Rites and Rituals of the Coptic Orthodox Church

Dictionary of Coptic Orthodox Church Terms and Terminology

St. John the Baptist

 

* The icon of this saint is put on the right side of the iconsta sis, next to that of St. Mary.

* In the Coptic church St. John the Baptist is the most venerated biblical character after our Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary, and we have discussed this issue before here on st-takla.org in other sections. His veneration has always been highly counted in Egypt and many churches were dedicated after his name. There are eight feasts related to him in our calendar:

1. 2 Tut, commemorates the death of his father Zechariah and recalls the childhood of John the Baptist;

2. 26 Tut, commemorates the annunciation of his birth by the archangel Gabriel to Zechariah;

3. 18 Babah, commemorates the death of the patriarch Theophilius of Alexandria who had built the shrine for the relics of St. John the Baptist;

4. 11 Tubah, marks the baptism of our Lord Jesus by John the Baptist in the river Jordan;

5. 16 Amshir, marks the death of his mother Elizabeth, thus recalling John's birth;

6. 30 amshir, recalls the discovery of John the Baptist's head;

7. 2 Baunah, recalls the discovery of his bones; and

8. 30 Baunah, celebrates his birth.

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