On this day are celebrated God's mercy, His wondrous act and His wisdom: His mercy towards the devout and righteous parents of Saint John, the aged Zacharias and Elizabeth, who had all their lives begged a child of God; the miracle (wonder or in Greek, θαύμα (thavma)) of the conception of John in Elizabeth's more-than-aged womb; and the wisdom of the dispensation of man's salvation. For John, God had especially great plans: that he should be a Prophet and the Forerunner of Christ the Lord, the Savior of the world.

While sharing many traditions, East and West in Christianity began to diverge from each other from an early date. Whereas the basilica, a long aisled hall with an apse at one end, was the most common form in the West, a more centralized style became predominant in the East. These churches were in origin 'martyria' focused on the tombs of the Saints--specifically, the Martyrs who had died during the persecutions, which only fully ended with the conversion of Emperor Constantine. They copied pagan tombs and were roofed over by a dome which symbolized heaven.

Historically the Orthodox Church has a definite style Church architecture developed by the attempt to reveal the fundamental experience of Orthodox Christianity: that God is with us. The fact that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the Emmanuel (which translated means 'God with us') has come, determines the form of the Orthodox church building. God is with man in Christ through God the Holy Spirit. The dwelling place of God is with man. "We are the temple of the living God..." (2 Corinthians 6:16), and it is exactly this belief and experience that Orthodox Church architecture wishes to convey. It is also of interest that churches are oriented so that the holy Altar faces the East and sunrise, symbolizing Christ, the Light.

"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had give thanks [Greek eucharistesas]. He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).