“The greatest born of women” (Mt. 11:11) is celebrated several times a year, but the most celebrants are on this day. Among the evangelical figures surrounding the Savior, John the Baptist occupies a special place, both in the manner of his coming into the world and in the way he lived in it. This holiday is especially solemnly celebrated in temples dedicated to him, such as the temple on the Jordan, where he baptized the Lord, the temple in Sebaste, where Herod cut him off, the temple in Antioch, where the evangelist Luke brought his right hand… He is the only prophet who could show the world with his hand the One he prophesied. The right hand of Saint John the Baptist, which baptized the Lord in the Jordan, is now in the Cetinje Monastery.

Holy Martyr Athanasius. Feast of the Epiphany.