embracing
him and once even giving him a pot of honey. The Baptist ordered
Marcellus to follow a star which led him to the cave and came to rest in
front of a niche in the wall. Marcellus dug there and came upon a
marble slab, under which was a large jar containing the precious Head.
The holy relic was taken with rejoicing to the cathedral in Emesa,where
it worked many wonders. In the reign of Michael III (842-867), it was
taken to Constantinople. It was at this translation that the present
Feast was instituted.
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The version given here is that of St Symeon Metaphrastes. Other sources give substantially different accounts.
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The Prologue observes: "It is important and
interesting to note that, while he was alive, John did not work a single
miracle (Jn 10:41), but to his relics was given the blessed power of
working miracles."
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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