St. John the Baptist is one of the three births that we celebrate in the Catholic Church, among Our Lord & Our Blessed Mother. All three are also commemorated with a vigil, each with distinct ceremonies, liturgies, and traditions.

Pious belief holds that St. John was cleansed of Original Sin upon the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin to St. Elizabeth (Luke 1:57), making him, along with Jesus and Mary, free from sin at birth.

The Vigil of St. John the Baptist (6.23) takes place shortly after the longest day in the northern hemisphere. It captures a sense of light supplanting darkness throughout its liturgy and traditions.

Scripture brings this to bear with the Canticle of Zachary: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt … enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death…” (Luke 1:76-79).

St. John’s humility and preaching announced that hope, light, and redemption was at hand, like a beacon of light shining into the murkiness of the Old Testament world. For this reason, our Catholic ancestors lit fires on the Vigil of the Baptist’s birth.

During this night, it was a common tradition to light bonfires in honor of St. John, keeping watch through the short night. Over time, liturgical rites and prayers were added.

While there may not be a priest available to bless each bonfire that we Catholics wish to burn on the evening of the 23rd, the head of the household could recite the hymn Ut queant laxis, offering a reminder of the reason for the fire.

St. John the Baptist, ora pro nobis!

Latin and English translation from the Hymner (Plainsong & Medieval Music Society, 1905):

Ut queant laxis

Ut queant laxis resonare fibris
Mira gestorum famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti labii reatum,
Sancte Iohannes!

O for thy Spirit, Holy John, to chasten,
Lips sin-polluted, fettered tongues to loosen,
So by thy children might thy deeds of wonder
Meetly be chaunted

Nuntius celso veniens Olympo
te patri magnum fore nasciturum,
nomen et vitae seriem gerendae
ordine promit.

Lo! a swift herald, from the skies descending,
Bears to thy father promise of thy greatness ;
How he shall name thee, what thy future story,
Duly revealing.

Ille promissi dubius superni
perdidit promptae modulos loquelae;
sed reformasti genitus peremptae
organa vocis.

Scarcely believing message so transcendent,
Him for a season power of speech forsaketh,
Till, at thy wondrous birth, again returneth
Voice to the voiceless.

Ventris abstruso positus cubili
senseras regem thalamo manentem,
hinc parens nati meritis uterque
abdita pandit.

Thou, in thy mother’s womb all darkly cradled,
Knewest thy Monarch, biding in his chamber,
Whence the two parents, through their children’s merits,
Mysteries utter’d.

Antra deserti teneris sub annis
civium turmas fugiens, petisti,
ne levi saltim maculare vitam
famine posses.

Thou, in thy childhood, to the desert caverns
Fleddest for refuge from the cities’ turmoil,
Where the world’s slander might not dim thy lustre,
Lonely abiding.

Praebuit hirtum tegimen camelus,
artubus sacris strofium bidentis,
cui latex haustum, sociata pastum
mella locustis.

Camel’s hair raiment clothed thy saintly members ;
Leathern the girdle which thy loins encircled ;
Locusts and honey, with the fountain-water,
Daily sustain’d thee.

Caeteri tantum cecinere vatum
corde praesago iubar adfuturum;
tu quidem mundi scelus auferentem
indice prodis.

Oft in past ages, seers with hearts expectant,
Sang the far-distant advent of the Day-Star,
Thine was the glory, as the world’s Redeemer,
First to proclaim him.

Non fuit vasti spatium per orbis
sanctior quisquam genitus Iohanne,
qui nefas saecli meruit lavantem
tingere limphis.

Far as the wide world reacheth, born of women,
Holier was there none than John the Baptist;
Meetly in water laving him who cleanseth
Man from pollution.

O nimis felix meritique celsi
nesciens labem nivei pudoris,
prepotens martyr heremique cultor,
maxime vatum!

O More than blessed, merit high attaining,
Pure as the snow-drift, innocent of evil,
Child of the desert, mightiest of martyrs,
Greatest of prophets.

Serta ter denis alios coronant
aucta crementis, duplicata quosdam;
trina centeno cumulata fructu
te, sacer, ornant.

Thirty-fold increase some with glory crowneth ;
Sixty-fold fruitage prize for others winneth;
Hundred-fold measure, thrice repeated, decks thee,
Blest one, for guerdon.

Nunc potens nostri meritis opimis
pectoris duros lapides repelle
asperum planans iter, et reflexos
dirige calles,

O may the virtue of thine intercession,
All stony hardness from our hearts expelling,
Smooth the rough places, and the crooked straighten
Here in the desert.

ut pius mundi sator et redemptor
mentibus pulsa luvione puris
rite dignetur veniens sacratos
ponere gressus.

Thus may our gracious Maker and Redeemer,
Seeking a station for his hallow’d footsteps,
Find, when he cometh, temples undefiled,
Meet to receive him.

Laudibus cives celebrant superni
te, deus simplex pariterque trine,
supplices ac nos veniam precamur:
parce redemptis! Amen.

Now as the Angels celebrate thy praises,
Godhead essential, Trinity co-equal ;
Spare thy redeem’d ones, as they bow before thee,
Pardon imploring. Amen.

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Prayer:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.
Lord God, almighty Father, the light that never fails and the source of all light, sanctify + this new fire, and grant that after the darkness of this life we may come unsullied to you who are light eternal; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The fire is sprinkled with holy water; after which the clergy and the people sing the following Hymn: Ut queant laxis

1. Ut queant laxis resonáre fibris
Mira gestórum fámuli tuórum,
Solve pollúti lábii reátum, Sancte Joánnes.

2. Núntius celso véniens Olýmpo
Te patri magnum fore nascitúrum,
Nomen, et vitae sériem geréndae
Ordinae promit.

3. Ille promíssi dúbius supérni,
Pérdidit promptae módulos loquélae: 
Sed reformásti genitus perémptae 
Organa vocis.

4. Ventris obstrúso récubans cubíli 
Sénseras Regem thálamo manéntem:
Hinc parens nati méritis utérque Abdita pandit.

5. Sit decus Patri, genitaéque Proli
et tibi, compare utriúsque virtus, 
Spíritus semper, Deus unus, omni 
Témporis aevo. 
Amen.

1. O for your spirit, holy John, to chasten
Lips sin-polluted, fettered tongues to loosen;
So by your children might your deeds of wonder
Meetly be chanted.

2. Lo! a swift herald, from the skies descending,
Bears to your father promise of your greatness;
How he shall name you, what your future story,
Duly revealing.

3. Scarcely believing message so transcendent,
Him for a season power of speech forsaketh,
Till, at your wondrous birth, again returneth,
Voice to the voiceless.

4. You, in your mother’s womb all darkly cradled,
Knew your great Monarch, biding in His chamber,
Whence the two parents, through their offspring’s merits,
Mysteries uttered.

5. Praise to the Father, to the Son begotten,
And to the Spirit, equal power possessing,
One God whose glory, through the lapse of ages,
Ever resounding.
Amen.

P: There was a man sent from God.
All: Whose name was John.

P: Let us pray. God, who by reason of the birth of blessed John have made this day praiseworthy, give your people the grace of spiritual joy, and keep the hearts of your faithful fixed on the way that leads to everlasting salvation; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.

June 24 – The Nativity of St John the Baptist

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

The Voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord; behold thy God!” Oh! in this world of ours grown now so cold, who can understand earth’s transports at hearing these glad tidings so long expected? The promised God was not yet manifested; but already have the heavens bowed down to make way for his passage. No longer was he “the One who is to come,” he for whom our fathers, the illustrious saints of the prophetic age ceaselessly called, in their indomitable hope. Still hidden, indeed, but already in our midst, he was resting beneath that virginal cloud compared with which, the heavenly purity of Thrones and Cherubim wax dim; yea, the united fires of burning Seraphim grow faint, in presence of the single love wherewith she alone encompasses him in her human heart, she that lowly daughter of Adam whom he had chosen for his mother. Our accursed earth, made suddenly more blessed far than yonder heaven so long inexorably closed to suppliant prayer, awaited only that the august mystery should be revealed; the hour was come for earth to join her canticles to that eternal and divine praise, which henceforth was ever rising from her depths, and which being itself no other than the Word Himself, would celebrate God condignly. But beneath the veil of humility where his divinity, even after as well as before his birth, must still continue to hide itself from men, who may discover the Emmanuel? who, having recognized him in his merciful abasements, may succeed in making him accepted by a world lost in pride? who may cry, pointing out the Carpenter’s Son, in the midst of the crowd: Behold Him whom your fathers have so wistfully awaited!

For such is the order decreed from on high, in the manifestation of the Messias. Conformably to the ways of men, the God-Man would not intrude himself into public life; he would await, for the inauguration of his divine ministry, some man who having preceded him in a similar career, would be hereby sufficiently accredited, to introduce him to the people.

Sublime part for a creature to play, to stand guarantee for his God, witness for the Word! The exalted dignity of him who was to fill such a position, had been notified, as had that of the Messias, long before his birth. In the solemn liturgy of the Age of types, the Levite choir, reminding the Most High of the meekness of David and of the promise made to him of a glorious heir, hailed from afar the mysterious lamp prepared by God for his Christ. Not that, to give light to his steps, Christ should stand in need of external help: he, the Splendor of the Father, had only to appear in these dark regions of ours, to fill them with the effulgence of the very heavens; but so many false glimmerings had deceived mankind, during the night of these ages of expectation, that had the true Light arisen on a sudden, it would not have been understood, or would have but blinded eyes now become well nigh powerless, by reason of protracted darkness, to endure its brilliancy. Eternal Wisdom therefore decreed that just as the rising sun is announced by the morning-star, and prepares his coming by the gently tempered brilliancy of aurora; so Christ, who is Light should be preceded here below by a star, his precursor; and his approach be signalized by the luminous rays which he himself (though still invisible) would shed around this faithful herald of his coming. When, in by-gone days, the Most High vouchsafed to light up, before the eyes of his prophets, the distant future, that radiant flash which for an instant shot across the heavens of the old covenant, melted away in the deep night, and ushered not in as yet the longed-for dawn. The “morning-star” of which the psalmist sings shall know naught of defeat: declaring unto night that all is now over with her, he will dim his own fires only in the triumphant splendor of the Sun of Justice. Even as aurora melts into day, so will he confound with Light Increated, his own radiance; being of himself, like every creature, nothingness and darkness, he will so reflect the brilliancy of the Messias Shining immediately upon him, that many will mistake him even for the very Christ.

The mysterious conformity of Christ and his Precursor, the incomparable proximity which unites one to the other, are to be found many times marked down in the sacred scriptures. If Christ is the Word, eternally uttered by the Father he is to be the Voice bearing this divine utterance whithersoever it is to reach; Isaias already hears the desert echoing with these accents, till now unknown; and the prince of prophets expresses his joy, with all the enthusiasm of a soul already beholding itself in the very presence of its Lord and God. The Christ is the Angel of the Covenant; but in the very same text wherein the Holy Ghost gives Him this title, for us so full of hope, there appears likewise bearing the same name of angel, the inseparable messenger, the faithful ambassador, to whom the earth is indebted for her coming to know the Spouse: Behold, I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord whom ye seek, and the Angel of the testament whom you desire, shall come to his Temple; behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts. And putting an end to the prophetic ministry, of which he is the last representative, Malachias terminates his own oracles by the words which we have heard Gabriel addressing to Zachary, when he makes known to him the approaching birth of the Precursor.

The presence of Gabriel, on this occasion, of itself shows with what intimacy with the Son of God, this child then promised shall be favored; for the very same Prince of the heavenly hosts came again, soon afterwards, to announce the Emmanuel. Countless are the faithful messengers that press around the throne of the Holy Trinity, and the choice of these august ambassadors usually varies according to the dignity of the instructions to be transmitted to earth by the Most High. Nevertheless, it was fitting that the same archangel charged with concluding the sacred Nuptials of the Word with the Human Nature, should likewise prelude this great mission by preparing the coming of him whom the eternal decrees had designated as the Friend of the Bridegroom. Six months later, on his deputation to Mary, he strengthens his divine message, by revealing to that purest of Virgins, the prodigy, which had by then already given a son to the sterile Elizabeth; this being the first step of the Almighty towards a still greater marvel. John is not yet born; but without longer delay, his career is begun: he is employed to attest the truth of the angel’s promises. How ineffable this guarantee of a child hidden as yet in his mother’s womb, but already brought forward as God’s witness, in that sublime negotiation which at that moment is holding heaven and earth in suspense! Illumined from on high, Mary receives the testimony and hesitates no longer. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, says she to the archangel, be it done unto me, according to thy word.

Gabriel has retired, bearing away with him the divine secret which he has not been commissioned to reveal to the rest of the world. Neither will the most prudent Virgin herself tell it; even Joseph, her virginal Spouse, is to receive no communication of the mystery from her lips. Yet fear not; the woeful sterility beneath which earth has been so long groaning is not to be followed by an ignorance more sorrow-stricken still, now that it has yielded its fruit. There is one from whom Emmanuel will have no secret, nor reserve; it were fitting to reveal the marvel unto him. Scarce has the Spouse taken possession of the sanctuary all spotless wherein the nine months of his first abiding amongst men, must run their course, yea, scarce has the Word been made Flesh, than Our Lady, inwardly taught what is her Son’s desire, arising makes all haste to speed into the hill country of Judea. The voice of my Beloved! Behold he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills. His first visit is to the “Friend of the Bridegroom,” the first out-pour of his graces is to John. A distinct feast will allow us to honor in a special manner the precious day on which the divine Child, sanctifying his Precursor, reveals himself to John by the voice of Mary; the day on which Our Lady, manifested by John, leaping within the womb of his mother, proclaims at last the wondrous things operated within her by the Almighty, according to the merciful promise which he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

But the time is come when the good tidings are to spread, from children and mothers, through all the adjacent country, until at length they reach the whole world. John is about to be born, and while still himself unable to speak, he is to loosen his father’s tongue. He is to put an end to that dumbness with which the aged priest, a type of the old law, had been struck by the angel; and Zachary, himself filled with the Holy Ghost, is about to publish in a new canticle, the blessed visit of the Lord God of Israel.

The chants of Holy Church in honor of the Precursor’s Nativity have fairly begun; and already everything about the feast is telling us that it is one of those solemnities dearest to the heart of the Bride. But what would it be, if going back to the good days of yore, we were able to take our share in the olden manifestations of Catholic instinct on this day! In those grand ages wherein popular piety followed with docile step the inspiration of the one Mother Church, such demonstrations suggested by a common faith, on the recurrence of each loved anniversary, kept alive in every breast, the understanding of the divine Work and its mystic harmonies, thus gorgeously displayed on the cycle. Nowadays, when the liturgical spirit has fallen to a lower standard in the minds of the multitude, the Catholic verve, which used to urge on the mass of the people, is no longer felt in the same marked way. Left to itself, and hence without unity of view, popular devotion but too often lacks justness of proportion: nevertheless, these regrettable inconsistencies cannot impair the spirit of piety itself ever inherent in Holy Church; she is ever guided aright by the Spirit of Prayer that is within her; she ever holds the sure hand of her unerring authority on all the varieties of pious demonstrations of a non-liturgical character, as well as on the diminutions of the former solemnity of her own sacred rites; hence she is ever on the watch to prevent her maternal condescension becoming a pretext for opening the way to error. We are far, however, from the days when two rival armies meeting face to face on St. John’s Eve, would put off the battle till the morrow of the feast [q.v., The Battle of Fontenay, Saturday, 25th June, 841]. In England, though no longer kept as a day of obligation, the feast of St. John is still marked in the Calendar as a double of first class with an octave; and gives place to no other, save to the festival of Corpus Christi: it is, moreover, a “day of devotion,” and continues thus to attract the attention of the Faithful, as one of the more important feasts of the year.

Another festival is yet to come, at the end of August, calling for our renewed homage to the son of Zachary and Elizabeth; the feast, that is to say, of his glorious martyrdom. But ”venerable” as it has every right to be in our eyes (so the Church expresses herself in the Collect on that day), its splendor is not to be compared with that of this present festival. The reason is because this day relates less to John himself than to Jesus, whom he is announcing; whereas the feast of the Decollation, though more personal to our Saint, has not in the divine plan that same importance which his Birth had, inasmuch as it preludes that of the Son of God.

There hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist, are the words to be spoken by the Man-God of his Precursor; and already has Gabriel, when announcing both of them, declared the same thing of each, that he shall be great. But the greatness of Jesus is that He shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the greatness of John is that he shall go before Him. The name of John brought down from heaven, like that of his Master, proclaims the grace which Jesus, by saving mankind, is to bring to the world. Jesus who cometh front above in person, is above all it is He and He alone whom all mankind is expecting; John who is of earth, on the contrary, hath nothing but what he hath received; but he hath received to be the friend of the Bridegroom, his usher; so that the Bridegroom cometh not to the Bride, but by him.

Yea, the Bride even cannot come to know herself, nor to prepare herself for the sacred nuptials, but by him: his preaching awakens her, in the wilderness; he adorns her with the charms of penitence and all virtues; his hand, in the one baptism, at last unites her to Christ beneath the waters. Sublime moment! in which, raised far above all men and angels, John, in the midst of the Holy Trinity, as it were, in virtue of an authority that is his, invests the Second Person Incarnate with a new title; the Father and the Holy Ghost acting the while, in concert with him! But presently, coming down from those lofty heights, more than human, to which his mission had raised him, he is fain to disappear altogether: the Bride is become the Bridegroom’s own; the joy therefore of John is full, his work is done; he has now but to efface himself and to decrease. To Jesus here manifested, it henceforth alone belongs to appear and to increase. Thus too, the day-star, from the feast of John’s Nativity when he beams his rays upon us in all his splendor, will begin to decline from the heights of his solstice, towards the horizon; whereas Christmas will give him signal to return, to resume that upward movement which progressively restores all his fiery effulgence.

Verily, Jesus alone is Light, the Light without which earth would remain dead; and John is but the man sent from God, without whom the Light would have remained unknown. But Jesus being inseparable from John, even as day is from aurora, it is by no means astonishing that earth’s gladness at John’s birth should partake of something of that excited by the coming of our Redeemer. Up to the fifteenth century, the Latin Church, together with the Greeks who still continue the custom, celebrated, in the month of September, a feast called the conception of the Precursor; not that his conception was in itself holy, but because it announced the beginning of mysteries. Just in the same way, the Nativity of Saint John Baptist indeed made holy, is celebrated with so much pomp merely because it seems to enfold within itself the Nativity of Christ, our Redeemer. It is as it were Midsummer’s “Christmas Day.” From the very onset, God and his Church brought about, with most delicate care, many such parallel resemblances and dependences between these two solemnities. These we are now about to study.

God, who in his Providence seeks in all things the glorification of His Word made Flesh, estimates men and centuries by the measure of testimony they render to Christ; and this is why John is so great. For, Him whom the Prophets announced as about to come, whom the Apostles preached as already come, John, at once prophet and apostle, pointed out with his finger, exclaiming “Behold, this is He!” John, being then the witness by excellence, it is fitting that he should open that glorious period during which, for three centuries, the Church was to render to her Spouse that testimony of blood, whereby the Martyrs, after the Prophets and Apostles, whereon she is built up, hold the first claim to her gratitude. Just as Eternal Wisdom had decreed that the tenth and last great struggle of that epoch, should be forever linked with the Birthday of the Son of God whose triumph it secured, by the memory of the Martyrs of Nicomedia on the 25th of December, 303; so likewise does John’s birthday mark the beginning of the first of those giant contests. For the 24th of June in the Roman Martyrology is sacred likewise to the memory of those soldiers of Christ, who first entered upon the arena opened to them by pagan Rome in the year 64. After the proclamation of the Nativity of the Precursor, the Church’s record runs thus: “At Rome the memory of many holy Martyrs who under the Emperor Nero being calumniously accused of setting fire to the city, were at the command of the same, most cruelly put to death by divers torments; some of whom were sown up in beasts’ skins and so exposed to be torn by dogs; others crucified; others set on fire, so that at the decline of day they might serve as torches to light up the night. All these were disciples of the Apostles; and first fruits of the Martyrs offered to the Lord by the Roman Church, the fertile field of Martyrs, even before the death of the Apostles.”

The solemnity of the 24th of June, therefore, throws a double light on the early days of Christianity. There never were even then, days evil enough for the Church to belie the prediction of the Angel, that many should rejoice in the birth of John; together with joy, his word, his example, his intercession brought courage to the Martyrs. After the triumph won by the Son of God over pagan negation; when to the testimony of blood succeeded that of confession by works and praise, John maintained his part as Precursor of Christ in souls. Guide of monks, he conducts them far from the world, and fortifies them in the combats of the desert; Friend of the Bridegroom, he continues to form the Bride, by preparing unto the Lord a perfect people.

In the divers states and degrees of the Christian life, his ever needful and beneficent influence makes itself felt. At the beginning of the fourth Gospel, in the most dogmatic passage of the New Testament, not by mere accident is John brought forward, even as heretofore at Jordan, as one closely united with the operations of the Adorable Trinity, in the universal economy of the Divine Incarnation: There was a man sent from God whose name was John, saith the Holy Ghost; he came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all might believe through him. “Precursor at his birth, Precursor at his death, St. John still continues,” says St. Ambrose, “to march in front, before the Lord. More perhaps than we are aware of, may his mysterious action be telling on this present life of ours. When we begin to believe in Christ, there comes forth virtue, as it were, from St. John, drawing us after him: he inclines the steps of the soul towards faith; he rectifies the crooked ways of life, making straight the road of our earthly pilgrimage, lest we stray into the rugged wilds of error; he contrives so, that all our valleys be filled with the fruits of virtue, and that every elevation be brought low before the Lord.”

But if the Precursor maintains his part in each progressive movement of faith which brings souls nearer to Christ, he intervenes still more markedly in each baptism conferred, whereby the Bride gains increase. The baptistry is especially consecrated to him. It is true, the baptism which he gave to the crowds pressing day by day, on Jordan’s banks, had never power such as Christian baptism possesses; but when he plunged the Man-God beneath the waters, they were endowed with a virtue of fecundity emanating directly from Christ, whereby they would be empowered until the end of time to complete, by the accession of new members, the Body of Holy Church united to Christ.

The faith of our fathers never ignored the great benefits for which both individuals and nations are indebted to Saint John. So many neophytes received his name in baptism, so efficacious was the aid afforded by him in conducting his clients to sanctity, that there is not a day in the Calendar on which there may not be honored the heavenly birthday of one or other so named. Amongst nations, the Lombards formerly claimed Saint John as Patron, and French Canada does the same nowadays. But whether in East or West, who could count the countries, towns, religious families, abbeys, and churches placed under this same powerful patronage: from the temple which, under Theodosius, replaced that of the ancient Serapis in Alexandria with its famous mysteries, to the sanctuary raised upon the ruins of the altar of Apollo, on the summit of Monte Cassino, by the Patriarch of monks; from the fifteen churches which Byzantium, the new Rome, consecrated within her walls in honor of the Precursor, to the august Basilica of Lateran, well worthy of its epithet, the golden Basilica, and which in the Capital of Christendom remains forever Mother and Mistress of all churches, not alone of the City, but of the whole world! Dedicated at first to our Savior, this latter Basilica added at an early date another title which seems inseparable from this sacred name, that of the Friend of the Bridegroom. Saint John the Evangelist, also a “friend of Jesus,” whose precious death is placed by one tradition on the Twenty-fourth day of June, has likewise had his name added to the other two borne by this Basilica; but all the same, it is nonetheless certain that common practice is in keeping with ancient documents, in referring, as it does, more especially to the Precursor, the title of Saint John Lateran, whereby the patriarchal Basilica of the Roman Pontiffs is always designated in these days.

“Fitting it was,” says Saint Peter Damian “that the authority of the Bride should subscribe to the judgment of the Bridegroom, and that this latter should see his greatest Friend raised in glory there, where she is enthroned as queen. A remarkable choice is this, to be sure, whereby John is given the primacy, in the very city that is consecrated by the glorious death of the two lights of the world. Peter from his cross, Paul beneath the blade, both behold the first place held by another; Rome is clad in the purple of innumerable martyrs, and yet all her honors go straight to the blessed Precursor. Everywhere John is the greatest!”

On this day, therefore, let us too imitate Mother Church; let us avoid that obliviousness which bespeaks ingratitude; let us hail, with thanksgiving and heartfelt gladness, the arrival of him who promises our Savior unto us. Yea, already Christmas is announced. On the Lateran Piazza (or Square), the faithful Roman people will keep vigil tonight, awaiting the hour which will allow the eve’s strict fast and abstinence to be broken, when they may give themselves up to innocent enjoyment, the prelude of those rejoicings wherewith, six months hence, they will be greeting the Emmanuel.

Saint John’s Vigil is no longer of precept, in a great many Churches. Formerly, however, not one day’s fasting only, but an entire quarantine was observed at the approach of the Nativity of the Precursor, resembling in its length and severity that of the Advent of our Lord! The more severe had been the holy exactions of the preparation, the more prized and the better appreciated would be the festival. After seeing the penance of Saint John’s fast equaled to the austerity of that preceding Christmas, it is not surprising to behold the Church in her Liturgy making the two Nativities closely resemble one another, to a degree that would be apt to stagger the limping faith of many a one nowadays.

The Nativity of Saint John was celebrated by three Masses, just as is that of Him whom he made known to the Bride: the first, in the dead of night, commemorated his title of Precursor; the second, at daybreak, honored the Baptism he conferred; the third, at the hour of Tierce, hailed his sanctity. The preparation of the Bride, the consecration of the Bridegroom, his own peerless holiness; a threefold triumph, which at once linked the servant to the Master, and deserved the homage of a triple sacrifice to God the Thrice-Holy, manifested to John in the plurality of His Persons, and revealed by him to the Church. In like manner, as there were formerly two Matins on Christmas Night, so in many places was there a double office celebrated on the feast of Saint John, as Durandus of Mende, following Honorious of Autun, informs us. The first Office began at the decline of day; it was without Alleluia, in order to signify the time of the Law and the Prophets which lasted up to Saint John. The second office, begun in the middle of the night, terminated at dawn; this was sung with Alleluia, to denote the opening of the time of grace and of the kingdom of God.

Joy, which is the characteristic of this Feast, outstripped the limits of the sacred precincts and shed itself abroad, as far even as the infidel Mussulmans. Though at Christmas, the severity of the season necessarily confined to the domestic hearth all touching expansion of private piety, the lovely summer nights, at Saint John’s tide, gave free scope to popular display of lively faith among various nationalities. In this way, the people seemed to make up for what circumstances prevented in the way of demonstrations to the Infant God, by the glad honors they could render to the cradle of his Precursor. Scarce had the last rays of the setting sun died away, than all the world over, from the far East to the furthest West, immense columns of flame arose from every mountain top; and in an instant, every town and village and smallest hamlet was lighted up. “Saint John’s fires,” as they called them, were an authentic testimony, repeating over and over again the truth of the words of the Angel and of prophecy, whereby that universal gladness was announced which would hail the Birth day of Elizabeth’s son. Like to a burning and shining light, to use the expression of our Lord, he had appeared in the midst of endless night, and for a time, the Synagogue was willing to rejoice in his light; but disconcerted by his fidelity which prevented him from giving himself out as the Christ and the true Light, irritated at the sight of the Lamb that he pointed out as the salvation of the whole world, and not of Israel alone, the Synagogue had presently turned back again into night, and had drawn across her own eyes that fatal bandage which suffers her to remain, up to this day, in her sad darkness. Filled with gratitude to him who had neither wished to diminish nor to deceive the Bride, the gentile world, on her side, exalted him all the more for his having lowered himself; gathering together and applying to herself those sentiments which ought to have animated the repudiated Synagogue, she was fain to manifest by all means in her power, that without confounding the borrowed light of the Precursor with that of the Sun of Justice Himself, she nonetheless hailed with enthusiasm this light which had been to the entire human race a very aurora of nuptial gladness.

It may almost be said of the “Saint John’s fires,” that they date, like the festival itself, from the very beginning of Christianity. They made their appearance, at least, from the earliest days of the period of peace, like a sample fruit of popular initiative; but not indeed without sometimes exciting the anxious attention of the Fathers and of Councils, ever on the watch to banish every superstitious notion from manifestations, which otherwise so happily began to replace the pagan festivities proper to the solstices. But the necessity of combating some abuses, which are just as possible in our own days as in those, did not withhold the Church from encouraging a species of demonstration which so well answered to the very character of the feast. “Saint John’s fires” made a happy completion to the liturgical solemnity; testifying how one and the same thought possessed both the mind of Holy Church and of the terrestrial city; for the organisation of these rejoicings originated with the civil corporations and the expenses thereof were defrayed by the municipalities. Thus the privilege of lighting the bonfire was usually reserved to some dignitary of the civil order. Kings themselves taking part in the common merry-making would esteem it an honour to give this signal to popular gladness; Louis XIV, as late as 1648, for example, lighted the bonfire on the “place de Grève,” as his predecessors had done. In other places, as is even now done in Catholic Brittany, the clergy were invited to bless the piles of wood, and to cast thereon the first brand; whilst the crowd, bearing flaming torches, would disperse over the neighboring country, amidst the ripening crops, or would march along the ocean side, following the tortuous cliff-paths, shouting many a gladsome cry, to which the adjacent islets would reply by lighting up their festive fires.

In some parts, the custom prevailed of rolling a “burning wheel;” this was a self-revolving red-hot disk that, rolling along the streets or down from the hill-tops, represented the movement of the sun, which attains the highest point in his orbit, to begin at once his descent; thus was the word of the Precursor brought to mind, when speaking of the Messias, he says: He must increase, and I must decrease. The symbolism was completed by the custom then in vogue, of burning old bones and rubbish on this day which proclaims the end of the Ancient Law, and the commencement of the New Covenant, according to the holy Scripture, where it is written: … And new store coming on, you shall cast away the old.

Blessed are those populations amongst whom is still preserved something of such customs, whence the old simplicity of our forefathers drew a gladness assuredly more true and more pure than their descendants seek in festivities wherein the soul has no part!

To the Office of Lauds, on this day, a special importance is to be attached, because the Canticle Benedictus, which is sung during Lauds all the year round, is the very expression itself of the sentiments inspired by the Holy Ghost to the father of Saint John the Baptist, on the occasion of that Birthday which gave joy both to God and man. Wherefore, being unable to insert the entire Office, we give at least this Canticle which will be found below, after the Hymns for Matins and Lauds, composed by Paul the Deacon, and forming the sequel to that already given above, for Vespers. The Antiphons, Capitulum, and Versicle used at Lauds are the same as those marked, further on, for second Vespers.

Hymn at Matins
Antra deserti teneris sub annis,
Civium turmas fugiens, petisti,
Ne levi posses maculare vitam Crimine linguæ.

The desert cavern didst thou seek, in tenderest age, fleeing betimes the crowded city, lest by the slightest sin of tongue, thy life should e’er be sullied.

Præbuit durum tegumen camelus
Artubus sacris, strophium bidentes;
Cui latex haustum, sociata pastum
Mella locustis.

Unto thy sacred body, rough garment the camel did afford,—victims, a cincture; the running stream supplied thy drink, honey with locusts, a repast.

Cæteri tantum cecinere vatum
Corde præsago jubar affuturum:
Tu quidem mundi scelus auuferentem
Indice prodis.

Other Prophets but sang, with heart inspired, the Light that was to come: while thou didst with thy finger point out Him who taketh the world’s dark sin away.

Non fuit vasti spatium per orbis
Sanctius quisquam genitus Johanne,
Qui nefas sæcli meruit lavantem
Tingere lymphis.

Not in all the wide world was one born holy as this John, who was deemed worthy to plunge beneath the wave, e’en Him, that washeth away earth’s crimes.

Sit decus Patri, genitæque Proli,
Et tibi, compar utriusque virtus
Spiritus semper, Deus unus, omni
Tempore ævo. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Only-Begotten Son, and to Thee, O Power, eternally equal to them both, O Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Hymn at Lauds
O nimis felix, meritique celsi,
Nesciens labem nivei pudoris,
Præpotens martyr, nemorumque cultor,
Maxime vatum.

O most happy Thou, and of merit high; unknowing stain upon thy snowy purity; Martyr all potent! Man of prayer, hid in dark thicket’s shade! Of Prophets mightiest thou!

Serta ter denis alios coronant
Aucta crementis, duplicata quosdam;
Trina te fructu cumulata centum
Nexibus ornant.

With wreaths by works increased thrice threefold, some, and e’en with double that, are others crowned; whilst tripled fruits a hundred-fold accumulate, with radiant bands thy brow bedeck.

Nunc potens nostri meritis opimis
Pectoris duros lapides revelle,
Asperum planans iter, et reflexos
Dirige calles.

Now, O potent one, these copious merits thine, asunder rend these stony breasts of ours! Make plain the rugged way, and the diverging path make straight!

Ut pius mundi Sator et Redemptor,
Mentibus culpæ sine labe puris,
Rite dignetur veniens beatos
Ponere gressus.

So that the compassionate Creator and Redeemer of the world, finding our souls clean and pure from every stain of sin, at it behoves, may thereon vouchsafe, at His coming, to set His blessed feet.

Laudibus cives celebrent superni
Te, Deus simplex pariterque trine,
Supplices et nos veniam precamur:
Parce redemptis. Amen.

With praiseful song, let all the heavenly citizens hail Thee, O God simple and three in Persons; whilst we suppliants implore pardon: Thy redeemed ones spare! Amen.

℣. Iste puer magnus coram Domino.
℣. This child shall be great before the Lord.

℟. Nam et manus ejus cum ipso est.
℟. For His hand is with him.

Ant. Apertum est os Zachariæ, et prophetavit, dicens: Benedictus Deus Israel.
Ant. The mouth of Zachary was opened, and he prophesied, saying: Blessed be the God of Israel.

Canticle of Zachary

Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel: * quia visitavit, et fecit redemptionem plebis suæ.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.

Et erexit cornu salutis nobis: * in domo David pueri sui.
And hath raised up a horn of salvation to us, in the house of David his servant.

Sicut locutus est per os Sanctorum: * qui a sæculo sunt Prophetarum ejus.
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy Prophets, who are from the beginning.

Salutem ex inimicis nostris: * et de manu omnium qui oderunt nos.
Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us.

Ad faciendam misericordiam cum patribus nostris: * et memorari testamenti sui sancti.
To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy testament.

Jusjurandum quo djuravit ad Abraham patrem nostrum: * daturum se nobis.
The oath which he swore to Abraham, our father; that he would grant to us,

Ut sine timore de manu inimicorum nostrorum liberati: * serviamus illi.
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies we may serve him without fear.

In sanctitate et justitia coram ipso: * omnibus diebus nostris.
In holiness and justice before him, all our days.

Et tu puer, Propheta Altissimi vocaberis: * præibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias ejus.
And thou child, Precursor of the Emmanuel, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his ways.

Ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi ejus: * in remissionem peccatorum eorum.
To give unto his people the knowledge of salvation, unto the remission of their sins.

Per viscera misericordiæ Dei nostri: * in quibus visitavit nos Oriens ex alto.
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:

Illuminare his, qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent: * ad dirigendos pedes nostros in viam pacis.
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death; to direct our feet in the way of peace.

Tierce
The Hymn and the three Psalms of which the Office of Tierce is composed, are to be found here.
Ant. Innuebant patri ejus quem vellet vocari eum: et scripsit dicens: Johannes est nomen ejus.
Ant. They made signs to his father, how he would have him called: and he wrote saying: John is his name.

The Capitulum is the same as in First Vespers.

℟. Brev. Fuit homo, * Missus a Deo. Fuit.
℟. Brev. There was a man * sent from God. There was.

℣. Cui nomen erat Johannes. * Missus. Gloria Patri. Fuit.
℣. Whose name was John. * Sent. Glory be to the Father. There was.

℣. Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major.
℣. Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater.

℟. Johanne Baptista.
℟. Than John the Baptist.

The Prayer is the Collect of the Mass.

Mass
The Mass is composed of diverse passages from the Old and New Testaments. The Church, as liturgical authors say, wishes hereby to remind us that John forms the link binding together both Testaments, he himself sharing in each. He is the precious clasp, which fastens the double mantle of Law and of Grace, across the breast of the eternal Pontiff.

The Introit is from Isaias; the text from which it is taken will occur again, and at greater length, in our Epistle. The Psalm formerly chanted with it is the 91st, the first verse alone of which is now used, although the primary motive of this choice lay in its following verse and in its thirteenth: It is good … to shew forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night: … The just shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus.

Introit
De ventre matris meæ vocavit me Dominus nomine meo: et posuit os meum ut gladium acutum: sub tegumento manus suæ protexit me, et posuit me quasi sagittam electam.
The Lord hath called me by my name, from the womb of my mother: and he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hath protected me, and hath made me as a chosen arrow.

Ps. Bonum est confiteri Domino: et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime. ℣. Gloria Patri. De ventre.
Ps. It is good to give praise to the Lord, and to sing to thy name, O Most High. ℣. Glory, &c. The Lord, &c.

The Collect gathers together the desires of the Faithful, upon this day, which is so great because hallowed by the birth of the Precursor. The voice of the Church implores herein an abundance of spiritual joy, which is the grace peculiar to this feast, as we learn from the very words of Gabriel. Bearing in mind the special part allotted to Zachary’s son, which consists in setting in order the paths of salvation the Church prays that not one of her Christian children may turn aside from the Way of Life Eternal.

Collect
Deus, qui præsentem diem honorabilem nobis in beati Johannis nativitate fecisti: da populis tuis spiratualium gratiam gaudiorum; et omnium fidelium mentes dirige in viam salutis æternæ. Per Dominum.
O God, who hast made this day glorious unto us on account of the Nativity of blessed John; grant to thy people the grace of spiritual joys; and direct the souls of all the Faithful into the way of eternal salvation. Through our Lord, &c.

Epistle
Lesson of the Prophet Isaias. Ch. XLIX.

Give ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people from afar. The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath been mindful of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of his hand he hath protected me, and hath made me as a chosen arrow: in his quiver he hath hidden me. And he said to me: Thou art my servant Israel, for in thee will I glory. And now saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant, that I may bring back Jacob unto him, and Israel will not be gathered together: and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength. And he said: It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth. Thus saith the Lord the redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of rulers: Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, and adore for the Lord’ s sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.

Quote:

Isaias, in these few lines, has directly in view the announcing of Christ; the application here made by the Church to Saint John Baptist once more shows us how closely the Messias is united with his Precursor in the work of the Redemption. Rome, once capital of the gentile world, now Mother of Christendom, delights in proclaiming, on this day, to the sons whom the Spouse has given her, the consoling prophecy which was addressed to them of yore, before she herself was founded upon the seven hills. Eight hundred years before the birth of John and of the Messias a voice had been heard on Sion, and, reaching beyond the frontiers of Jacob, had re-echoed along those distant coasts where sin’s darkness held mankind in the thraldom of hell: Give ear, ye islands; and hearken, ye people from afar! It was the Voice of Him who was to come, and of the Angel deputed to walk before him, the voice of John and of the Messias, proclaiming the one predestination, common to them both, which as servant and as Master, made them to be objects of the self-same eternal decree. And this voice, after having hailed the privilege which would designate each (though so diversely) from the maternal womb, as objects of complacency to the Almighty, went on to utter the divinely formulated oracle which was to be promulgated, in other terms, over the cradle of each by the respective ministry of Zachary and of Angels. And he said to me: Thou art my servant Israel, for in thee will I glory, in thee who art indeed Israel to Me; … And he said: It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel, who will not hearken to thee, and of whom thou shalt bring back but a small remnant. Behold I have given thee to be the Light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth; to make up for the scant welcome my people shall have given thee, kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, at thy word, and adore for the Lord’s sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee as the negotiator of his alliance.

Children of the Bridegroom, let us enter into this thought of his; let us understand what ought to be the gratitude of us Gentiles to him to whom all flesh is indebted for its knowledge of the Redeemer. From the wilderness, where his voice stung the pride of the descendants of the patriarchs, he beheld us succeeding to the haughty Synagogue; without at all minimising the divine exactions, his stern language when addressed to the Bridegroom’s chosen ones, assumed a tone of considerateness which it never had for the Jews. “Ye offspring of vipers,” said he to these latter, “who hath shown you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of penance, and do not begin to say, We have Abraham for our Father. For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. For in your case, already is the axe laid to the root of the tree. Every tree, therefore, that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down and cast into the fire.” But to the despised publican, to the hated soldier, to all those parched hearts of the gentile world, hard and arid as the desert rock, John the Baptist announced a flow of grace that would refresh their dried up souls making them fruitful in justice: “Ye publicans, do nothing more than what is appointed you, by the exigencies of the tax laws; ye soldiers, be content with your pay. The Law was given by Moses; but better is grace; grace and truth come by Jesus Christ whom I declare unto you: He it is who taketh away the sins of the world and of His fullness we have all received.”

What a new horizon was here opened out before these objects of reproach, held aloof so long by Israel’s scorn! But in the eyes of the Synagogue, such a blow aimed at Juda’s pretended privilege was a crime. She had borne the biting invectives of this son of Zachary; she had even, at one moment, shown herself ready to hail him as the Christ; but she who vaunted herself as pure, to be invited to go hand in hand with the unclean Gentile,—that she could never brook; it were too much: from that moment, John was judged of, by her, as his Master would afterwards be. Later on, Jesus will insist upon the difference of welcome given to the Precursor by those who listened to him. Yea, he will even make thereof the basis for his sentence of reprobation pronounced against the Jews: “Amen I say to you, that the publicans and harlots shall go into the kingdom of God before you; for John came to you in the way of justice, and you did not believe him. But the publicans and harlots believed him: but you seeing it, did not even afterwards repent, that you might believe him.”

Following in the train of Isaias, who has been prophesying the coming of John and of Christ, Jeremias, the figure of both, stands before us in the Gradual; he too was sanctified in his mother’s womb, and there prepared for the ministry which he was to exercise. The verse leaves the sense suspended, upon an announcement of a word of the Lord; according to the rite formerly in use it was completed by the repetition of the Gradual. The Alleluia Verse is taken from the Gospel. Its words occur in the Benedictus.

Gradual

Priusquam te formarem in utero, novi te: et antequam exires de ventre, sanctificavi te.
Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee.

℣. Misit Dominus manum suam, et tetigit os meum, et dixit mihi.
℣. The Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and said to me.

Alleluia, alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Tu, puer, Propheta Altissimi vocaberis: præh;ibis ante Dominum parare vias ejus. Alleluia.
℣. Thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest; thou shalt go before the Lord to prepare his ways. Alleluia.

Gospel
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. I.

Elizabeth’s full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had shewed his great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father’s name Zachary. And his mother answering, said: Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their neighbours; and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill country of Judea. And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: What an one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. And Zachary his father was filled with the Holy Ghost; and he prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.

Quote:

After the places hallowed by the sojourn, here below, of the Word made Flesh, there is no spot of greater interest for the Christian soul than that wherein were accomplished the events just mentioned in our Gospel. The town illustrated by the birth of the Precursor is situated about two leagues from Jerusalem, to the west; just as Bethlehem, our Savior’s birthplace, is at the same distance southwards from the Holy City. Going out by the gate of Jaffa, the pilgrim bound for St. John of the Mountain passes on his way the Greek monastery of Holy Cross, raised on the spot where the trees which formed our Lord’s cross were hewn down: then pursuing his course through the close-set woods of the mountains of Juda, he attains a summit whence he can descry the waters of the Mediterranean. The house of Obed-Edom, that for three months harbored the sacred Ark of the Covenant, stood here, whence a by-path leads by a short cut directly to the place where Mary, the true Ark, dwelt for three happy months in the house of her cousin Elizabeth. Two sanctuaries, distant about a thousand paces one from the other, are sacred to the memory of the two great facts just related to us by Saint Luke: in the one, John the Baptist was conceived and born; in the other, the circumcision of the Precursor took place eight days after his birth. The first of these sanctuaries stands on the site of Zachary’s town-house; its present form dates from a period anterior to the Crusades. It is a beautiful church with three naves and a cupola, measuring thirty-seven feet in length. The high Altar is dedicated to St. Zachary, and another altar, on the right, to Saint Elizabeth. On the left, seven marble steps lead to a subterraneous chapel hollowed out of the rock, which is identical with the furthermost apartment of the original house: this is the sanctuary of St. John’s Nativity. Four lamps glimmer in the darkness of this venerable crypt while six others, suspended beneath the altar slab itself, throw light on the following inscription engraved upon the marble pavement: hic præcursor domini natus est. Let us unite, on this day, with the devout sons of Saint Francis, guardians of those ineffable memories; more fortunate here than at Bethlehem with its sacred grotto, they have not to dispute with schism the homage which they pay in the name of the legitimate Bride to the Friend of the Bridegroom upon the very spot of his Nativity.

Local tradition sets at some distance from this first sanctuary, as we have said, the memorable place where the circumcision of the Precursor was performed. Besides a town house, Zachary was owner of another more isolated. Elizabeth had retired thither during the first months of her pregnancy, to taste in silence the gift of God. There did the meeting between herself and Our Lady on her arrival from Nazareth take place; there, the sublime exultation of the Infants and their Mothers; there the Magnificat proclaimed to heaven, that earth henceforth could rival, and even surpass, supernal songs of praise and canticles of love. It was fitting that Zachary’s song, the morning canticle, should be first intoned there, where that of evening had ascended like incense of sweetest fragrance. In the accounts given by ancient pilgrims, it is noticed that there were here two sanctuaries placed one above the other: in the lower one Mary and Elizabeth met; in the upper story of this same country house of Zachary, the greater portion of the facts just set before us by the Church were enacted.

Urban V, in 1368, ordered that the Credo should be chanted on the day of St. John Baptist’s Nativity and during the Octave, to prevent the Precursor’s appearing to be in any way inferior to the Apostles. The more ancient custom, however, of suppressing the Symbol on this feast has nevertheless prevailed: not that it is a mark of inferiority in regard of him who rises above all others that have ever announced the kingdom of God; but to show that he completed his course before the promulgation of the Gospel.

The Offertory is taken from the Introit Psalm; it is the verse which anciently formed the Introit of the Aurora Mass of this feast.

Offertory
Justus ut palma florebit: sicut cedrus, quæ in Libano est, multiplicabitur.
The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus.

The Secret brings out in strong light the twofold character of Prophet and apostle, which makes John so great; the sacrifice which is being celebrated in his honor is to add new luster to his glory, by placing anew, before our gaze, the Lamb of God, whom he announced and whom he will still point out to the world.

Secret
Tua, Domine, muneribus altaria cumulamus, illius Nativitatem honore debito celebrantes, qui Salvatorem mundi et cecinit adfuturum, et adesse monstravit, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum: qui tecum.
We cover thy altars with offerings, O Lord; celebrating with due honor his Nativity, who both proclaimed the coming of the Savior of the world, and pointed him out, when come, our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, &c.

The Bridegroom is in possession of the Bride, and it is John the Baptist who hath prepared the way; thus sings our Communion Antiphon. The moment of the Sacred Mysteries is that in which he repeats every day: He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom: but the friend of the Bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the Bridegroom’s voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled.

Communion
Tu, puer, Propheta Altissimi vocaberis: præibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias ejus.
Thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.

If the Friend of the Bridegroom is overflowing with gladness at this sublime moment of the Mysteries, how shall not the Bride herself be all joy and gratitude? Let her then extol, in the Postcommunion, him who has brought her to know her Redeemer and Lord!

Postcommunion
Sumat Ecclesia tua, Deus, beati Johannis Baptistæ generatione lætitiam: per quem su&aelig.; regenerationis cognovit auctorem, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum: qui tecum.
May thy Church, O God, put on gladness in the Nativity of blessed John Baptist: by whom she hath known the author of her regeneration, our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, &c.

Precursor of the Messias, we share in the joy which thy birth brought to the world. This birth of thine announced that of the Son of God. Now, each year, our Emmanuel assumes anew his life in the Church and in souls; and in our day, just as it was eighteen hundred years ago, he wills that this birth of his shall not take place without thy preparing the way, now as then, for that nativity whereby our Saviour is given to each one of us. Scarce has the sacred cycle completed the series of mysteries whereby the glorification of the Man-God is consummated and the Church is founded, than Christmas begins to appear on the horizon; already, so to speak, does John reveal by exulting demonstrations the approach of our Infant-God. Sweet Prophet of the Most High, not yet canst thou speak, when already thou dost outstrip all the princes of prophecy; but full soon the desert will seem to snatch thee for ever from the commerce of men. Then Advent comes and the Church will show us that she has found thee once more; she will constantly lead us to listen to thy sublime teachings, to hear thee bearing witness unto Him whom she is expecting. From this present moment, therefore, begin to prepare our souls; having descended anew on this our earth, coming as thou now dost, on this day of gladness, as the messenger of the near approach of our Saviour, canst thou possibly remain idle one instant, in face of the immense work which lies before thee to accomplish in us?

To chase sin away, subdue vice, correct the instincts falsified in this poor fallen nature of ours; all this would have been done within us, as indeed it should long ago, had we but responded faithfully to thy past labors. Yet, alas, it is only too true that in the greater number of us, scarce has the first turning of the soil been begun: stubborn clay, wherein stones and briers have defied thy careful toil these many years! We acknowledge it to be so, filled as we are with the confusion of guilty souls; yea, we confess our faults to thee and to Almighty God, as the Church teaches us to do, at the beginning of the great sacrifice; but at the same time, we beseech thee with her to pray to the Lord our God for us. Thou didst proclaim in the desert: From these very stones even, God is still able to raise up children of Abraham. Daily do the solemn formulæ of the Oblation wherein is prepared the ceaselessly renewed immolation of our Saviour tell of the honourable and important part which is thine in this august Sacrifice; thy name, again pronounced while the Divine Victim is present on the Altar, pleads for us sinners to the God of all mercy. Would that, in consideration of thy merits and of our misery, he would deign to be propitious to the persevering prayer of our mother the Church, change our hearts, and in place of evil attachments, attract them to virtue, so as to deserve for us the visit of Emmanuel! At this sacred moment of the Mysteries, when thrice is invoked, in the words of that formula taught us by thyself, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world, he, this very Lamb, will himself have pity upon us and give us peace: peace so precious, with heaven, with earth, with self, which is to prepare us for the Bridegroom by making us become sons of God, according to the testimony which, daily, by the mouth of the priest about to quit the altar, thou continuest to renew. Then, O Precursor, will thy joy and ours be complete; that sacred union, of which this day of thy Nativity already contains for us the gladsome hope, will become even here below and beneath the shadow of faith, a sublime reality, while still awaiting the clear vision of eternity.

Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

by Fr. Raphael Frassinetti, 1900

Gospel. Luke i. 57-68. Now Elizabeth’s full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had showed his great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father’s name, Zachary. And his mother answering, said: Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called: And demanding a writing-table, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their neighbors: and all these things were noised abroad over all the hillcountry of Judea. And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: What an one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. And Zachary his father was filled with the Holy Ghost; and he prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.

St. John The Baptist, the precursor of Our Lord, was a great saint. Such singular things happened at his birth that people said, “What think you is to become of this child?” The angel said he would be great before God, and Our Lord distinctly said that there was no one born of woman greater than he. In former times on the feast of St. John the Baptist, it is said the priest used to say three Masses just as at Christmas to distinguish this feast from others. Let us to-day review the life and death of this holy man.

The birth of St. John was singular; his father Zachary was old, and no longer expected a son, but the angel assured him that God wished to give him one who was to be great before God. This promise appeared impossible to Zachary, and for his want of faith Our Lord struck him with dumbness, which lasted until the day of the circumcision of St. John, when the child was to receive a name. Zachary took up a slate and wrote on it, “John is his name,” and then he broke forth into that noble canticle, “Blessed be the God of Israel.”

St. John, though he was a saint, and full of the Holy Ghost, resolved in his early age to go to the desert and spend his time there; he begged his parents to allow him to go away from the world. They consented and he went into a desert country beyond the Jordan. It must haye been a great sorrow to them to lose their son at such an early age, but they were assured that it was the will of God, and they were perfectly resigned. Not many people are so struck with the importance of a good life that they run into the desert to live, in order to be out of danger of the world.

St. John in the desert is a true picture of a penitential life; in fact his life was a long martyrdom, and he persevered in it until he was called forth to preach, and to prepare the way of the Lord. His food was locusts and wild honey, he slept on the bare earth, he did not, as St. Jerome says, even build for himself a hut to protect him from the severity of the weather. His occupation during these many years of solitude was uninterrupted prayer, and communion with God. Reflect a moment, my dear young people. St. John the Baptist, a saint you might say by birth, wished to do such severe penance, and we, who have committed terrible sins, are afraid of the least penance and mortification. If we do not wish to do penance, at least let us abstain from sin. From their very youth many commit great crimes, and instead of doing penance they multiply the number of their iniquities. How wicked are such young people, and how blind! For thirty years John was in the desert, and then he followed the call from God, to come forth and preach that penance which he had so long practiced. Along the banks of the Jordan he went, crying, ” Do penance, bring forth good fruit of penance,” for the kingdom of God is coming, and He who is to come is to point it out to you. The people were struck by these words, and willingly listened to him; many did what he asked, for they thought he was some great prophet, Eliseus or Elias, who had come to life again. His preaching was strong and decisive; he reproved people for their sins; even Herod was told it was wrong for him to live in open sin. Herod had him apprehended and thrown into prison for offending his majesty, and on a great feast his head was cut off, to satisfy the spiteful woman who had been the object of Herod’s impurity.

St. John had a number of disciples who followed him as a master or teacher. When he was apprehended, he consoled them, and directed them to join Our Lord. From his prison he sent a committee to Jesus with the question, “Art Thou He who art to come, or look we for another?” Herod kept St. John several months in prison; here let me tell you the story of his death. Herod gave a feast to the impious Herodias, and invited many neighboring princes and men in high authority. The daughter of Herodias came in and danced before the guests; they were all so pleased that Herod promised he would give her anything she asked, even half his kingdom. When the dance was over she went to her mother to ask what her request should be. Her mother said, “Go thou, and ask for the head of John the Baptist, and bring it to me at once. I want to get that man out of the way, and now is the time when I can do it; perhaps never again will such an opportunity present itself.” Though Herod saw now the wickedness and thoughtlessness of his oath and promise, still he gave orders that St. John should be beheaded and his head presented to the impious Herodias on a dish. The saint received the news of his death with joy; he needed very little time to prepare for the other world; he saw that the end of his usefulness had come, and he was satisfied to go to God. He was so holy that it was a consolation for him to die. When the guests saw the head, they were disgusted at this exhibition of cruelty on the part of Herod’s family who had invited them to the feast. What consternation must have come over those half-drunken men and women! In this way, too, in horror and fright we also may end our life of sin and our sinful festivals, and eternally bewail our wickedness. Be steadfast in good, and so firm in the practice of your duties that you would allow yourself to be beheaded rather than to yield. You may gain this fidelity by praying to St. John, as many graces and favors have been obtained through his intercession, especially on his feast-day.

HERE FOLLOWETH THE NATIVITY OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST

Chapter 86 of the Golden Legend by Jacobus Voragine (1275), translated by William Caxton, 1483. 

This “reader’s version” of the text provides section headings, paragraph breaks, and explanatory notes.

The nativity of St. John Baptist was ancient, and showed by the Archangel Gabriel in this manner. It is said in the History Scholastic that David the king, willing to increase and make more the service of God, instituted twenty-four bishops or high priests, of whom one was overest and greatest, and was named prince of the priests, and he ordained that each priest should serve a week. Abias was one, and had the eighth week, of whose kindred Zacharias was descended, father of St. John Baptist. This Zacharias had to wife one of the daughters of the kindred of Aaron, whose name was Elizabeth, daughter of Esmeria, which was sister of St. Anne, mother of our Lady. Then this Elizabeth and our Lady were cousins-german, daughters of two sisters.

THE ANNUNCIATION TO ZACHARIAS

These two, Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth, were just tofore our Lord, living in all the justifications, and holding all the commandments of the law without murmur ne complaint, praising and thanking our Lord God.They had no children, for the holy woman was barren. They had great desire to have a son that might be bishop of the law by succession of lineage after Zacharias, and hereof had they in their youth prayed much to our Lord, but when it pleased not unto our Lord, they took it a worth and thanked God of all. They served the more devoutly our Lord God, for they had no charge but only to serve and entend unto him. Many there be that withdraw them from the service and love of our Lord for the love of their children. They were both old, he and his wife Elizabeth.

It happed, at a solemnity that the Jews had after August, that the bishop did holy sacrifice in doing the office that appertained to him and to his week; he went for to incense, and entered into the temple, and the people abode without, making their prayers and awaiting the coming again to them of the holy bishop. Thus, as he was alone, and incensed the altar, the angel Gabriel appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar, and when the holy bishop saw him he was abashed and had great dread.

The angel said to him: Be nothing afeard, Zacharias, thy prayers be heard and thou hast found grace tofore our Lord. Elizabeth thy wife shall conceive and bear a son, whom thou shalt call John, of whom thou shalt have great gladness, and much people shall make great feast and joy of his nativity, for he shall be great, and of great merit tofore our Lord. He shall not drink wine ne cider, ne thing whereof he might be drunken, and in his mother’s womb he shall be sanctified and fulfilled with the Holy Ghost. He shall convert many of the sons of Israel, that is to say, of the Jews, to our Lord, and shall go tofore him in the spirit and virtue of Elias the prophet for to convert father and sons, old and miscreants, to the sense of righteousness and to the service of God.

When the angel had thus said to Zacharias, he answered: How may I believe and know that this is truth that thou sayest? I am now all old and ancient, and my wife old and barren.

The angel answered and said: I am Gabriel, the angel and servant tofore God, which in his name am sent to speak to thee and to show to thee these things aforesaid, and because thou hast not believed me thou shalt lose thy speech, and shalt not speak till the day that this which I have said shall be accomplished, each thing in his time.

The people were abiding and awaiting when Zacharias the bishop should come out, and marvelled where he tarried so long. He came out of the temple, but he might not speak, but the holy man made to them signs by which they thought well that he had seen some vision of our Lord, but more knew they not. He abode in the temple all that week, and after, went home to his house. His wife conceived and waxed great, and when she perceived it she was shamefaced and kept her in her house well five months.

THE ANNUNCIATION TO MARY

In the sixth month the same angel Gabriel was sent from our Lord unto the blessed Virgin Mary, newly espoused to Joseph, which shewed the conception of Jesu Christ, son of God our Lord, and the angel told to her that she should conceive of the Holy Ghost without knowledge of man. “For our Lord may do all that it pleaseth him, like as it appeareth,” said he, “of Elizabeth thy cousin, the which, she being old of age, and barren by nature of her body, hath conceived by the pleasure of our Lord, and hath now borne about six months.”

MARY VISITS ELIZABETH

When our Lady heard that St. Elizabeth her cousin was great, she went to visit and accompany her in the mountains where she dwelt, right far, hard, and evil way. When she came thither she saluted her much courteously. Our Lady was then great with the blessed Son of God, our Lord Jesu Christ, whom she had conceived when she said to the angel: Ecce ancilla domini [“Behold the handmaid of the Lord]; and then she was replenished with the deity and humanity of our Lord Jesu Christ. Then, when the salutation issued out of the body of our Lady, the greeting entered into the ears of the body of St. Elizabeth, and into her child that she had within her, which child was anoint of the blessed Holy Ghost, and, by the presence of our Lord, sanctified in the womb of his mother and replenished with grace, whereof he removed him for joy in his mother’s womb, in making to our Lord reverence such as he might make not of himself, but by the grace that he had received of the Holy Ghost.

Of which by the merits and grace done to the blessed child, St. Elizabeth was replenished, and anon prophesied in saying and crying with a high voice: “Thou art blessed among and above all women, and blessed be the fruit of thy womb. From whence cometh to me such grace, so great that the mother of my Lord cometh to visit me? I know well that thou hast conceived the Son of God, for as soon as thy salutation entered into mine ears, the child that is in my belly made joy and feast, and removed. Thou art well blessed and happy that thou hast given faith and believed the words of the angel which he said to thee, for all things shall be performed that he hath said to thee.”

Of all these things St. Elizabeth knew nothing when our Lady came, ne yet our Lady had nothing said to her, but the Holy Ghost, by the merits of her holy child that she bare, replenished her and made her to prophesy. Then answered our Lady and made the holy psalm saying: Magnificat anima mea dominum [“My soul doth magnify the Lord”], and all the the remnant. Our Lady abode with St. Elizabeth three months or thereabouts till she was delivered and laid abed, and it is said that she did the office and service to receive St. John Baptist when he was born.

THE BIRTH OF JOHN

When then he was born, and the neighbours and cousins and friends knew the grace that our Lord had done to these holy folk, noble of lineage, rich of goods and of great dignity, to whom in the end of their age he had given an heir male against double or treble nature, they made great joy and feast with them. When the eighth day came, and the child should be circumcised, they called him after his father’s name, Zacharias. The mother said that he should named John and not Zacharias. And they went unto the father and said that there was none in that kindred that so was called. And then the father demanded pen and ink, and wrote: Johannes est nomen ejus, “John is his name,” and all they marvelled. Anon after, by the merit of St. John, his father’s mouth was opened, and had again his speech, and spake, glorifying our Lord God.

And these tidings of this holy child thus born, were anon spread all about the country, and each man said in his heart, and without forth one to another: What suppose ye shall be of this child? He shall be great and a man of our Lord, for he is already now with him, and the hand, the work, and the virtue of our Lord is with him.

The father, holy Zacharias, replenished with the Holy Ghost, said and prophesied, and made then the holy psalm: Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel [“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel], which psalm is always sung in the end of matins.

JOHN GOES TO THE DESERT

It is said that holy Zacharias dwelled upon the mountains two miles nigh to Jerusalem, and there St. John Baptist was born, and after that St. John was circumcised, he was nourished as a child of a noble and rich man and son of great dignity, but when he had understanding and strength of body, God our Lord and the heart performed the work. He issued out of his father’s house, and left riches, honours, dignities, noblesse, and all the world, and went into desert on flom Jordan. Some say he went in the age of fifteen years accomplished, and others say he departed at twelve years of age for to serve our Lord without empeshment, by which he kept silence, and bydwonge his life and his soul from idle words.

This holy St. John, dwelling in desert, ware an hair made of the hair of camels. Some say that he ware the skin of a camel, in which he had made an hole to put his head in and girded it with a girdle of wool, or of leather, cut out of an hide or a beast’s skin. He ate locusts, not such as we have here that we call honeysuckles; some say that it is flesh of some beasts that abound in the desert of Judea where he baptized; with wild honey he ate it. That it was flesh, the legend of St. Austin doth us to understand, which saith that St. Austin ate flesh by the example of Elias the prophet, which ate the flesh that a crow brought to him, and so St. John ate locusts, some say that there be roots so called. There served he our Lord solitarily upon the flom Jordan till that he was about twenty-nine years old. The angel of our Lord came to him and said that he should show the coming of our Lord and preach penance, for to purge them that were baptized, in accustoming the baptism of our Lord Jesu Christ. This angel said to St. John Baptist that, Jesu Christ, Saviour of the world, should come to him for to be baptized, and it should be he on whom the Holy Ghost should descend in semblance of a dove.

HIS PREACHING

St. John drew him towards Bethany, upon the river or desert, not far from Jerusalem; there preached he, and taught and baptized them that would amend their life, and said to them that the Saviour and health of the world was nigh. Then came to him many, and he said to some religious men of evil life: Ye children of serpents, who hath given to you counsel to eschew the ire of our Lord? If ye will be baptized in sign of penance, do ye the works of penitence. Leave the evil, humble you, do the work of mercy. Ween ye, because ye be circumcised and be the children of Abraham, that ye shall be saved? Our Lord shall make of these stones if it please him the child of Abraham which with Abraham shall be saved.

St. John preached about a year tofore that our Lord came to him for to be baptized. When the Pharisees heard say that he baptized, they sent to know what he was, and they demanded if he were Christ the great prophet that was promised in their law, and he said: Nay.

They demanded him if he were Elias, and come from Paradise terrestrial, he said: Nay.

They demanded him if he was a prophet, he said: Nay.

They demanded him whereof he meddled then to baptize, since he was neither Christ, ne Elias, ne prophet. Say to us, said they, who that thou art, that we may answer to them that have sent us hither. He answered: I am he of whom Isaiah prophesied: I am the voice of the crier in desert: Address ye and make ready the ways to God, and make ye right the paths of our Lord. They said to him: Wherefore baptizest thou then? I baptize and wash the body with water in sign of penance, but among you is he that ye know not, which was tofore me, and came after me, of whom I am not worthy to loose the latchet of his shoe. He shall give you baptism in the virtue of the Holy Ghost, in water and fire of penance.

JOHN BAPTIZES JESUS

When St. John along the flom Jordan had preached and baptized about a year, our Lord came unto him and would be baptized of him. St. John, enlumined of the Holy Ghost, knew him, and did to him reverence as to his God, his Maker, and Lord. He was so espired that human nature which was pure in him might not sustain so great knowledge, and he said right humbly: Sir, thou comest to me, which art pure and clean, to be baptized and washed of me that am foul and wasted, which ought to be baptized of thee and washed, how dare I lay on thee my hands?

Our Lord said to him: Do this that I say now, for thus it is fitting, proper to fulfil all justice and to humble and give ensample of baptism to all people. And then in humility and patience he baptized our Lord, and washed him where he had never filth, and all by holy mystery; on whom the Holy Ghost descended visibly in likeness of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard saying: Here is my well-beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

Then our Lord was thirty years old from his nativity and thirteen days beginning of the thirtyfirst year. On that same day our Lord changed water into wine in Cana of Galilee. And this sufficeth for the nativity of St. John Baptist, and the residue of his life and of his death shall be said at the feast of his decollation, by the grace of God, who bringeth us to his bliss. Amen.

The Nativity of St. John, the Baptist

by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1877

In the holy Gospel, the nativity of St. John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Christ, is described by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, not only for our instruction, but also that we may rejoice in the Lord our God. In the mountains of Judaea, at Hebron, eight miles from Jerusalem, lived Zachary and Elizabeth. They were just people, and lived in accordance with the commandments of God, but had no children, although they had prayed for them many years. The great age which they had attained, naturally gave them no longer any hope of issue. But still they continued their prayer. One day, when Zachary, who was a priest, offered incense in the Temple at Jerusalem, he saw at the right side of the altar, an angel, whose appearance filled the pious old man with fear and trembling. The angel, however, said to him: ” Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard. Elizabeth, thy wife, shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. He shall bring thee joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. He shall be great before the Lord and shall drink no strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb. He shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God: and he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias: that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.”

Zachary listened with great astonishment: the angel’s promise seemed to him to be out of the course of nature. Hence, he said: “Whereby shall I know this? For, I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” The angel answered: “I am Gabriel, who stand before God, and I am sent to speak to thee and bring thee these good tidings. And behold, thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.” After this the angel disappeared, and Zachary, mute from that hour, returned home after he had discharged his priestly functions.

The words of the Archangel Gabriel came to pass. Elizabeth conceived and gave praise and thanks to God that He had removed from her the disgrace of being barren. Six months later, the Most High sent the angel Gabriel to the blessed Virgin, at Nazareth, to announce to her that she should become the mother of the long expected Messiah. He at the same time informed her that her cousin Elizabeth, although she was old and barren, had conceived a son, as to God nothing was impossible. After Mary had resigned herself with deep humility to the will of the Almighty, and become the mother of the Son of God, she went into the mountains of Judaea, to the house of Elizabeth and Zachary. She did not go to see if the angel’s words in regard to Elizabeth were true, but to congratulate her happy cousin, and render her such services as she would need. The Gospel assures us that when the Virgin Mother entered the dwelling of Zachary and greeted Elizabeth, John, the yet unborn child, leaped for joy in his mother’s womb, as soon as Mary’s words of salutation reached Elizabeth’s ear, and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Ghost. This leaping of the unborn Saint, was, according to the holy fathers, a sign that John, by special favor of the Almighty, knew the Saviour, yet concealed from the eyes of the world, and rejoicing in His presence, adored Him. Hence they teach that John was at that moment cleansed from original sin and filled with the Holy Ghost, and thus fulfilled the words of the angel and was sanctified in the womb of his mother.

At length came the time when he was to see the light of day, and Elizabeth gave birth to him whom the angel had promised and prophesied. When the neighbors and relatives heard how gracious God had been to Elizabeth, they all went to see her and congratulate her. On the eighth day the child was circumcised according to the law. As children, on this occasion, received a name, the relatives wished to give him that of his father, but Elizabeth opposed it, saying: ” John is his name!” “But there is none among thy kindred that is called by this name,” said her friends. Elizabeth, however, remained inflexible. Turning to the still mute Zachary, they desired to know how he would have him called. Zachary asked for a writing-table and wrote; “John is his name.” And at the same time his speech returned, and filled with the Holy Ghost, he gave thanks to God in the beautiful hymn which is one of the daily prayers of the Church, and begins: ” Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.” All those present marvelled at these events, praised God, and spread among the people all that they had heard and seen, and concluded from it that the new-born child was destined to be great among them. Hence they said to each other: “What do you think shall this child be? for the hand of the Lord is with him.”

Thus writes St. Luke, in his gospel, of the nativity of St. John, and then adds that, “he grew and was strengthened in spirit;” and was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel, by his preaching and baptizing.

Several holy fathers write that Elizabeth fled with her child into the desert, to conceal herself from the cruelties of king Herod; and that John was nourished and kept either by an angel or in some other manner by divine Providence. Others write that, in his third or at most in his fifth year, he had voluntarily gone into the desert, eager to serve God more perfectly and to prepare himself for his mission. No one ought to think this incredible; since, even before he was born, he was gifted with the use of his reason, and comprehended the great mission to which he was called by the Almighty. So much is certain that he was from his most tender years in the wilderness. The holy Evangelists and the holy fathers tell us what manner of life he led there. He subsisted on wild honey and locusts, which are used as food in the East; but he ate so little, that our Lord said of him, that he had neither taken food nor drink. His drink was water; his garments, a coat of camels’-hair, which was fastened round his loins by a leathern belt. The ground was his bed, and he employed day and night in prayer and meditation. By fasting and other austere penances, he prepared himself for his mission. St. Augustine remarks that the severe life of penance of John was the model after which the hermits regulated their lives; hence they acknowledge him as their founder.

When in his thirtieth year, St. John was admonished by God to leave the wilderness and commence his mission. Going to the river Jordan, he preached penance and baptized the penitents. This baptism was not that which Christ instituted in the course of time: neither had it the power which the baptism of Christ has; but was only a sign of penance. In the Gospel it is related how great a multitude of people came to St. John; what he preached; how he exhorted them to do penance: how he had the honor to baptize Christ Himself, and what occurred during this event. The splendid testimony is spoken of, which he gave at different times, to the effect that Christ was the true Messiah. It is also recorded what he answered to those who were sent to him to ask whether he was the promised Messiah; for, his life was so holy and wonderful, that many believed him to be the long promised Redeemer. The events of the latter part of the life of this Saint will be related in the chapter for the day on which the church commemorates his decapitation.

Among the writings of the holy Fathers we find many sermons which contain magnificent praises of the virtues of St. John, the Baptist. They call him an angel in the flesh; an apostle in his sermons; a miracle of penance; the first hermit who induced so many thousands to imitate him; the first preacher of repentance, and proclaimer of the heavenly kingdom. They praise his fearlessness in reproving vice, both in high and in low; his deep humility, by which he deemed himself not worthy to baptize Christ, or even to unloose the latchet of His shoes; his angelic purity; his continual penance and his unwearied zeal for the honor of God and the welfare of men. But what should inspire every one with the greatest reverence towards this Saint is the fact, that Christ our Lord Himself praised the greatness and holiness of St. John so frequently, and said that among men there had been none greater than John the Baptist. What more can be said in his praise?

Practical Considerations
At the time when the Divine Mother visited her holy cousin Elizabeth, the yet unborn John was cleansed from original sin and sanctified by the grace of the Almighty. What an inexpressibly great grace! You partook of the same after your birth, when you received holy baptism. You were at that time cleansed from the stain of original sin, and from a child of wrath became a child of God, a temple and a dwelling of the Holy Ghost, and obtained the right to eternal happiness. ” Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called and should be the sons of God;” writes the holy Apostle John (John iii.) Consider this unspeakably great favor which God in His mercy has shown to you, in preference to so many thousands. But have you ever made manifest to God your gratitude for this great mercy? Commence this day to offer your thanks to Him, and repeat them yearly on the day of your birth or of your baptism. Take heed that you turn not again to a child of wrath from a child of God, and that from “a dwelling of the Holy Ghost you become not a habitation for the devil; and thus, by sin, forfeit the claim you had on heaven. “By baptism, you have become a temple and a dwelling of the Holy Ghost,” says St. Leo; “do not drive away so noble an inhabitant and become again a slave of the devil.”

St. John kept the grace and innocence which he received in the womb of his mother unimpaired, and yet led a most austere life from his tenderest years until his end. How does it happen that you have such an aversion to all penances, as you certainly must know that you have long since lost the grace and innocence received in holy baptism? Why will you not mortifiy your body either by fasts or other acts of self-denial? Why do you persist in allowing yourself all that your body desires; and why do you avoid every thing that is in the least burdensome or hard for you? “John punished and mortified his innocent body so severely;” says St. Bernard, “and you desire to adorn your sinful body with silk and velvet, and nourish it with delicate food.” How is this? How do you suppose you will be able to render an account of your doings to God? Truly, if we could save our souls as easily without all self-denial, by enjoying the pleasures of the world, and living in comfort and luxury, we might say that John did not act wisely in leading so severe a life. But who dares even think this of one who before he was born was already filled with the Holy Ghost? We act very unwisely if we flatter ourselves that, living so different a life, shall obtain a place in heaven near him. “Hence,” says the above-cited holy teacher, “let us encourage ourselves to do penance,” in consideration of the austere penances, of St. John. “Let us stimulate ourselves to mortify our bodies, that we may escape the awful judgment of the living God.”

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Sermon of St. Augustine
After that really holy birthday of the Lord, we do not read of the birthday of any man being celebrated, except that of blessed John the Baptist. In the case of other Saints and elect of God, we know that that day is honored on which, when their works were accomplished and the world conquered and completely subdued, they were born from this present life into the everlasting life of eternity. In others we honor the completed merits of their last day; in this present case, the first day, and the very beginning of this man is holy; doubtless for this reason, that the Lord wished his coming to be attested, lest if he came suddenly and unexpectedly, men might not recognize him. But John was a figure of the old Testament, and typified the law in himself; and therefore John foretold the Savior, just as the law preceded grace.

When not yet born, he prophesied from the hiding-place of his mother’s womb, and already bore witness to the truth though destitute of light himself. This event must be understood in the sense that, hidden under the veil and flesh of the letter, by the spirit he preached the Redeemer to the world, and proclaimed our Lord to us as from the womb of the Law. Therefore because the Jews went astray from the womb, that is, from the Law which was pregnant with Christ, they went astray from the womb, speaking lies; and so John came for a witness, to give testimony of the light.

John, lying in prison, directs his disciples to Christ. This event represents the Law sending to the Gospel. The same Law is typified by John, enclosed as it were in the prison of ignorance, lying in the dark in a hidden place, and held captive in the letter by Jewish blindness. Of him the blessed Evangelist proclaims: He was a burning and a shining light, that is, he was enkindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit, that to a world held in the night of ignorance he might show forth the light of salvation, and amid the thickest darkness of sin might by his ray point out the most resplendent sun of justice, saying of himself: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

Elizabeth’s time was fulfilled that she should be delivered, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her, and they rejoiced with her. And so forth.

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Homily of St. Ambrose
Elizabeth brought forth a son, and her neighbors rejoiced with her. The birth of Saints brings joy to very many, since it is a benefit to all; for justice is a virtue for all. And so, in the birth of a just man, a token of his future life is foreshown, and the grace of the virtue to come is expressed by the prophetic joy of the neighbors. It is fitting that there should be mention of the time when the Prophet was in the womb, lest the presence of Mary should not be remembered; but nothing is told of the time of his childhood, for he did not know the disabilities of childhood. And so we read nothing of him in the Gospel, except his birth, and his announcement, the leaping in the womb, the voice in the wilderness.

For he did not experience the helplessness of childhood, he who supernaturally, outstripping his age, began from the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ, when still tying in his mother’s womb. It is strange how the holy Evangelist thought it necessary to tell us that many considered that the child should be called by his father’s name of Zachary; in order that you might notice that the mother would not have the name of any relative, but only that given by the Holy Ghost, which the Angel had previously announced to Zachary. And indeed, the latter, still dumb, could not tell his wife the name of their son; but Elizabeth learned by prophecy what she had not learned from her husband.

John, he says, is his name; that is, it is not for us to give a name to the one who has already received a name from God. He has his name, which we know, but we did not choose it. To receive a name from God is one of the rewards of the Saints. So Jacob was called Israel, because he saw God. So our Lord Jesus was named before he was born; not an Angel, however, but his Father gave him his name. You see that Angels announce what they have heard, not what they take upon themselves. Do not wonder, that the woman pronounced a name she had not heard; when the Holy Ghost, who had commanded the Angel, revealed it to her.