The Honorable Forerunner and his Holy Parents Zechariah and Elizabeth
By Archimandrite George Kapsanis
By Archimandrite George Kapsanis
We all know the great mission that the Honorable Forerunner accomplished in the work of salvation and that he continues to this day with his unceasing prayers for the world.
But we must not forget that behind the Honorable Forerunner are hidden two blessed, simple and humble souls, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Those who had dedicated their lives to God. Those who longed for a child, but since the gift was not given to them, they did not lose their trust in God, nor did they grumble against God or become indignant, but were patient and offered their pain to God in prayer.
It was seemingly a dead end in the life of these two blessed elders. A sterility of which there was no human hope of overcoming. But where there seemed to be no way out, where there was no human hope, God performed His miracle. The barren, dead womb of Saint Elizabeth sprouted a glorious fruit.
The Fathers of our Church say that the barrenness of Saint Elizabeth symbolized the barrenness of human nature, which, separated from God, could not bear any good and saving fruit, unless God Himself dissolved the barrenness of human nature. And this fruit had to be the Son of God.
And indeed, God dissolved the barrenness of human nature through the Theotokos, but also prophetically, He also dissolved the barrenness of Saint Zechariah and Saint Elizabeth. Thus this solution of barrenness and the birth of the Forerunner of Christ symbolizes the solution of the barrenness of human nature through the Theotokos.
So we too see today, what a great thing it is for someone to humbly dedicate their life to Christ, to be patient for years and years, to accept the will of God in obedience, and to secretly worship Him in their heart, without worrying about why this and why that, but to hope in the mercy of God and that God will speak.
This is what Saint Zechariah and Saint Elizabeth did. This is what the Monk wants to do too. He is patient for years and years. Apparently, no great work seems to be done in his life, of those that people can praise and appreciate. It even seems humanly possible that there is a form of barrenness, because the monk does not have children who would be useful to society.
But this patience, silence, perseverance and apparent barrenness are what give birth to “glorious fruit”. And this glorious fruit, which the monk in patience and in apparent barrenness bears, is holiness, it is the works of virtue, the virtues, and it is also the illumination of many souls, when God blesses and those monks He blesses, during the monk’s life or after his repose, and in fact many times many years after his repose.
It happened that monks, who in patience bore fruit in the word of God and it did not seem that their human barrenness had any fruit, would repose in this state, and after years God would reveal himself to them, and they would bear much spiritual fruit and salvation for humanity.
We see, for example, the late Father Athanasios, the Abbot of our Monastery. He was a humble soul. He was not glorified by men. On the contrary, many times people did not treat him as they should have treated him, and he reposed in obscurity.
But behold, this humble and inconspicuous man, who by human standards was barren, who did not take action, did not form organizations, did not preach, and did none of those things that appear fruitful in the world – yet, here is a man who seemed entirely barren, according to human standards, but behold, Father Athanasios bore spiritual fruit.
And today there are souls, there are some who – without making any effort to promote Father Athanasios – God secretly informs them in their hearts that this blessed and silent Elder was a man of God. And their hearts are drawn to his venerable form and through it to God. I have specific examples of which I can tell you, but I will not mention them to you now.
So, let us ask the Honorable Forerunner to help us to exercise the patience that his holy parents exercised, having all our hope in God, silently and secretly working the commandments of God. And just as he himself did, when he withdrew to the desert of the Jordan, to those unyielding parts of the desert, not to do something great humanly, but to give himself to God. And when he gave himself to God, God did the greatest thing He could do, did through him the greatest thing He can do.
These are the paradoxes that occur within the logic of God! Barrenness becomes fertile, and fertility can be barren! That is why we choose a barrenness that will be fruitful in the Lord and we are not tempted by a fertility that may be spiritually barren and of no benefit to anyone, neither to the one who has it nor to the rest of the world.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
