Canon to the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John
Canon of the Saint, tone 2.
Song 1.
Irmos: In the depths of the earth sometimes / the Pharaonic all-army is a re-armed power, / the incarnate Word consumed all-evil sin: / the glorified Lord is gloriously glorified.
Chorus: Great Holy John the Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us.
To the Baptist and Forerunner of Christ, / always immersed in the sweets of the body, guide my mind / and tame the waves of passions, / as if I had been in the silence of the Divine, I will sing songs to you.
The bewildered were enlightened by enlightenment, / like a many-bright star, you foreshadowed the mental East, / so that my heart, Baptist, may be illuminated, / darkened by all the demonic attachments.
Glory: Sometimes, O All-Wise One, you plunged into the abyss, / the flood that brings the grace of all crime. / But I pray, O blessed streams, dry up my sins, / Through your divine intercession.
And now: Pure Virgin, who embodied God, / was a relative of you, the blessed Forerunner, / with Her we honor and pray to you, / who now lives in your Divine temple, / create temples for us too of the Holy Spirit Go.
Song 3.
Irmos: Having established me on the rock of faith, / you enlarged my mouth against my enemies, / my spirit rejoiced, and never sang: / none is holy like our God, / and none is righteous, save Thee, O Lord.
Chorus: Great Holy John the Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us.
Heal the scabs of my soul / and illuminate my mind, darkened by negligence, / illuminate with your Divine intercession, Lord Forerunner, / and deliver me from every opposing situation, I pray.
You resolved infertility when you gave birth, / being born by God's providence, the prophet of wisdom; / make my barren heart / make fruitful now, Lord Forerunner, through your intercession, / bring the virtues of vegetation.
Glory: With your love you build the Divine House, / pray to improve the life on high, / those who serve your temple by faith, / create temples of the Divine Spirit, / the Baptist and the Forerunner, your intercessions.
And now: Rejoicing, the Forerunner, we carry our mothers in our wombs, / and worshiping the Lord, we carry them in our wombs, the Blessed Ones, / pray to Him to deliver me from all sorrow.
Lord, have mercy, three times.
Sedalen, voice 8.
Zechariah’s voice lightly resolved / The voice of the word was born, Forerunner, / and the barrenness of the law was shown to everyone, calling: / repent, you who are on the earth, / behold, Jesus came and appeared, / to deliver all from the sand swearing oaths, enlightening with Baptism. / Truly a glorious miracle!
Glory, voice 4.
Like the sun is bright, from the womb of Elizabeth the son of Zechariah rose for us, / and Father, resolve the silence, / and straighten all people in boldness, - crying, - the way of the Lord, / for His freedom and He will save those who flow to Him. / What you preached, John, pray that our souls may be saved.
And now, Mother of God:
Thou hast renewed, O Pure One, by Thy Divine Nativity / the dead creature that had decayed in the passions of earthly creatures / and raised thou all from death to the belly of incorruption. / Moreover, we all bless you, O Most Glorified Virgin, as you prophesied.
Song 4.
Irmos: You came from the Virgin, neither an intercessor nor an Angel, / but the Lord Himself, who became incarnate, / and you saved all of me, a man. / Thus I call Thee: glory to Thy power, Lord.
Chorus: Great Holy John the Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us.
You bowed your head to the heavens and conversed with man, / you bowed your head with your right hand; / keep me here, / keeping my heart in humility.
An impenetrable desert for you, O blessed Forerunner, / therefore we cry out to you: / I have emptied every divine act, / supply my soul.
Governing the Divine Law, / you were slain unlawfully. / Moreover, I pray to you: / I am always lawless / and am deceived by demonic deceptions, correct me.
Glory: Having created for yourself a temple to the Lord King, / you have now gone to the Divine village, the Forerunner, / whose prayers may be received by you, the most holy house of the One who has built.
And now: Look upon me who is ill, O All-Immaculate One, / and resolve my fierce and intractable passions, / as I magnify Thee, / who has magnified all mankind.
Song 5.
Irmos: Enlightenment in the darkness of those who lie, / salvation of the desperate, Christ, my Savior, / to You in the morning, King of the world, / enlighten me with Your radiance, / I know no other god than You.
Chorus: Great Holy John the Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us.
In the currents of the Jordan streams of incorruption, / Forerunner, having baptized Christ, pray, / to dry up the flow of my passions, / and streams of sweet inheritance, / and the righteous of red joy.
I am already weeping and shuddering with fear, / and I am always filled with bewilderment, / thinking about what I have done, / and the terrible judgment to come, O Compassionate Lord, / spare me Your Baptist’s prayers.
Thou hast established salvation for people, / in repentance, the Forerunner, who had committed sins, / became thou in the midst of law and grace. / For this reason we pray to you: / formulate repentance and enlighten us.
Glory: Give me the time of repentance, / sadly passed by everything to the waiting Benefactor, / having for this the praying Thee, the Word, / John the Great, the Forerunner and universal preacher of repentance.
And now: Slander and catching the flattering dead, O Lady of the All-Immaculate, / revive me, who gave birth to the Life of all, O Mother of God, hypostatic, / let me sing to Thee piously, the All-Immaculate.
Song 6
Irmos: Lying in the abyss of sin, / I call upon the unsearchable abyss of Your mercy: / from aphids, O God, lift me up.
Chorus: Great Holy John the Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us.
The voice of the Word preaching, / we will receive all voices, / ask to grant forgiveness of sins / by faith to those who sing to you.
Heal the contrition of my soul, / and resolve the burden of sins, / and save me above all hope through your prayers, / blessed Forerunner.
Glory: Jesus, whose hand you baptized, Forerunner, pray, / hands to deliver me from sin, / lifting up your hand to Him, ever-glorious.
And now: I am overcome by slothful slumber, / a sinful sleep weighs heavily on my heart: / By yours, O Most Pure One, by vigilant intercession, / raise up and save me.
Lord, have mercy, three times. Glory, and now:
Kontakion, tone 3.
Before the barrenness of the day, Christ gives birth to the Forerunner, / and that is the fulfillment of every prophecy: / Whom the prophets preached, / laying their hand on Him in the Jordan, / the prophet and preacher of God’s Word appeared, together with the Forerunner.
Ikos:
Let us now praise the Lord, the Forerunner, / who gave birth to the priest Elisabeth from barren wombs, but not without seeds: / Christ alone passed through the impassable container without seeds. / John gave birth to barren children, but without this husband she did not give birth, / But Jesus, by the overshadowing of the Father and the Spirit of God, a Pure Virgin gave birth. / But to the Seedless One a prophet and a preacher appeared from a barren age, together with the Forerunner.
Song 7.
Irmos: The ungodly command of the lawless tormentor / the flame ascended high. / Christ spread spiritual dew to the godly youth, / He is blessed and glorified.
Chorus: Great Holy John the Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us.
From the root of your ax of repentance / plucked out the ulcers of my passionate heart, / planted, Forerunner, Divine dispassion / and the purest fear of God, / alienating me from all malice.
In the streams of the Jordan, as you baptized / covering the waters of the most exalted Lord, / implore the water to grant Divine tenderness / ever before my eyes, glorious Forerunner.
Glory: Whoever takes away sin in the world, / the Lamb of God, the Forerunner, preached, / pray to him from among the goats to show me the part that is foreign to me, / and by His gums the sheep and men will be united, more glorious.
And now: The barren womb bore Thee, the Virgin, / who bore the Word incarnate in her womb, / Whose divine leaps the great Forerunner, / the barren all-holy fruit, / rejoiced and worshiped.
Song 8.
Irmos: Sometimes the fiery furnace in Babylon divided the actions, / scorching the Chaldeans by God’s command, / watering the faithful, singing: / bless, all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
Chorus: Great Holy John the Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us.
Give your right hand to me, who lies on the earth, the Forerunner, / whose right hand you stretched out and washed with the waters of the unfiltered: / and remove from me the filthiness of the body, / cleansing me entirely with repentance, and save me.
O my soul, it is time to repent, / shake off the heaviest sleep of laziness, / and quickly persevere, crying out to your Master: / Mercy, spare me, / Your Baptist with your prayers.
Floods of passions and waters of malice / reached my soul, blessed Forerunner, / trying to quickly take me away, / even with river streams washing out / dispassion the quietest abyss.
Glory: Woe is me, who has done much evil! / Woe to me, the only one who has angered the Most Blessed God! / Help the Baptist of Christ, / and grant permission for my sins, / and cut off my debts through your intercessions.
And now: You who gave birth to the Most High God in flesh, / raise me from the pus of the passions that offend me: / and having become poor in all things, / enriched with Divine virtues, O Most Pure One, / for may I sing to You and save us.
Song 9.
Irmos: Beginningless of the Parent, the Son, God and Lord, / incarnated from the Virgin, appeared to us, / darkened to enlighten, gathered scattered. / Thus we magnify the All-Singing Mother of God.
Chorus: Great Holy John the Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us.
Kala deliver me sinner, O Lord, / Sinless One and Most Merciful, / Baptist with prayers, / who preached to the whole world the Lamb of God, / who takes away the sins of men.
Like a fragrant thorn, like a fragrant cypress, / like an unfading plant, like the world is honest / having you, Lord Forerunner, / from my deeds I get rid of the stench of my deeds through your prayers, / flowing to your blood.
It’s not good for the good kids, all -blues, create, / virtually the prosperity of the prosperity, / Challenge of me, / and the restraint of God's kingdom, / and the holy sobor of the buyer.
Glory: To us who love you, who honor you with love, / and rejoice in your Divine Temple, / grant from heaven, O Forerunner of the Lord, permission from the evil ones, / and correction of life, and deliverance from sins.
And now: I bear in the womb of the Mother of God, who bears all the mania, / you bowed down, prophetically: / with her, humbly pray that my soul may be saved, / falling into many sins all the days.
Svetilen, voice 4:
The forerunner of John, and the baptist Spasov, / in the prophethood of the prophet and the desert, / let us all praise the birth of Elizabeth.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
Sweetness of the Angels, joy of the sorrowing, / representative of Christians, Virgin Mother of the Lord, / intercede for us, and deliver us from eternal torment.
Prayer:
Baptist of Christ, preacher of repentance, do not despise me who repents, but copulating with the heavenly ones, pray to the Master for me, unworthy, sad, weak and sad, for many troubles I have fallen, troubled by the stormy thoughts of my mind; Because I am a den of evil deeds, I have no end to sinful customs; For my mind is nailed down by earthly things, what I will do I do not know, and to whom will I turn so that my soul may be saved? Only to you, Saint John, give the same name of grace, for you are greater than all born before the Lord through the Mother of God, for you were deemed worthy to touch the top of King Christ, who takes away sins peace, Lamb of God. Pray to him for my sinful soul, so that from now on, in the first ten hours, I will bear a good burden and accept recompense with the last. To her, the Baptist of Christ, the honest Forerunner, the extreme prophet, the first martyr in grace, the teacher of fasters and hermits, the teacher of purity and the close friend of Christ, I pray to you, I resort to you: do not reject me from your intercession, but raise me up, having fallen through many sins, renew my soul with repentance, as with the second baptism, since you are the ruler of both, with baptism you wash away the original sin, and with repentance you cleanse every bad deed. Cleanse me, who have been defiled by my sins, and force me to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, even if nothing bad enters me.
The greatest prophet born of women
John the Baptist, the Baptist of our Lord, is a teacher of repentance and an example of an ascetic and strict spiritual life. This saint is one of the most revered in the world. It is difficult to overestimate its importance in the history of not only Christianity, but also other religions (for example, Islam).
The Gospel of Luke says:
For I tell you, among those born of women there is not one prophet greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Brief biography
The future “mentor of fasters and hermits” was born into the family of the priest Zechariah. His mother, righteous Elizabeth, had family ties with the Most Pure Mother of God. The couple were very God-loving, but they did not have children until they were very old. Already in their old age, they begged God for a baby who became the harbinger of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Gospel of Luke tells how the Archangel Gabriel appeared before Zechariah, who was praying in the temple, and brought him the news of the imminent appearance of his son.
Appearance of the Angel to Zechariah Image reproduced from: Padovani S. Andrea del Sarto. M.: Slovo / Slovo, 1999.
And when the Most Holy Theotokos visited Elizabeth, the unborn baby “jumped in the womb.”
Saint John is called not only the Forerunner, but also the first martyr (from a prayer to the prophet). He was born six months earlier than the Messiah, and soon persecution of infants began in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. 14 thousand children were tortured by order of the ruler Herod the Great, hoping in this way to get rid of the Infant of God, in whom he saw a rival claiming the throne. By a miracle of God, little John escaped this fate.
Useful materials
From an early age, the saint of God spent time in the desert, distinguished by a strict life and complete non-covetousness. Until the age of thirty, until God blessed him to preach to the Jews, John labored in solitude in fasting and prayer.
Sermon on the Jordan
By the will of the Lord, John went to the banks of the Jordan River, his task was to tell everyone about the coming Savior. It should be noted that before the feast of purification, a large crowd of people always gathered near the Jordan to take part in sacred immersions. It was to them that God’s prophet addressed himself with a call to repentance. He talked about how important it is to cleanse your souls and only then receive external washing. The teacher of purity called on us to prepare our souls for Baptism with water and the Spirit. John the Baptist baptized the Lord Jesus Himself in the waters of the holy river.
John’s words about Christ, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” led many to God and His service.
Epiphany (Baptism of the Lord) End of the 16th century. Wood, gesso, tempera Height 30 cm, width 25.5 cm Samara Regional Art Museum
Saint John fearlessly denounced sin. This is what made the ascetic a martyr. King Herod Antipas put him in prison for such denunciations. And soon, at the request of Salome, the daughter of his partner, he ordered his beheading. The pious followers of the Baptist buried his relics in the city of Sebaste. Now small parts of the saint’s body have spread to different countries and can be venerated in many Christian churches.
What do they pray to the saint for?
Saint John the Baptist first of all called people to repentance. That’s why believers pray to him when they need to rethink their lives, get rid of long-forgotten sins, and open their souls to God. A prayerful appeal to the Forerunner helps to make the right decision. In addition, this ascetic is an example of firm and unshakable faith. They turn to him with a request to enlighten the lost, to introduce to the faith those who are still far from it.
They also pray to the saint for deliverance from the sin of drinking wine.
Interesting fact
September 11, the day of the beheading of the saint, is a day of sobriety in Russia.
And this is no coincidence, because the saint was beheaded on the orders of a ruler who loved drunken feasts. On National Day of Sobriety, many people take a vow to give up their addiction to alcohol.
