A Couple of Old Saints and a Mother

Today we celebrate the Biblical couple of Zachariah and Elizabeth.  I also added to my saintly pegs and saint from the early Church, St. Sylvia.

The story of Zachariah and Elizabeth is a touching story of faithfulness which led to the great prophet who would herald the true coming of the Lord and Savior.  The knowledge we have of this couple can be found in the Gospel of Luke.  I cannot tell the story better than Luke:

Zachariah is the work of Henry
and Elizabeth was painted by another mother last summer

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” (Luke 1:  5-25)

The story continues after Gabriel presents himself to Mary and announces the coming of the Messiah through her yes to the Lord!  Mary is also told of her cousin's child and hurries to help Elizabeth in her time of need.

Mary entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:  39-45)

The months pass and the birth of John the Baptist takes place.  All are amazed by the turn of events and what happens:

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. (Luke 1:  57-66)

The rest of the story of John the Baptist is told in all the Gospels (Matthew  3; Mark 1; Luke: 3; John 1) , but we never hear any more of his parents.

St. Zachariah and St. Elizabeth, pray for us!


St. Sylvia

Feast Day:  November 5
Born:  515
Death:  594
Patron:  Expectant mothers
Sicily

Little is known of the early life of Sylvia.  However, we do know that she was most likely born to a prominent family in Sicily.  She married Gordian (whose life would end as a martyr) and she was the mother of two sons.  Her own son would later present her to

the Church as a saint as he would be raised to the position of pope as Pope Gregory the Great.

Upon Gordian's death, Gregory would turn their home into a monastery and Sylvia spent the remainder of her days in a small home near a church.  She was happy to lift up her prayers for the Church.  She would live another twenty years lifting her prayers up to the Lord for all the needs of the Church and those around her.

St Sylvia, pray for us!