Icon of the Angel of the Desert holding the severed head of St John the Baptist in Etar Architectural-Ethnographic Complex
Icon of the Angel of the Desert holding the severed head of St John the Baptist in the local church of Etar the Architectural-Ethnographic Complex, Bulagaria which is an open-air museum near Gabrovo. You will notice that the Baptist often is depicted in iconography with wings. These do not symbolize that the Precursor was literally an angel (for he was not, contrary to the error of Origen), but rather call to mind that the Baptist served a quasi-angelic office. For the angels are appointed as the ministers between God and men, and it was St. John who went before our Lord to prepare his way. The very word angel means messenger, and this fits well with St. John's role as the voice crying out in the wilderness. The Baptist fulfills what had been prophesied through Malachi (3:1) regarding the angel of the Lord [the first part of the prophecy is from Malachi, the second from Isaiah]: As it is written in Isaias the prophet: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare the way before thee. A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John was in the desert baptizing, and preaching the baptism of penance, unto remission of sins. (Mark 1:2-4) The third discovery of the venerable head of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John occurred in about the year 850. The head of St. John the Forerunner was found in the city of Emesia during a time of unrest at Constantinople connected with the exile of St. John Chrysostom. In about 820 the head was transferred to Komana during the Saracen raids, and it was hidden in the ground during a period of iconoclastic persecution. When the veneration of icons was restored, Patriarch Ignatius (847-857) saw in a vision the place where the head of St. John was hidden. The patriarch informed the emperor, who sent the delegation that found the head. The head was transferred to Constantinople, and on May 25 it was placed in a church at the court. Part of the head is on Mt. Athos.
Size: 2848px × 4287px
Location: Etar the Architectural-Ethnographic Complex, Bulagaria open-air museum & Church
Photo credit: © Roland Pargeter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: angel, architectural-ethnographic, art, baptist, bulagaria, christian, church, complex, desert, etar, gabrovo, gabrovo., head, holding, icon, john, local, museum, open-air, religious, severed, st, work
