Zacharias the Prophet

Prophet Zacharias and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist.

The holy Prophet Zacharias was a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem and the father of St. John the Baptist. The Archangel Gabriel announced to him at the altar of incense that his wife Elizabeth, barren and advanced in years, would bear a son; and at the child's birth Zacharias prophesied concerning the coming salvation of Israel.

Tradition holds that he was slain in the Temple for refusing to betray his son during Herod's slaughter of the infants. With righteous Elizabeth he is commemorated on September 5.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Zacharias the Prophet is commemorated on September 5. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on September 18 of the civil calendar.

Who celebrates a name day

People with these names keep their name day on this feast:

Zacharias, Zach, Zachary, Zacharoula

Also commemorated on September 5

• Elizabeth the Righteous, Mother of the Forerunner

  Holy Woman, Ελισάβετ

  Righteous Elizabeth, wife of the Prophet Zacharias and mother of St. John the Baptist.

  Name days: Elisavet, Elisabet, Elisabeth, Elizabeth, Eliza, Elisa, Liza, Lisa, Elsa, Beth, Betty, Elsie, Elissavet

• Abdaios of Persia

  Hierarch, Αβδαίος

  Hieromartyr Abdaios, bishop in Persia.

• Medimnos, Urban, Theodore and the 77 with them

  Martyr, Μέδιμνος, Ουρβανός, Θεόδωρος

  Holy Martyrs Medimnos, Urban, Theodore and eighty clergy of Constantinople burned at sea under the Arian emperor Valens.

• Athanasius of Brest

  Hierarch, Αθανάσιος του Μπρεστ

  Hieromartyr Athanasius, abbot of Brest, martyred for Orthodoxy in 1648.

Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.