Macedonian Church marks feast of Saints Zechariah and Elizabeth, troparion for protection

The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric marks today the remembrance of the prophet Zechariah and his wife, the righteous Elizabeth, known in tradition as the parents of Saint John the Baptist.

According to church tradition, Zechariah served as a chief priest in the Jerusalem temple, while Elizabeth was sister to Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. Though advanced in age and childless, they were granted a child by divine will after an announcement from the archangel Gabriel.

Stories handed down in the Church tell that during King Herod’s persecution and the slaughter of the children in Bethlehem, Elizabeth fled with the young John into the wilderness. When soldiers approached they were hidden when the rock opened and concealed them.

Prayer for protection and salvation

The faithful traditionally recite a troparion for the feast. In English the prayer is rendered as:

“Clothed in priestly vestments and protected, wise Zechariah of God, you offered a pleasing sacrifice in holiness; being priest and seer, the signs of God's grace were shown clearly in you. You were slain with a sword in God's temple, O prophet of Christ; pray with the Forerunner that our souls may be saved.”

Church accounts also relate that Zechariah refused to reveal the whereabouts of his son and was killed at the altar in the temple by order of Herod.

In addition to Zechariah and Elizabeth, the Church commemorates today the martyrs Juventinus and Maximin, soldiers who opposed the persecutions under the emperor Julian the Apostate and died for the faith; the Seventy Martyrs who were burned on a ship by order of Emperor Valens defending Orthodoxy; and Venerable Athanasius of Brest, an abbot who suffered martyrdom in 1648 while preserving the Orthodox faith.

Photo: press material from the event