And all year round, every Tuesday, the Church prays and asks for the prayerful intercession before God of John the Baptist and the Baptist of the Lord.

Everything in his life is unusual, everything is the predestination of new spiritual values that go beyond the framework of the Old Testament. He is the Forerunner of Him Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life for eternity – Christ the Savior, the Son of God.

The great destiny of the life of the God-gifted infant John and the name itself were determined in the Pre-eternal Council long before his birth into the world, when God's Providence through sorrows and reproaches prepared his parents to give to the world the one who would announce the fulfillment of the times, the appearance of the Son of God. And the purpose of this nascent life was revealed by the Angel to his father, the priest Zachariah, even before the conception of his son. «... thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John; ... he will be great in the sight of the Lord... and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb; and he shall turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God; and shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah..." (Luke 1:13-17).

And John's testimony about the coming of the Savior Christ into the world also begins before his birth, when, while still in his mother's womb, "[he] leaped up as a child in her womb" and through her mouth announced to the world an event unprecedented, but expected since ancient times: "... and whence shall I come this, that the Mother of my Lord may come to me..." (Luke 1:43).

This was the first meeting of those who were preparing to appear into the world to fulfill the will of God for the salvation of the world: the Son and the Word of God, incarnate in humanity, and the Voice of the Lord, announcing the revealed Truth – John, the earthly Angel and the heavenly man from his very birth.

They met – the Word and the Voice – on the threshold of life and disappeared into obscurity until the time comes, so that each may grow to fulfill the mission assigned to him from above. They parted ways to meet again in due time. John the Baptist will always reveal the Savior to the world and bear witness to Him with the bold voice of the prophet and apostle. John the Baptist would always foretell to the world his teachings, in order to then depart into the obscurity of a martyr's death for the Truth to the bottom of hell, in order to become the Forerunner of Christ there as well.

The Holy Gospel has preserved about the life of John the Baptist only that which was directly connected with the life of Christ the Savior, and therefore information about him is scarce.

Under the roof of motherly love, Christ grew to His service. The wilderness became the mother and father of the one who was to become a minister of the Word. And in the silence of the desert he prepared to speak with the voice of Truth in the desert of men. And who else but God with angelic nourishment raised him, gave strength, wisdom and boldness to Elijah.

"John himself had a robe of camel's hair... and his food was locusts and wild honey," the Holy Gospel testifies about the Forerunner after his departure to serve people (Matt. 3:4). repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). Sternly, but also comfortingly, John addresses his fellow countrymen: "... spawn of vipers.. Bring forth the worthy fruit of repentance..." (Matt. 3:7, 8).

Sinners of the most sinners, the way to salvation, to life, is now opening up to you. Repent, only repent! And the life-giving waters of the Jordan for the first time washed the people who repented of their sins.

And how John's heart leaped at the first meeting of his Lord. With trembling John clung to the feet of the Saviour, who appeared on the Jordan and demanded baptism. And his faith was confirmed from above and became knowledge – knowledge, for John saw the heavens open and saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending on Christ.

He, John, at the moment of Baptism came to know God the Father, bearing witness to the Son, and heard His voice. He knew God the Son, Who appeared in the flesh, having seen and touched Him, having bowed the head of Christ with his hand. He came to know God the Holy Spirit "in the form of a dove" when he saw Him descend from heaven. John the Baptist received the fullness of God's knowledge. With his heart he felt, with his mind he knew and with a voice he proclaimed for all to hear: "... I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God" (John 1:34). "Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) – giving the world new life. «... He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit..." (Matt. 3:11).

John the Baptist is a broadcaster, a prophet of the Triune God, the Triune Godhead. And his mission was accomplished by this. Christ enters into His ministry, preaches, works miracles, and only begins His path to Golgotha, to the Cross. John the Baptist, by this time taken into custody and languishing there for denouncing the lawless king Herod, who had taken away his brother's wife, was preparing for his departure, and his days were numbered. He must again precede Christ in death.

But why, for what reason is such a tragic, ridiculous and senseless death in the human view?