Beheading of St. John the Baptist

This article is about the holy day. For the paintings, see The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (Caravaggio) and The Head of St John the Baptist (painting).
Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Decollation of Saint John the Baptist
Beheading of the Forerunner
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Orthodox Church
Oriental Orthodox Churches
Islam, Anglican Communion
Feast August 29 (Translation of Relic)
Attributes The severed head of Saint John the Baptist on a round silver platter, often held by Salome or Herod Antipas
Salome and the Apparition of the Baptist's Head by Gustave Moreau. Watercolor painting. 1876. Now in Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
Icon of the Beheading of John the Baptist (Museum of Icons, Recklinghausen)

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, also known as the Decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the Beheading of the Forerunner, is a holy day observed by various Christian churches that follow liturgical traditions. The day commemorates the martyrdom by beheading of Saint John the Baptist on the orders of Herod Antipas through the vengeful request of his step-daughter Salome and her mother.

On August 29, 2012, during a televised public audience at the summer palace of Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict XVI mentioned the dedication of a crypt in Sebaste, Samaria, where the head of the Baptist had been venerated since the middle of the fourth century.[1] In addition, the Pontiff also noted that the religious feast particularly commemorates the transfer of this relic, now enshrined in the Basilica of San Silvestro in Capite in Rome.

Traditional accounts

According to the Synoptic Gospels, Herod, who was tetrarch, or sub-king, of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he reproved Herod for divorcing his wife (Phasaelis, daughter of King Aretas of Nabataea) and unlawfully taking Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I. On Herod's birthday, Herodias' daughter (whom Josephus identifies as Salome) danced before the king and his guests. Her dancing pleased Herod so much that in his drunkenness he promised to give her anything she desired, up to half of his kingdom. When Salome asked her mother what she should request, she was told to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Although Herod was appalled by the request, he reluctantly agreed and had John executed in the prison.[2]

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus also relates in his Antiquities of the Jews that Herod killed John, stating that he did so, "lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his [John's] power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise), [so Herod] thought it best [to put] him to death." He further states that many of the Jews believed that the military disaster that fell upon Herod at the hands of Aretas, his father-in-law (Phasaelis' father), was God's punishment for his unrighteous behavior.[3]

None of the sources gives an exact date, which was probably in the years 28-29 AD (Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-27; Luke 9:9) after imprisoning John the Baptist in 27 AD (Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14) at the behest of Herodias his brother's wife whom he took as his mistress. (Matthew 14:3-5; Mark 6:17-20);[4] According to Josephus, the death took place at the fortress of Machaerus.

Feast day

The liturgical commemoration of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist is almost as old as that commemorating his birth, which is one of the oldest feasts, if not the oldest, introduced into both the Eastern and Western liturgies to honour a saint.

The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the feast on August 29, as does the Lutheran Church. Many other churches of the Anglican Communion do so as well, including the Church of England, though some designate it a commemoration rather than a feast day.[5]

The Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches also celebrate this feast on August 29. This date in the Julian Calendar, used by the Russian, Macedonian, Serbian and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches, corresponds in the twenty-first century to September 11 in the Gregorian Calendar. The day is always observed with strict fasting, and in some cultures, the pious will not eat food from a flat plate, use a knife, or eat round food on this day.

The Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates the Decollation of St. John on the Saturday of Easter Week, while the Syriac Orthodox, Indian Orthodox, and Syro-Malankara Catholic Churches commemorate his death on January 7.

Related feasts

The Beheading of St John the Baptist by Jan Rombouts

There are two other related feasts observed by Eastern Christians:

The First Finding occurred in the fourth century. The property on the Mount of Olives where the head was buried eventually passed into the possession of a government official who became a monk with the name of Innocent. He built a church and a monastic cell there. When he started to dig the foundation, the vessel with the head of John the Baptist was uncovered, but fearful that the relic might be abused by unbelievers, he hid it again in the same place it had been found. Upon his death, the church fell into ruin and was destroyed.
The Second Finding occurred in the year 452. During the days of Constantine the Great, two monks on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem reportedly saw visions of John the Baptist, who revealed to them the location of his head. They uncovered the relic, placed it in a sack and proceeded home. Along the way, they encountered an unnamed potter and gave him the bag to carry, not telling him what it was. John the Baptist appeared to him and ordered him to flee from the careless and lazy monks, with what he held in his hands. He did so and took the head home with him. Before his death, he placed it in a container and gave it to his sister. After some time, a hieromonk by the name of Eustathius, an Arian, came into possession of it, using it to attract followers to his teaching. He buried the head in a cave, near Emesa. Eventually, a monastery was built at that place. In the year 452, St. John the Baptist appeared to Archimandrite Marcellus of this monastery and indicated where his head was hidden in a water jar buried in the earth. The relic was brought into the city of Emesa and was later transferred to Constantinople.

Relics

The purported head of Saint John the Baptist, enshrined in its own Roman side chapel in the San Silvestro in Capite, Rome
A Muslim shrine dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria.
A 1742 Tarì coin of the Knights Hospitaller, depicting the head of Saint John the Baptist on a silver round platter.

According to ancient tradition, the burial place of John the Baptist was at Sebaste, near modern-day Nablus in the West Bank, and mention is made of his relics being honored there around the middle of the fourth century. The historians Rufinus and Theodoretus record that the shrine was desecrated under Julian the Apostate around 362, the bones being partly burned. A portion of the rescued relics was carried to Jerusalem, then to Alexandria, where, on 27 May 395, they were laid in the basilica that was newly dedicated to John the Baptist on the former site of the temple of Serapis. The tomb at Sebaste continued, nevertheless, to be visited by pious pilgrims, and St. Jerome bears witness to miracles being worked there. Today, the tomb is housed in the Nabi Yahya Mosque ("John the Baptist Mosque").

What became of the head of John the Baptist is difficult to determine. Nicephorus[7] and Symeon Metaphrastes say that Herodias had it buried in the fortress of Machaerus (in accordance with Josephus). Other writers say that it was interred in Herod's palace at Jerusalem; there, it was found during the reign of Constantine and thence secretly taken to Emesa, in Phoenicia, where it was concealed, the place remaining unknown for years, until it was manifested by revelation in 453.

Over the centuries, there have been many discrepancies in the various legends and claimed relics throughout the Christian world. Several different locations claim to possess the severed head of John the Baptist. Among the various claimants are:[8]

Numerous other relics of John the Baptist are also believed to exist, including the following:

Depictions of Salome, Herod, and the death of John the Baptist

The Beheading of St John the Baptist, 1608 (Valletta Co-Cathedral, Malta)
Icon of the Third Finding of the Head of John the Forerunner (Konetz, 19th century, Russia)
Head of John the Baptist (Gaspar Nuñez Delgado), Museum of Fine Arts of Seville

Scenes from the events around the death of John were an extremely common subject in the treatment of John the Baptist in art, initially most often in small predella scenes, and later as a subject for larger independent works. The following list does not attempt completeness but begins with works with their own articles, then includes many of the best-known depictions in chronological order (to see each work, follow the link through the footnote):[20]

See also

Notes

  1. "Benedict XVI, General Audience, August 29, 2012". Vatican.va. 29 August 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  2. Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:7-9
  3. Flavius Josephus. Jewish Antiquities XVIII, v, 2.
  4. Harmony of the Gospels, The People's New Testament Commentary
  5. http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcponline/calendar/
  6. Luke 8:3
  7. Nicephorus Ecclesiastical History I, ix. See Patrologia Graeca, cxlv.-cxlvii.
  8. 1 2 Lost Worlds: Knights Templar, July 10, 2006 video documentary on The History Channel, directed and written by Stuart Elliott
  9. "Benedict XVI, General Audience, August 29, 2012". Vatican.va. 29 August 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  10. Sean Martin, The Knights Templar: The History & Myths of the Legendary Military Order, 2005. ISBN 1-56025-645-1
  11. Hooper, Simon (30 August 2010). "Are these the bones of John the Baptist?". Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  12. 1 2 The Sacred Trusts: Pavilion of the Sacred Relics, Topkapı Palace Museum ... p. 150.
  13. 1 2 Grima, Noel (25 July 2010). "Re-establishing a long-lost connection". Malta Independent. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  14. Priory Palace
  15. "Cetinje - The Old Royal Capital of Montenegro | Relics". The City of Cetinje. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  16. St. Macarius Monastery
  17. Remains of John the Baptist Found, Archaeologists Claim, 3 August 2010
  18. Brooke, Chris (15 June 2012). "Bring me the knuckle of John the Baptist: Scientists claim 'positive' tests on 1st-century relics which are from one man, from the right place at the right time". Mail Online. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  19. Web page titled "Links to images of Salome/Herod/the Death of John the Baptist" at The Text This Week Web site, accessed February 11, 2007

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Execution of John the Baptist.
Beheading of St. John the Baptist
Preceded by
Rejection of Jesus
Ministry of Jesus
New Testament
Events
Succeeded by
To bring a Sword
Ministry of Jesus
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