The Feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist – Ivandan, was liturgically celebrated today (July 7, 2025) in the Church of St. Nicholas in the Old Town of Kotor.

The Holy Liturgy was served by: the Archbishop's Vicar of Kotor-Tivat, the parish priest of Kotor, Archpriest-Staurophorus Nemanja Krivokapić, Archpriest-Staurophorus Milenko Jekić, Archpriest Nenad Kalem and Priest Vojislav Mijatović.

Six months before appearing 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 the birth of his son, when he wrote that his name was John. The news of this miracle spread throughout all 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 was angry and sent to kill Zechariah in the temple. Elizabeth hid her son 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.

Troparion, tone 4.

Prophet and forerunner of the coming of Christ, we who honor you with love cannot praise you worthily, for through you the barren gives birth and the father's muteness is freed by your glorious and honorable birth, and the incarnation of the Son of God is proclaimed to the world.

Kontakion, tone 3.

Previously barren, today she gives birth to the Forerunner of Christ, and this is the fulfillment of every prophecy that the prophets preached. You laid your hand on Him at the Jordan, appearing as a prophet of the Word of God, a preacher, and at the same time a Forerunner.