Synaxis of the Forerunner
Posted by Alexis on Thursday Jan 7, 2010 Under Calendar
Today is the Synaxis of John the Forerunner – it is a sensible place for a feast commemorating John, prophet, precursor of Christ, and the one who plays a key role in the Theophany event.
It is however, curious that John gets at least four feast days in the liturgical cycle three of them are focussed on the losing of, or finding of his head: the beheading of the Forerunner is traditionally celebrated on 29 August, the first and second finding of the head of the Forerunner is commemorated on 24 February, and the third finding of his head is 25 May. All of this losing and finding of the poor prophet’s head leaves one wondering if the early church was capable of keeping valuables safe at all! Or perhaps they were unable to decide if he was truly such a key figure in the history of the faith?
Oh and we celebrate his birthday on 24 June.
Perhaps it is time to pick a day – and really make a day of it – like today, the event that marks the pinnacle of John’s role in the Christian story. We call this feast a synaxis – or coming together. It makes sense that it ought to be the coming together of all of John’s feasts in to one big blow out.
