Kontakion in the Fourth Tone As a brightly-shining lamp that was illumined with the Spirit's fiery beams, O Zachariah most renowned, thou didst prefigure with clarity the Savior's great and untold condescension toward us.

Zechariah the Prophet

Reading from the Synaxarion:

The Prophet Zachariah was the son of Barachias, and a contemporary of
the Prophet Aggeus (Dec. 16). In the days of the Babylonian
captivity, he prophesied, as it says, in the book of Ezra, "to the Jews that
were in Judah and Jerusalem" (Ezra 5: 1); he aided Zerubbabel in the
rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. In the book of Ezra he is called
"Zachariah the son of Addo (or Iddo)" but in his own prophetic book he is
called more fully "Zachariah, the son of Barachias, the son of Addo the
Prophet" (Zach. 1:1). When the captives returned from Babylon, he came to
dwell in Jerusalem in his old age. His book of prophecy is divided
into fourteen chapters and has the eleventh place among the books of
the minor Prophets; his name means "Yah is renowned." Sozomen reports
that under the Emperor Honorius, Zachariah's holy relics were found in
Eleutheropolis of Palestine. The Prophet appeared in a dream to a certain
Calemerus, telling him where he would find his tomb. His body was found to
be incorrupt (Eccl. Hist., Book IX, 17).

Apolytikion in the Second Tone
As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Zachariah, O Lord, through
him we beseech Thee to save our souls.