The Finding of the Honorable Head of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John #

After the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, the impious queen Herodias secretly buried his honorable head in a dung heap in her garden. One of John’s myrrh-bearing disciples, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the steward of King Herod, learned of this. In secret, she unearthed the honorable head, placed it in a clay vessel, and buried it on the Mount of Olives.

Centuries later, a nobleman named Innocent decided to build a church on that site. When the foundation trench was being dug, a clay vessel containing the Forerunner’s head was discovered. By divine providence, Innocent was made aware of whose head this was, for miracles and healings emanated from it. This pious man kept the Forerunner’s head in his possession until his death. However, as he saw that pagan impiety was increasing in the land, he feared that the sacred relic might fall into the hands of idolaters. Therefore, before his passing, he once again hid it in the earth near the church.

As the centuries passed, the church fell into ruins. In the fourth century, when Empress Helena arrived in Jerusalem and discovered the Lord’s Cross and other holy relics, Christian churches began to be built, and pilgrimages to the Holy Places increased. At that time, two monks from an eastern land came to the Holy City to venerate the sacred sites. One of them received a vision from God in his sleep, revealing the location where the honorable head of the Forerunner was buried and commanding him to retrieve it. He shared his vision with his companion, but the latter did not believe him. On the second night, Saint John the Baptist himself appeared separately to both monks in their sleep, confirming the first vision and commanding them: “Arise, cast off your unbelief and sloth, and do what has been revealed to you!” Fearing the wrath of God, they went to the indicated place and unearthed the vessel containing the honorable head of the Baptist of the Lord.

Placing it in a sack, they set off for their homeland. On their journey, they encountered a poor potter from the city of Emesa, who was fleeing from his creditors. The monks entrusted him with carrying the sack, without telling him what was inside. By their negligence and lack of reverence for the sacred relic, they provoked the anger of Saint John. Suddenly, the Forerunner appeared to the potter and commanded him: “Flee from your companions with this sack, which is now in your hands!”

The potter obeyed the saint’s command, escaped from the monks, and returned home to his wife, reverently bringing the honorable head of the Baptist as a great treasure. Because of his piety, God blessed his household, replacing his debts with an abundance of all earthly goods, so that the potter was able to give generous alms to those in need. Every day, he lit a lamp before the honorable head, burned incense, prayed, and endeavored to live according to Christ’s commandments, in true faith in God and love for his neighbors.

When the time came for this pious man to depart from this world, Saint John the Baptist appeared to him and commanded that the honorable head be entrusted to his sister. The potter obeyed, placing the holy relic in a water vessel, sealing the vessel inside a chest with his own seal. He told his sister about the sacred relic and the blessings that God had granted his family for its veneration. Before his passing, he instructed her to continue to honor the holy head with the same reverence and never to open the chest unless Saint John himself commanded it. Furthermore, before her own death, she was to entrust the chest to a faithful and pious person.

Thus, for several generations, the chest containing the great relic was passed from one Christian to another. Eventually, it fell into the hands of a wicked hieromonk named Eustathius, a follower of the Arian heresy. He lived in a cave, pretending to be an ascetic and a miracle-worker. Those who came to him seeking healing received relief from their ailments due to the presence of the Forerunner’s head in that cave. However, Eustathius boasted that these miracles occurred through his prayers and feigned piety, using them to lead those weak in faith into the heresy of Arius.

When the prince of Emesa learned of the heretic’s activities, he ordered Eustathius to leave the cave and depart from the region. The heretic pleaded to be allowed to stay one more night, and this request was granted. That night, Eustathius buried the honorable head deep within the cave, intending to return for it later to continue deceiving people through miracles performed with the relic. However, after he left, pious monks settled in the cave, and Eustathius’s hopes were never realized. Over time, a monastery was established at that place, but the brethren were unaware of the great relic hidden within it.

The archimandrite of the monastery, named Marcellus, was granted divine revelation that the holy head of John the Baptist was buried in the cave. This occurred on February 18, in the middle of Great Lent. In a vision, the Forerunner appeared to him, offering a vessel filled with honey, and said: “Receive the blessing!” The Baptist then walked through the monastery, with a pillar of fire preceding him. Marcellus awoke. The following evening, during prayer, the monk Isaac saw a pillar of fire over the burial site of the honorable head. Marcellus also witnessed this but instructed his brother to tell no one. Then, on the sixth night, someone struck Marcellus three times on his right side and said:

“Behold, I am given to you! Arise and follow the star that will go before you. Dig at the place where it leads you, and you shall find me!”

The monk immediately arose and saw a star above the door of his cell. He stepped outside, and the star moved ahead of him—just as the star that once announced Christ’s Nativity had led the Magi. Upon reaching the burial site of the head, the star suddenly disappeared. With tears and fear, the monk prayed and began to dig. He struggled to remove a large stone slab, and beneath it, he found a sacred vessel containing the Forerunner’s head. He bowed before the honorable head, lit a candle before it, and burned incense. At that moment, another monk, Gennadius, arrived at the cave, recounting a wondrous vision that had led him there.

Later, news of the discovery was reported to the bishop of the city. A priest, doubting that this was truly the head of the Forerunner, reached out to touch it—and immediately, his hand withered and hung lifeless. Stricken with fear, he repented of his disbelief, prayed to Saint John, and was healed.

Many other signs and miracles were performed in the city through the power of the honorable head. Eventually, it was transferred to the capital, Constantinople, where, by order of the emperor, it was enshrined in a magnificent church built specifically for its veneration. However, when the iconoclast heresy arose in the Greek lands—leading to the destruction of icons and the relics of the saints—pious Christians secretly transported the honorable head to the distant city of Comana (where Saint John Chrysostom had reposed in exile). There, the sacred relic was placed in a silver vessel and buried in the earth.

It remained there until the second restoration of the veneration of icons under Emperor Michael and his mother, Empress Theodora, the widow of Emperor Theophilus (the iconoclast who repented before his death). At that time, the Third Finding of the Honorable Head of the holy prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John, took place.