Six months before he appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nazareth, the archangel Gabriel appeared in the Jerusalem Temple to the high priest Zechariah and announced to him that his childless old wife Elizabeth would conceive a son. Zechariah doubted this, and his tongue was tied until the eighth day after his son’s birth, when he wrote that his name was John. The news of this miracle spread throughout Israel and reached Herod, who, when he sent to slaughter the children in Bethlehem, also sent to kill John. Elizabeth hid her son, so Herod became angry and sent to kill Zechariah in the temple. Elizabeth hid with John in a cave, where she soon died. And the young man John remained alone in the desert, in the care of God and His angels.

Saint Nicetas, Bishop of Remesian. Holy Martyrs Orentius, Pharnacius, Eros, Firmus, Firminus, Cyriacus, and Longinus. Peter's Day Fast.