Righteous Righteous Elizabeth

Righteous Elizabeth was the mother of St. John the Baptist and wife of the priest Zechariah, descended from the priestly line of Aaron and a relative of the Virgin Mary. The Evangelist Luke describes both spouses as righteous before God, "walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:6), yet childless into old age.

While Zechariah was burning incense in the Temple, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him announcing the birth of a son to be named John — the future Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord. After conceiving John, Elizabeth received her kinswoman the Virgin Mary, then pregnant with Christ; at their meeting the infant leapt for joy in Elizabeth's womb, and she, filled with the Holy Spirit, became the first person to proclaim Mary as Mother of the Lord (Luke 1:41–45) — words that entered the "Hail Mary" prayer.

Following Herod's Massacre of the Innocents, Elizabeth fled with the infant John into the wilderness, where tradition holds she soon died. The Church commemorates her on September 5 (Old Style)/18 (New Style), together with Righteous Zechariah.