The Coveted Head of St. John the Baptist
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the first, second, and third “findings” of the head of St. John the Baptist are commemorated. These commemorations are related to the quirky history surrounding St. John's head, which has been “lost” and rediscovered multiple times.
The head was first “found” by a nobleman named Innocent who built a cell for himself on the Mount of Olives. One day while digging into the earth to build a foundation for the church he hoped to build, he found the head of St. John the Baptist. Just before his death, he hid the head to protect it.
E-FACT
Within the Eastern Orthodox Church, on feast days devoted to St. John the Baptist, a pious custom dictates that one is not supposed to use round plates, because of the way that St. John was gruesomely beheaded. Because his head was placed on a platter, it is considered especially inappropriate to eat large, round objects — such as cabbages — on round plates on those days.
Later, two monks who visited the Mount of Olives rediscovered the head of St. John the Baptist. It was then passed between some Christian families, finally falling into the hands of a heretic named Eustace, who tucked it into a cave. Fortunately, a monastery was built on this site, and the abbot of the monastery, led by a vision, recovered the head once more in 452. Presently, no one is quite sure where St. John's head resides.
