Zachary, Saint

ZACCARIA, saint. – Father of s. Giovanni Battista, mentioned in Lc. 1:5–25, 57–80.

He was an Israelite priest (not the high priest, as asserted by the Protoevangelium of James [v.] and by many of the ancients, together with s. Epifanio, s. Ambrogio, s. Agostino, and s. Beda), Abia (v.), and husband of s. Elisabetta (v.), who was barren.

One day, in the time of Erode Magno, while Z. was offering incense on the altar of perfumes in the Temple of Jerusalem, Gabriele (v.) appeared to him and promised him the birth of a son, whom he was to call Giovanni and who would be the precursor of the Messiah. Z., being doubtful, asked for a sign and received one that was also a punishment: he remained mute (and perhaps also deaf) until the angelic promise was fulfilled (Lc. 1:5–25). Z. received the Virgin Maria into his home (probably at Ain Karim [v.]), where she assisted Elisabetta during the last three months of her pregnancy. At the circumcision of the promised son, when asked what name was to be given him, Z. wrote on a tablet: « Giovanni è il suo nome », and, having regained his speech, gave Benedictus (v.): Lc. 1:40, 57–

80. Feast on 5 November

Vedi rav. CLVIII.

APOCALYPSE OF Z. — An apocryphal work mentioned in the De LX libris et quinam extra illos sunt (PG 1, 516) between the Apocalypse of Zephaniah and that of Ezra. The Stichometria of Nicephorus (11th century) likewise lists among the apocrypha of the Old Testament a book by “Z., father of John,” consisting of 500 stichoi. It would therefore concern the father of the Forerunner.

There are, in fact, various remnants of a legend concerning Z., the father of the Baptist; the traditions relating to Z.’s death amplify Jesus’ saying (Mt. 23:35; Lk. 11:51) concerning Z., “killed between the sanctuary and the altar.” Thus the unexpected (non-original) ending of the Protoevangelium of James (chs. 22–24) recounts how Z. was killed by Herod and his blood (not his body) was found in the Temple. A. Berendts maintains that the A. of Z. was written in the 3rd or 4th century and included, in addition to this ending, the Account of the birth of G. B. and the killing of his father Z., which he discovered in the Russian Cetji Minei, under 5 September. But since an Apocalypse cannot be the title of a narrative work, Bardenhewer admits that there also existed an apocryphal work concerning Z., a prophet of the Old Testament; of this, however, there is no trace whatsoever.