Feast Day ~ November 5
In our aggressively “feminized” secular world, the Orthodox Church is most often considered to be an oppressive, patriarchal, out-dated institution which does not give women their rightful place among the powerful.
This very negative perception completely disregards the fact that the Church holds a woman – the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Theotokos – as the “Mother of God”, more highly venerated than any other saint. Holy Scripture gives us numerous examples of strong women who obeyed God and led others to the right way, and Christian history is full of the stories of women saints who have continued this tradition.
St. Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist and wife of St. Zacharias, lived at that intersection in time when God’s preparation of his Chosen People for the coming of the Messiah was ending and when his Son – the Word of God – became man for our salvation. Elizabeth’s part in God’s plan is reported to us by St. Luke in his Gospel.
In the Gospel narrative, Elizabeth and Zacharias are described as “righteous”, but they had no child, which in the Jewish culture of the time was considered a reproach by God. Being beyond what they thought were the fertile years for conceiving, Zacharias was surprised and skeptical when the angel Gabriel appeared to him as he was serving his turn as a priest of the Temple. Gabriel’s announcement was full of information: Elizabeth would conceive and a son would be born who should be named “John”; the child would grow up to be filled with the Holy Spirit (not wine or other strong drink); and he would go before Him to make the people ready for the Lord. In his amazement, Zacharias asked for a sign and he got what he asked for – he was rendered mute, unable to speak, and remained that way until the birth of his son.
It happened just as the angel had said. Elizabeth became pregnant and stayed in her home out of the public eye for five months. About this time, as the Gospel continues, Gabriel also appeared to Elizabeth’s teen-aged niece, Mary, to announce her conception of the Savior, through the action of the Holy Spirit, and Mary left Nazareth to visit with her older relative. At this crucial juncture in history, God had worked two miracles to bring about his purpose for mankind.
In St. Luke’s words, we hear the continuation of the story and with it, several beautiful poetic texts which have remained a part of our liturgical heritage since then. Gabriel’s words of greeting to Mary, coupled with Elizabeth’s reaction at her baby’s “leaping in the womb” when Mary arrived form the basis of the “Hail Mary” prayer which is on the lips of Christians throughout the world every day. Mary’s response is the Magnificat which we sing at every Vespers service. The Gospel records that when John was born and his father was finally able to speak, Zacharias poured forth the words of the Benedictus, which is sung at Matins services.
We are told nothing else about John in Holy Scripture until he reappears at the beginning of Our Lord’s earthly ministry, baptizing people in the Jordan River and calling them to repentance. As Gabriel had predicted, he was an ascetic, not eating and drinking as normal people but surviving on locusts and honey; wearing the skins of animals rather than normal clothes, and preaching as if he were Elijah himself, fulfilling the expectations of the people that the prophet would return before the appearance of the Messiah.
The tradition of the Church fills in the blanks: when Herod sent troops to kill all the babies under the age of two who he perceived as a threat to his power, Elizabeth took her child and fled into the mountains while Zacharias remained in the Temple and was martyred when he refused to divulge their whereabouts.
With this very slim outline of the person of St. Elizabeth, what can we learn for living our own lives? Was giving birth to an important male child enough to make her a saint? Is childbirth the only contribution of value that women can make? How do we respond to the criticisms of our secular society?
We can begin by considering the fact that Elizabeth and Zacharias continued to live righteous lives, obeying the commandments, despite the probable disparaging speculations by the town gossips about what they might have done to receive God’s disfavor. Elizabeth also firmly went against cultural expectations when, at the circumcision, other members of the family gave the priest the baby’s name as Zacharias for his father and she insisted on following the command given to her husband by the angel: No, he shall be called John. [Luke 1:60]
We should emulate Elizabeth’s (and her son’s) reaction to the presence of our Savior, then in Mary’s womb. We should “leap with joy”, we should call Mary “blessed”, we should worship in the presence of Christ. Like Elizabeth, we should also do all we can to cherish and protect children, both in the womb and after their births.
As Christians, we should heed the predictions and warnings given to us in Holy Scripture. Elizabeth and Zacharias fully accepted that their child would fulfill the prophecy of Malachi: Behold, I will send my messenger; and he will prepare the way before me. [Mal. 3:1] and even be the personification of the prophet Elijah whose return would precede the coming of the Messiah. We have been told that the Lord will come again and we must repent and be prepared.
May we follow the example of this woman, whose role in our salvation story is so important, and may we ask for her intercessions as we endeavor to seek holiness in this fallen sinful world. Holy Elizabeth, pray for us.