Mary visits Elizabeth and when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:39-45). According to Holy Tradition, the baby leaping in his mother’s womb is considered his first acknowledgment of Christ as Messiah.
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Interesting Fact: According to Tradition, after the Nativity of Jesus and the worship of the shepherds and the Magi, wicked king Herod gave orders to kill all male infants. Hearing about this, St Elizabeth, St John’s mother, fled into the wilderness and hid in a cave. St Zachariah, John’s father, was in Jerusalem and was doing his priestly service in the Temple. Herod sent soldiers to him to find the whereabouts of his infant John and his mother. Zachariah answered he didn’t know their whereabouts, and he was killed right there in the Temple. Righteous Elizabeth continued to live in the wilderness with her son and she died there. The child John, protected by an angel, dwelt in the wilderness until the time when he came preaching repentance, and was accounted worthy to baptize the Lord.
Fun Fact : Holy Tradition also teaches us that St. John holds a position of honor among the Saints second to that of the Theotokos alone. In every Orthodox Church, you will find an icon of St John to the right of Our Lord on the Iconostastic (Icon wall in the front of the Church). He also has 6 feast days.
Source: OCA
Here you’ll find 10 easy ideas to celebrate Pentecost as a family. As a busy mom with 3 little ones, I know how precious your time is, so I hope to simplify how you celebrate feasts together. In this list you’ll find ways to prepare your kids for Pentecost (i.e. kneeling prayers, song, etc) and you will find fun recipes and stories too.