Zacharias

Prophet Zacharias, father of John the Baptist.

The holy Prophet Zacharias was a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem and the father of St. John the Forerunner. As the Gospel of Luke relates, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him at the altar of incense and announced that his aged wife Elizabeth would bear a son; when John was born, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied of the dawn from on high.

Tradition honors him as both prophet and martyr, holding that he was slain in the Temple for his faithfulness to God. He is commemorated on March 8.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Zacharias is commemorated on March 8. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on March 21 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 March 8

• Theophylaktos of Nicomedia

  Hierarch, Θεοφύλακτος

  Saint Theophylaktos, Bishop of Nicomedia, confessor against iconoclasm.

  Name days: Theofylaktos, Theophylaktos, Theophylact, Theofilaktos

• Paul of Plousias

  Hierarch, Παύλος ο Ομολογητής

  Saint Paul the Confessor, Bishop of Plousias in Bithynia.

• Hermes the Apostle

  Apostle, Ερμής

  Holy Apostle Hermes of the Seventy, greeted by Saint Paul in the Epistle to the Romans.

  Name days: Ermis, Hermes

• Dion the Martyr

  Martyr, Δίων

  Holy Martyr Dion.

• Dometios the Venerable

  Venerable, Δομέτιος

  Venerable Dometios, ascetic who reposed in peace.

• Synaxis of the Saints of Laconia

  Saint, Σύναξις Αγίων Λακωνίας

  Synaxis of all the saints who shone forth in Laconia.

Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.