Lineage and Marriage
According to Orthodox tradition, Elizabeth was the sister of Saint Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, which made her a kinswoman of the Virgin Mary through her sister. Both Elizabeth and Anna descended from the priestly line of Aaron. The Gospel of Luke identifies Elizabeth as a relative of Mary, using a term whose exact degree of kinship is not specified in the text; while the connection has been debated historically, it is affirmed in Orthodox tradition.
Luke further records that Elizabeth was herself one of the daughters of Aaron, placing her fully within the priestly line. She was married to Zacharias, a priest of the division of Abijah who served in the Temple at Jerusalem. Both were described as righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. They were aged and Elizabeth was barren.
The Annunciation to Zacharias and the Conception of John
An angel appeared to Zacharias as he served in the Temple and announced that his aged wife would bear a son who would be great in the sight of the Lord and would precede the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elias. The angel said the child would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. Zacharias doubted the angel's message and was struck mute as a sign.
After Zacharias returned from his priestly service, Elizabeth conceived. Luke records that she then remained in seclusion for five months, saying that the Lord had done this for her in the days when he looked on her, to take away her reproach among the people.
The Visitation
The Virgin Mary came to visit Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea, traditionally identified with Ein Karem near Jerusalem. By tradition Elizabeth was approximately six months pregnant when Mary arrived. At Mary's greeting, the infant John leaped in Elizabeth's womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth cried out, declaring Mary blessed among women and blessed in the fruit of her womb, and asked why it was granted to her that the mother of her Lord should come to her; she also recounted that at the sound of Mary's greeting the child in her womb had leaped for joy. This prophetic exclamation acknowledged Mary's role as Theotokos and the Incarnation of the Lord. Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, generally believed through the time of John's birth. Elizabeth's words are echoed in Orthodox liturgical and hymnographic tradition, and her role in the Visitation is commemorated in Orthodox hymnography at the feast of the Meeting of the Theotokos and Elizabeth.
The Birth and Naming of John
When John was born and relatives wished to name the child after his father, Elizabeth, divinely inspired, firmly insisted that he was to be called John, a name unprecedented in their family. Zacharias confirmed the name by writing it down, whereupon he regained his speech and prophesied about John's role as Forerunner.
Traditional Accounts
Orthodox hagiography relates that during Herod's massacre of the innocents, Elizabeth hid with the infant John in the hills, and that a mountain miraculously opened to conceal them. Zacharias was subsequently murdered by Herod's soldiers at the Temple, between the temple and the altar. By tradition Elizabeth died forty days later, shortly after Zacharias's martyrdom.
Veneration
Elizabeth is commemorated on September 5 in the Orthodox calendar together with her husband Zacharias as the holy parents of John the Forerunner; in the dataset their joint commemoration is split into separate rows for finder clarity (see OS-0085, Prophet Zacharias). She is also commemorated on June 24 in the Greek calendar, the feast of the Baptist's nativity. The Gorny Convent in Ein Karem, a Russian Orthodox convent built at the traditional site of the Visitation, celebrates the Visitation feast on March 30 in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
