Arcadia Discussion Zone

Portions of St. John's right hand, with which he baptised Jesus, is said to be in the possession of the Serbian Orthodox Cetinje Monastery in Montenegro, and also at the Romanian Skete of the Forerunner on Mount Athos as well. Another relic of his forearm is in a glass display case at the Seraglio (Topkapi Soray), which had been the palace of the Ottoman sultans in Constantinople following the Fall of the City.

It is not known how the portion of St. John's right hand came to be at Dionysiou Monastery on Mount Athos. What we do know is that somehow in the first years of the 19th century the advisor to Prussia in Constantinople, John Frangopoulos, was in possession of this relic and he adorned it with jewels. On 10 March 1802 it was brought (or returned) to Dionysiou Monastery through the efforts of its abbot, Joachim Agiostratiti. This event is commemorated annually by the Monastery on the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent with an all-night vigil.

Relics of John the Baptist Work the First Miracle
Russian and Romanian pilgrims were the first to venerate the relics


The relics of St. John the Baptist have started working miracles in the town of Sozopol where they were found
The relics of John the Baptist that have been recently discovered in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort town of Sozopol have already worked one miracle, the locals spread the rumor. The incredible story circulates in town, Minister of Diaspora Bozhidar Dimitrov told the media. “People say that a Russian lady who got numb and deaf after the Chechen terror attack in Moscow underground recovered speech after a prayer before the holy relics of John the Baptist,” Dimitrov said Thousands came to Sozopol, where relics of St. John the Baptist were recently uncovered, on the day the Eastern Orthodox Church marks St. John’s martyr death.Pilgrims included not only holidaymakers in and around Sozopol, but also people from across Bulgaria, as well as Romanians, Russians and Georgians. On August 29 the Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates the day king Herod ordered St. John the Baptist’s head cut off at the behest of his daughter Salome.
St. John the Baptist is especially venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. The principal day of veneration of the saint is January 7.
Elena Dimitrova