The Holy Prophet Zechariah and the Holy Righteous Elizabeth were the parents of the Holy Prophet, the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John. The righteous priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth (sister of Anna, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary), «, acting blamelessly according to all the commandments of the Lord», suffered from infertility, which was considered in Old Testament times a great punishment of God.
One day, while serving in the temple, St. Zechariah received news from the Angel that his elderly wife would give birth to a son for him, who « would be great before the Lord» and « would come before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah». Zechariah doubted the possibility of fulfilling this prediction and was punished for his lack of faith by muteness.
When the righteous Elizabeth had a son, she announced, at the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, that she would name the baby John, although previously no one in their family had been given such a name. They asked the righteous Zechariah, and he also wrote the name John on the board. Immediately the gift of speech returned to him, and he, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to prophesy about his son as the Forerunner of the Lord.
When the wicked king Herod heard from the Magi about the born Messiah, he decided to beat all the babies under the age of 2 in Bethlehem and its environs, hoping that the born Messiah would be among them. Herod was well aware of the unusual birth of the prophet John and wanted to kill him, fearing that he was the King of the Jews.
Having learned about this, the righteous Elizabeth took refuge with the baby in the mountains. The murderers searched everywhere for John. Righteous Elizabeth, seeing her pursuers, began to pray to God for salvation with tears, and immediately the parting mountain hid her and the baby from pursuit.
During these disastrous days, Saint Zechariah performed his service in the Jerusalem Temple. The warriors sent by Herod tried in vain to find out from him where his son was. Then, at Herod's command, they killed the holy prophet, slaughtering him between the altar and the altar. Righteous Elizabeth died 40 days after her husband, and Saint John, kept by the Lord, remained in the desert until the day of his appearance to the Israeli people.