"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 give him the name John.. . He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. . . And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.' " LUKE 1:13-17
Little remains of the Byzantine sanctuary which once commemorated the birth of John the Baptist. However, unlike other houses of worship constructed over holy sites in Jerusalem, it was not destroyed by seventh-century Persian or Moslem invaders. Instead, this church was apparently ravaged 200 years earlier, during an uprising of Israel's Samaritans. The church is located in Ein Karem.
Little remains of the Byzantine sanctuary which once commemorated the birth of John the Baptist. However, unlike other houses of worship constructed over holy sites in Jerusalem, it was not destroyed by seventh-century Persian or Moslem invaders. Instead, this church was apparently ravaged 200 years earlier, during an uprising of Israel's Samaritans. The church is located in Ein Karem.