Temple of John the Warrior on Yakimanka: history of the church and its shrine. Church of John the Baptist, which is under the pine forest, with the clergy house

In the Orthodox Church, the custom has been established on the next day of the great feasts of the Lord and the Mother of God to remember those saints who most closely served this sacred event in history. So, on the next day of Epiphany, the Church honors St. John the Baptist, who served the cause of the Baptism of Christ by laying his hand on the head of the Savior.

In our monastery this holiday is celebrated especially. Pilgrims from all over Moscow come to our cathedral. And at a time when, after two days of prayer - Christmas Eve and Epiphany, there are few parishioners in many churches, the Ioannovsky Moscow Monastery is full of worshipers.

On the day of the holiday itself, the Divine Liturgy was served. Priest Avksentiy Miminoshvili delivered the sermon on the Sacrament. At the end of the service, the prayer of St. Prophet John.

Forerunner of the Lord

He was an ascetic, wore clothes made from rough camel skin all year round, and, wearing a leather belt, ate wild honey and locusts. He denounced sinners and called them to repentance. He was the first to see the Son of God in Jesus and announced this to the people. In him, believers saw the incarnation of the prophet Elijah. As you guessed, we will talk about John the Baptist.

The earthly life of John has much in common with the earthly life of Jesus Christ. To begin with, they were distant relatives. John's mother - righteous Elizabeth - was the sister of Saint Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. Like Jesus, the Lord God allotted John 30-odd years of earthly life. Like Christ, John called on people to repent of their sins, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2)....John was a true gift from the Lord to his parents - the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth the Righteous. After all, he was born when it seemed to them that they would remain childless until the end of their days.

One day, when the priest Zechariah was serving in the Jerusalem Temple, Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and said that his elderly wife would soon give birth to a son. And his son “will be great before the Lord... And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:15-17). Zechariah heard the words of the Archangel, but did not believe him, and for his unbelief he was punished by muteness...

And when Elizabeth had a son, she, at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, named him John, although she did not have a single relative in her family with that name. And when the mute Zechariah was asked what he wanted to name his son, he also wrote the name on the tablet: John. And at that very moment I regained the power of speech.

John suffered severe trials as a child. True, he did not fall at the hands of Roman soldiers during the massacre of 14 thousand babies in Bethlehem and the surrounding area: his mother, having heard about King Herod’s order to kill all children under the age of 2, took her son and went with him to the mountains. “And I looked for places to hide it, but I couldn’t find it. And she exclaimed with a loud voice, saying: Mountain of God, let the mother and son in, and the mountain opened and let her in. And the light shone for them, and the Angel of the Lord was with them, protecting them” (Proto-Gospel of James, XXII).

The servants of King Herod, not finding John, broke into the Jerusalem Temple and began to torture the priest Zechariah, trying to find out through him where John was hiding. Zechariah did not tell them anything and, on the orders of Herod, was killed in the temple at the altar... 40 days after his death, his wife, Elizabeth, also died.

...John was left without parents. Perhaps he was raised by relatives - members of the religious stern and ascetic sect of the Essenes. One thing is clear: the Lord kept John for a great mission, destined only for him. Through fasting and prayer, severe asceticism, eating only wild honey and locusts (fruits of the bread, or carob, tree; it was eaten only by the poor and ascetics, it was added to livestock feed - Ed.), John prepared himself for great service.

And finally his time has come. The service that fell to John from the Lord included, so to speak, three components. The first is to expose human sins, calling people to repentance: “And he went throughout all the surrounding country of Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). The second element of the ministry seemed to follow from the first: John baptized repentant sinners, immersing them in the waters of the Jordan River. Washing was a symbol of cleansing from sins: “And the whole country of Judea and the people of Jerusalem came out to him; and they were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5).

And finally, the third - almost the most important - element of John's mission: he was supposed to announce the imminent appearance of the Messiah: “John answered everyone: I baptize you with water, but one stronger than me is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). No wonder John was called the Forerunner. He was sent to anticipate the coming of the Savior of the world, to prepare the people for His appearance, just as the first rays of dawn anticipate a sunny morning. It is no coincidence that the Gospel of John says about John the Baptist: “He was not light, but was sent to testify about the Light” (John 1:8).

The significance of John the Baptist is great for the Church and all believers. Indeed, thanks to him, the Sacrament of Baptism arose as a necessary condition for entering the Christian Church. It was John who was the first person who saw the Messiah in Jesus and pointed him out to all the people: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world; This is the one of whom I said: A man comes after me, who stood before me, because He was before me; I didn't know Him; but for this purpose he came to baptize in water, so that He might be revealed to Israel” (John 1:29-31). By the way, having heard these words of John, two of his disciples joined Jesus Christ and followed Him. These were the apostles John the Theologian and Andrew, brother of Simon Peter.

Christ himself, speaking about John the Baptist, especially singled him out: “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen a greater one than John the Baptist.<…>He is Elijah, who must come” (Matthew 11:11-14).

John's Baptism became a prototype of Christian Baptism. This is the first and very significant Sacrament in the life of a Christian. It is interesting that in the Greek Gospel texts the word “baptism” literally means “immersion.” But, when the Holy Scriptures were translated into Slavic, Saints Cyril and Methodius chose a different word to define this sacrament - with the root “cross”, thereby filling it with a special meaning and reminding us of the sacrifice on the Cross, which Christ accepted, atonement for the sins of all mankind.

The meaning of the great Sacrament of Baptism is that when a person is immersed in water, he dies to a sinful life and is reborn by the Holy Spirit to eternal life. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, a person takes the first step into life with Christ, becoming a member of the Church. This is how the Gospel describes the Baptism of the Savior: “Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John restrained Him and said: I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? But Jesus answered him: Leave it now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then John admits Him. And having been baptized, Jesus immediately came out of the water - and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and descending on Him. And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:13-17).

Unfortunately, this was the first and perhaps only meeting between Jesus and John in their earthly lives. John completed his mission, and soon the Lord called him to himself. His death and the events that preceded it are presented in detail both in literature and in painting.

It is known that even after Baptism, John continued to expose the sins of people, calling on them to repent. In particular, he accused one of the rulers of Galilee, Herod Antipas, of violating the commandments of Moses: Antipas took his wife Herodias from his brother Herod Philip and began to cohabit with her in sin. John called on Herod Antipas to repent and return his wife to his brother. For this, Herod ordered the Baptist to be seized and imprisoned.

There he was, when one day Salome, the daughter of Herodias, danced in front of him and his guests on the birthday of Herod Antipas and pleased the ruler so much that Herod promised to fulfill any of her requests as a reward. At the instigation of her mother Herodias, who hated the Baptist, Salome asked for John's head. They say that Herod was saddened by this request, because he respected John as a prophet and philosopher. But he was afraid to break his own oath in front of the guests and sent his squire to prison. He carried out the order of the ruler: he cut off the head of John the Baptist and brought it to Salome on a platter. And she handed the head to her mother...

...It's not easy to be first. This requires special courage and fortitude. And therefore, those who go ahead face difficult trials and a tragic fate.

By the way, the relics of John the Baptist suffered no less trials than the lot of John the Baptist the man. A story about them undoubtedly deserves a separate article. Here we will speak only briefly about the fate of the relics of John the Baptist.

The body of John the Baptist was taken by his disciples: they buried him in the Samaria city of Sebastia near the grave of the holy prophet Elisha. There it was for almost 1000 years until the First Crusade, when, at the behest of the Lord, they were found by the noble Genoese crusader Guglielmo Embriaco. He transported the relics of John the Baptist to his homeland, Genoa, and now they are kept in a special ark made of white stone in the Genoese monastery of St. Lawrence.

A chain of difficult trials, discoveries and mysterious disappearances befell the severed head of John the Baptist. It is known that Herodias, who had a wild hatred for John the living, violated his head: she stabbed it with a dagger, and then buried it somewhere in a “dishonorable place” on the territory of her palace. But the wife of the royal steward, the pious Christian Joanna, spied on Herodias, and then secretly dug up John’s head in the night, placed it in a clay vessel with oil and buried it in a secret place on the Mount of Olives.

Many years later, a vessel with the head of John was found when the pious nobleman Innocent decided to build a church on this part of the Mount of Olives. When they began to dig the ground for the foundation, they came across a vessel with the head of the Baptist.

Since then, the head of John has disappeared and reappeared over the course of a thousand years. It passed from hand to hand, was hidden, transported from place to place. Wherever she visited: in the Syrian city of Emes, Constantinople, in the Turkish city of Comana...

It is believed that as a result, the chapter of John the Baptist was divided into several parts and is now kept in different cities. Most of it is located in the main cathedral of the French town of Amiens in northern France. The relic is a human face, only without the lower jaw, lying on a silver dish and covered with a glass protective cap.

True, Catholics are trying to prove that the head of John the Baptist is in their possession and is kept in Rome in the church of San Silvestro in Capito. And Muslims argue just as ardently that the head of John the Baptist is kept in the Umayyad mosque in Damascus. The Coptic monastery of St. Macarius in Wadi Natrun also claims to own the head of John the Baptist. And finally, it was reported that in August 2010 in Bulgaria, on the island of St. Ivan near Sozopol, during archaeological excavations a box with eight facial bones was found, along the edge of which was the inscription: “Lord, save your servant Thomas. Saint John, June 24." Bulgarian archaeologists and priests claim that these bones are part of the head of John the Baptist.

The right hand of John the Baptist has a separate fate - the same one that John the Baptist placed on the head of Christ when he baptized him in the waters of the Jordan. When the holy Apostle Luke, heading to Antioch, passed through Sebastia, where the body of the Forerunner was buried, he wanted to take his relics with him. But the residents of Sevastia refused to part with them. They only allowed the Evangelist to take with him the right hand of the Baptist. Thus began the long chain of journey of this relic. Saint Luke, as planned, brought the right hand of the Baptist to Antioch, where it was kept peacefully for a thousand years. After the fall of the city, the relic was first transported to the ancient Greek city of Chalcedon, and later to Constantinople. Probably, many sacred relics would sooner or later have gathered within the walls of the Great City if Constantinople had not been captured by the Ottoman Turks of Sultan Mehmed II in 1453. The Right Hand of the Baptist was hastily transported to the island of Rhodes, but when it fell under Turkish pressure, the shrine found refuge in Malta, where it remained for almost three centuries.

Later, at the end of the 17th century, the Knights of Malta presented the right hand of John to the Russian Emperor Paul I, who by that time had become the Grand Master of the Order of Malta. By order of the emperor, a special golden ark was made for the right hand of the Baptist, and it was kept in the royal family - first in Gatchina, then in St. Petersburg.

When bloody unrest began in Russia in 1917, the sacred relic was hastily taken outside the country: first to Scandinavia, then to Serbia and finally to Montenegro. For almost ten years, from 1941 to 1951, the right hand of John the Baptist was secretly kept in the monastery of St. Basil of Ostrog, until one day Yugoslav security officers came for it. For some time it was believed that the right hand of the Forerunner was missing, but in 1993, Abbot Mark (Kalanya) of Cetinje and Bishop Daniel found it in the State Repository of the Historical Museum of the city of Cetinje.

Since then, the right hand of John the Baptist has been kept in the Cetinje Monastery. The relic is missing two fingers – the middle and little fingers. They have their own story. The little finger was first kept in the Church of the Holy Prophet John the Baptist in the Studium Monastery, but when the Turks captured Constantinople, the little finger ended up in the collection of shrines of the Sultan and is now kept in the Ottoman Museum in Istanbul. The middle finger also traveled a lot: first it was presented as a gift to the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskar, then for some time it was in the Serbian Žiča monastery, until it ended up in Rome with Pope Pius II. And he sent him to his hometown of Siena, where the finger of the Baptist is still kept in the Church of St. Mary of Siena.

July 7 - Nativity of John the Baptist. Great Church holiday.
January 20 - Cathedral of the Baptist and Baptist John

“Among those born of women there has not arisen a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11)

In Orthodoxy, there are several other holidays associated with the veneration of John the Baptist:

WHAT DO YOU PRAY FOR TO SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

John the Baptist is the patron saint of all Christians. It helps in the main thing for a person - to find the way to God, strengthen his faith and help him improve his life.
Prayers to John the Baptist help protect against enemies and lies.
It has been noticed that the image of John the Baptist helps get rid of headaches, even if they are very severe.

It must be remembered that icons or saints do not “specialize” in any specific areas. It will be right when a person turns with faith in the power of God, and not in the power of this icon, this saint or prayer.
And .

CHRISTMAS AND APPEARANCE OF THE PROPHET JOHN THE BAPTIST

As stated in the Gospel of Luke, the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth once lived in Hebron. And although they were both “righteous before God... They had no children, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were already advanced in years.”

One day, when Zechariah had his turn to enter the temple for incense

“Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.”

Archangel Gabriel announced to the priest that Elizabeth would soon give birth to a son, and his name would be John and

“he will be great before the Lord; He will not drink wine or strong drink, and will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb; and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.”

(Siquer is anything that is not made from grapes and can lead to intoxication).
Zechariah doubted the archangel's words, but Gabriel told him:

“You will remain silent and will not be able to speak until the day this comes true, because you did not believe my words, which will come true in due time.”

Upon leaving the temple, the priest lost his speech; this sign was also a punishment for unbelief.
Saint Elizabeth conceived, but being chaste, she was ashamed because she was already old and therefore hid her pregnancy for five months. In the sixth month, her cousin, the Most Holy Mary, came to visit her, who by that time had already been carrying the Great Child under her heart for three months. As soon as the women saw each other, Elizabeth, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, was the first of the people to say to Mary:

“Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb!”

John the Baptist was given the gift of prophecy from God while still in the womb of his mother. Just as many years later John the Baptist would say that he was not worthy to baptize the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, he, while still in the womb, through the mouth of Elizabeth asked:

“Where is it from me that the Mother of my Lord came to me?”

Saint Mary stayed in Elizabeth’s house for three months, then returned home.

“The time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified His mercy over her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the baby and wanted to name him, after his father’s name, Zechariah. To this his mother said: no, but call him John. And they said to her: There is no one in your family who is called by this name. And they asked his father by signs what he would like to call him. He demanded a tablet and wrote: John is his name. And everyone was surprised. And immediately his mouth and his tongue loosened, and he began to speak, blessing God. And there was fear on all those living around them; and they told about all this throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard it laid it on their hearts and said: What will happen to this child? And the hand of the Lord was with him. And Zechariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that he hath visited his people, and hath made deliverance unto them, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he hath declared by the mouth of his holy prophets that have come of old, that will save us from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us; He will show mercy to our fathers and remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to give us, without fear, after being delivered from the hand of our enemies, to serve Him in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. And you, baby, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will come before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to make His people understand His salvation in the forgiveness of their sins, according to the gracious mercy of our God, with which the East from above visited us, to enlighten those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide their feet ours on the path of peace. And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of his appearing to Israel.”

After Jesus Christ was born, King Herod wanted to kill Him, but could not find the Newborn, then he ordered the destruction of all babies under the age of two years.
Saint Elizabeth, having learned about this, was frightened, because by that time Jonn was a little over three months old, she ran away with her son into the desert and began to live in a cave. Her husband, Saint Zechariah, continued to serve in the Jerusalem Temple. He was soon killed because he refused to tell the whereabouts of his wife and son John to the soldiers of King Herod.

Righteous Elizabeth lived with her son in the desert until the last days of her life. After the death of his mother, John remained to live in the desert, where there was no human malice, living there he was pure in spirit. Who knows, perhaps, living among people, John the Baptist would have lost his purity and would not have been able to enjoy trust, and would not have been able to expose human sins and passions without shame.

John remained in the desert until God was pleased to reveal him to the people of Israel.

The Church considers John the Baptist the most revered saint after the Mother of God. He was very close to Jesus Christ not only in spirit, but also in the flesh (like a second cousin). The Church presents John the Baptist as an important leader of prayer for all Christians. This is manifested in the fact that during the intercessory prayer that follows the consecration of the Gifts at the Liturgy, the name of John the Baptist is remembered immediately after the name of the Mother of God.

Cathedral of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John

After the Great Feasts dedicated to the Lord or the Mother of God, on the day following it, according to church custom, it is customary to remember those saints who are somehow connected with this event.
Therefore, afterwards the Church remembers the prophet Saint John the Baptist, who had the greatest honor of laying his hand on the Lord Himself.
John the Baptist testified to people about the Divine Being of Jesus Christ, about the Appearance of the Most Holy Trinity during baptism in the Jordan.

The Lord chose the Prophet John to become a link between the old Old Testament Church and the New Testament Church of Christ. According to church hymns, Saint John was

“bright morning star”

which in its brilliance surpassed the radiance of all other stars and foreshadowed the morning of a blessed day, illuminated by the spiritual Sun - Christ. Having baptized the sinless Lamb of God, Saint John soon died a martyr, beheaded by the sword on the orders of King Herod.

GREATNESS OF THE Nativity OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

We magnify you, the Forerunner of the Savior, John, and honor your glorious birth from the fruitless.

VIDEO

Cathedral of the Prophet the Baptist and the Baptist of the Lord John

So, on the next day of Epiphany, the Church honors the one who served the cause of the Baptism of Christ by laying his hand on the head of the Savior.

The Holy Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, the greatest of the prophets, completes the history of the Old Testament Church and opens the era of the New Testament.

John the Baptist testified to the coming to earth of the Only Begotten Son of God, who took on human flesh. He was honored to baptize Him in the waters of the Jordan and testified to the mysterious Appearance of the Most Holy Trinity on the day of the Baptism of the Savior.

A relative of the Lord on his mother's side, the son of the priest Zechariah and the righteous Elizabeth, the Forerunner of the Lord was born six months before Jesus Christ. Archangel Gabriel was the messenger of his birth, revealing to his father in the temple that he would have a son. Requested by prayers, foretold from above, the baby was filled with the All-Holy Spirit. By the grace of God, he escaped death among the 14,000 murdered infants in Bethlehem and its environs (the story of this is contained in the Proto-Gospel of James).

From a young age, Saint John grew up in the desert near Hebron, where he lived in caves, leading a harsh ascetic life and spending time in fasting and prayer. He wore rough clothes made of camel's hair, secured with a leather belt, and ate wild honey and locusts (a genus of locust).

At the age of about 30, Saint John went out to preach repentance. He appeared on the banks of the Jordan to prepare the people with his preaching to accept the Savior of the world. John began his preaching in 29 AD. e. (in the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius).

Sermon of John the Baptist

John came to the country of Jordan and began to preach: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" , that is, the time has come when the expected Savior should appear, who will call everyone into His kingdom.He walked throughout the surrounding country of Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.Before the holiday of purification, people gathered in large numbers to the river for religious ablutions. Here John turned to them, preaching repentance and baptism for the remission of sins.

John's sermon expressed God's wrath against sinners and calls for repentance. He reproached the people for their arbitrary pride in their chosenness (especially the Sadducees and Pharisees). The essence of his preaching was that before receiving external washing, people must be morally cleansed, and thus prepare themselves to receive the Gospel. Of course, John's baptism was not yet the grace-filled sacrament of Christian baptism. Its meaning was spiritual preparation for the future baptism of water and the Holy Spirit.

Baptism of Jesus Christ

Ivanov. The appearance of Christ to the people.

When the expectation of the Messiah reached its highest degree, the Savior of the world Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to John to the Jordan to be baptized. The baptism of Christ was accompanied by miraculous phenomena - the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and the voice of God the Father from heaven: “This is my beloved Son...”

Having received a revelation about Jesus Christ, the prophet John told the people about Him: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”. Hearing this, two of John's disciples joined Jesus Christ. They were the apostles John (the Theologian) and Andrew (the First-Called, brother of Simon Peter).

The preaching of John the Baptist was short-lived. Having prepared people to accept the Savior, he ended his life with martyrdom. He denounced King Herod for his lawless cohabitation with Herodias, for which he was imprisoned and beheaded (Matthew 14:1-10). The holy body of John the Baptist was buried by his disciples in the Samaria city of Sebastia, where the atrocity took place.

John is called Baptist And Forerunner for two reasons - as the one who baptized Jesus Christ and as the one who came with a sermon before him to herald the coming of the Savior, in accordance with the Old Testament prophecies.

According to the expression of church hymns, Saint John was the “bright morning star,” which in its brilliance surpassed the radiance of all other stars and foreshadowed the morning of a blessed day, illuminated by the spiritual Sun - Christ.

Particles of the relics of John the Baptist are situated in Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in Vinogradovo (metro station “Petrovsko-Razumovskaya”, Dmitrovskoe highway, 170) and in Church of St. Nicholas in Pyzhi (metro station Tretyakovskaya, B. Ordynka St., 27a/8).

Revered icon of John the Baptist “Angel of the Desert” And Temple icon "Nativity of John the Baptist" are situated in Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist on Presnya (metro station "Krasnopresnenskaya", M. Predtechensky lane, 2).

Locally revered icon of John the Baptist is in Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Businovo (metro station Petrovsko-Razumovskaya, Izhorskaya st., 1).

Ancient miraculous icon and particles of relics the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John is inJohn the Baptist Convent (metro station "Kitai-Gorod", M. Ivanovsky lane, 2).

Church veneration of the Holy Prophet John knows his gracious help and power to relieve headaches. John the Baptist heals not only headaches or more severe diseases of the head through prayer to him, but he helps to repent, i.e. helps to change the way of thinking, to direct a person’s entire consciousness to Christ, and to comprehend his life in the light of Christ’s Truth.

Memory of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John takes place 7 times a year:

January 20th(new style) - Cathedral of the Baptist and Baptist John.
9th of March- The first (IV) and second (452) discovery of the head of John the Baptist.
June 7- The third discovery of the head of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John.
July 7- Nativity of the honest, glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John.
11 September- Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John.
September 18- Memory of the prophet Zechariah and righteous Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist.
October 6- Conception of the honest, glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John.
the 25th of October- Transfer from Malta to Gatchina of a part of the tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, the Philermos Icon of the Mother of God and the gum of the hand of St. John the Baptist (1799)

A short prayer to Saint John the Baptist:
“Holy Great Forerunner and Baptist John of the Savior, pray to God for us.”

The Church of St. John the Warrior is located in Moscow, on Bolshaya Yakimanka Street. It was built in the 18th century. The temple never closed and received Christians even during the years of persecution of the church. That is why he managed to preserve the atmosphere of old Moscow and the continuity of generations.

This church has one more feature. The fact is that many shrines from other Moscow churches, which at one time were closed or destroyed, are kept here. In particular, here you can see temple icons from the churches of Joachim and Anna and the Great Martyr Barbara.

History and construction of the temple

The very first mention of the church dates back to 1625. At that time, archers lived in this area of Moscow along with their families. They considered John the Warrior their patron, and therefore, at their own expense, they built a temple in his honor.

But after the Streltsy uprising and its suppression, the surviving Streltsy fled from these places, taking their wives and children with them. The settlement was deserted, and the church was deserted along with it. And in 1708, there was a severe flood in these parts, as a result of which the temple was actually flooded.

In 1708, Peter I drove past the church. He drew attention to the people who got to the temple by boat. Surprised, the tsar ordered a new church to be built on a hill and allocated 300 rubles (a huge sum at that time) for its construction. Peter I commissioned his favorite architect Ivan Zarudny to develop the design of the new temple.

Construction lasted 9 years. In 1717, the church was consecrated and the first service was held in it. In honor of this significant event, the king sent several gifts to the new temple. Among them were golden vessels for liturgy, a heavy weight on a massive chain and a painting with the inscription “Pharmacy healing sins.” The weight was hung directly above the entrance so that it would constantly serve as a reminder of the order during the service.

In 1812, Napoleon's troops entered Moscow. The French, who were constantly engaged in looting, for some reason decided that treasure was hidden in the church. They plundered the temple, broke down all the doors and smashed the floors, but, naturally, they did not find any treasures. Leaving the capital, the occupiers started a fire in which many ancient buildings were destroyed. However, fortunately, the fire did not reach the church.

After the expulsion of Napoleon, the temple began to slowly be put in order. All the altars in it were re-consecrated, and the broken doors and floors were repaired. By 1840, thanks to the efforts of the parishioners, it was possible to completely restore all the interior decoration.

During Soviet times, the church did not close. However, in 1922, all her property was confiscated, including the iconostasis and bells. The rector of the temple, Archpriest Christopher Nadezhdin, was arrested on trumped-up charges and was soon shot.

Later, the Church of St. John the Warrior became the custodian of the shrines from the closed and destroyed churches of the capital. And also here are icons from the chapels of the Moscow Kremlin.

Church architecture

The name of the architect is not known for sure, but it is believed that he was Ivan Zarudny, the favorite architect of Peter the Great. This version is supported by the decorative elements characteristic of Zarudny and the similarity of the temple with the Menshikov Tower, also built by this architect.

The temple is made in the Russian and Ukrainian Baroque style. However, in some elements one can also discern European influence, characteristic of the entire era of Peter.

In general, the church is fully consistent with the canons of Moscow architecture of that time. It is built in the shape of a “ship” and consists of three parts: the temple itself, the refectory and the bell tower, which extend from east to west. At the same time, the temple part is made in the form of an “octagon on a quadrangle”, which is also characteristic of Russian temple architecture. However, Zarudny designed and decorated the temple in such a way that from a distance it resembles a rotunda - a round gazebo.

The church is distinguished by its decor, carefully thought out for each tier. The windows of the temple are framed with white stone branches and ornaments in the form of flowers, so the temple looks very elegant.

A low two-tier bell tower adjoins the temple. Its design used the same “octagon on a quadrangle”, but instead of the tent usual for that era, it was crowned with an unusual dome on an octagonal drum. The decor of the bell tower is rather modest, and its only decoration is the “chessboard” painting on the dome and one of the quadrangles.

The church is surrounded by a small picturesque courtyard. It is surrounded by an ancient wrought-iron fence, which is decorated with a fancy ornament of curly branches and leaves. The fence belongs to the Elizabethan Baroque and is considered a real masterpiece of artistic forging.

Temple shrines

Today, the church houses many ancient icons, some of which came here from other churches that were closed during Soviet times. In particular, here are:

Temple shrines

The temple also houses an image of St. Nicholas from the chapel of the St. Nicholas Tower, particles of the Holy Sepulcher and particles of more than 150 saints of God in icons and arks.

Social and missionary activities

There is a Sunday school at the temple, which accepts children from six years old. In it, children get acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, Orthodox symbols and culture, participate in excursions and various festive events.

For older parishioners, the church has organized a youth club. Its participants make pilgrimage trips to other cities, listen to lectures and organize literary and musical evenings.

The parish is actively involved in charity work. In particular, he took patronage over a correctional boarding school in the city of Kashin (Tver region), where one and a half hundred children study. Parishioners provide the school with material and financial support, collecting food, clothing, toys and books for the children.

Work of the Temple of St. John the Warrior

Church address: Moscow, Bolshaya Yakimanka street, building 46, building 1.

The easiest way to get to the church is from the Oktyabrskaya metro station. After exiting the metro, you need to cross to the other side of the street and walk past Shkolodanitsa, Otkritie Bank, Pancho Villa Cafe and Ichiban Boshi Cafe. Immediately behind these cafes you will see the Church of St. John the Warrior on Yakimanka.

Schedule of services.

Service schedules may vary depending on the time of year.

Patronal holidays (dates are indicated according to the new style):

John the Warrior - August 12.
Guria, Samona and Aviva - November 28.
Dmitry Rostovsky - November 10, October 4 and August 1.

The duties of the rector of the temple are temporarily performed by Archpriest Gennady Geroev.

On the next day of the feast of St. Epiphany The Church from the very first times celebrates the council of the honest and glorious prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John. And it was quite fitting to honor with a special celebration the one who served the sacrament of Divine baptism, laying his hand on the head of the Lord. So, immediately after the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the Baptist is collectively venerated and glorified with hymns. The very word - cathedral - means that people gather in church to perform
services in honor and praise of the now glorified great Forerunner and Baptist John. Such a council, although it was and is being held in all the temples of the universe, is celebrated with special solemnity in churches dedicated to the name of the Baptist, as it was before in his temple at the Jordan, where he baptized Christ, and in Sebastia1, where he was buried after being killed by Herod2, and in Antioch, where his right hand was originally brought by the holy evangelist Luke,3 and in Constantinople, where the same holy hand was subsequently transferred from Antioch, and where we especially solemnly celebrated the Council of the Baptist, since his hand was transferred on the very eve of the saint Epiphany, when the consecration of water occurs: it seemed that then the Baptist himself arrived invisibly for the consecration of water, and there was great joy for the kings and all the people. That is why the Council of the Baptist was celebrated with great triumph on the next day of the Epiphany of the Lord and continued to be celebrated in the following time. And with spiritual joy we celebrate the council of this great Forerunner and Baptist John, praying to him that he would ask the Lord Christ for us to gather us in the church of the triumphant in the eternal temple not made by hands in heaven, and where we could hear the voice of those celebrating and celebrate the celebration in honor of the eternal appearance of God. There we can be saturated with Christ with the vision of the face of God, clearly showing Himself to His saints, and glorify with all the heavenly faces the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever, amen!

1 Sebastia is the main city of Samaria. This city received this name after it was presented by Augustus to Herod the Great, who completely restored and decorated it and, in gratitude to Augustus, called it Sebaste, or Sebastia, which means the city of Augustus.
2 Of course, Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, ruled Galilee and Paria from the tetrarch, that is, the tetrarch, ruler over the fourth part of Palestine. He had a legitimate wife, the daughter of the Arabian king Arethas, but he rejected her and took his wife from Philip, his brother, Herodias. The Holy Forerunner of the Lord John denounced Herod for this lawless marriage. For this, Herod imprisoned him in the fortress of Maherunt, located near the Dead Sea on the border with Arabia. Here the evil Herodias, taking advantage of the opportunity that presented itself during the feast, asked Herod through his daughter Salome for the head of John the Baptist, and the lawless king, in the middle of the feast, ordered to cut off the head of the Forerunner, which was done. This chapter was taken to Herodias, who, in evil joy, cut off the Forerunner’s tongue, and the body was thrown outside the walls of the fortress and found here by the disciples of the Baptist, who honorably carried it to Sebaste and buried it here.
3 The Apostle and Evangelist Luke was from Antioch; That’s why he took the trouble to transfer the honest hand of the Forerunner to his hometown. The memory of Saint Luke is celebrated in the month of October, on the 18th day.