On June 7, the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery celebrates the patronal feast of the upper right side chapel of the Trinity Cathedral consecrated in honor of the Third Finding of Honorable Head of St. John the Baptist.

The third finding of the honorable head of St. John the Baptist took place around 850 AD. During the unrest in Constantinople connected with the exile of the Holy Hierarch John Chrysostom, the head of St. John the Baptist was taken to the city of Emessa. From there, it was transferred to Komana during the Saracene raids around 810-820 AD and hidden in the ground during the period of the iconoclastic persecution. 

When the veneration of icons was restored, Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople saw in a vision during a nightly prayer the location where the head of Saint John the Forerunner was hidden. The patriarch communicated this to the emperor who sent a delegation to Komana. There the head was found a third time in a place indicated by patriarch around the year 850. Later, the head was taken to Constantinople one more time and placed on May 25/June 7 in a church at the court. A part of the holy head is kept on Athos.

According to the Diveyevo’s patronal feast tradition, a Vigil service was held at the Trinity Cathedral on the eve of the feast followed by the paraklesis with the water blessing prayer service and an early-morning Divine Liturgy celebrated at the side chapel on the feast day.