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Sunday, 24 June 2012
The Nativity of St. John the
Baptist
Solemnity
The birth of St. John was foretold
by an angel of the Lord to his father, Zachary, who was offering incense in the
Temple. It was the office of St. John to prepare the way for Christ, and before
he was born into the world he began to live for the Incarnate God. Even in the
womb he knew the presence of Jesus and of Mary, and he leaped with joy at the
glad coming of the son of man. In his youth he remained hidden, because he for
whom he waited was hidden also.
But before Christ's public life began,
a divine impulse led St. John into the desert; there, with locusts for his food
and haircloth on his skin, in silence and in prayer, he chastened his own soul.
Then, as crowds broke in upon his solitude, he warned them to flee from the
wrath to come, and gave them the baptism of penance, while they confessed their
sins. At last there stood in the crowd One whom St. John did not know, till a
voice within told him that it was his Lord. With the baptism of St. John,
Christ began his penance for the sins of his people, and St. John saw the Holy
Spirit descend in bodily form upon Him. Then the Saint's work was done. He had
but to point his own disciples to the Lamb, he had but to decrease as Christ
increased. He saw all men leave him and go after Christ. "I told
you," he said, "that I am not the Christ. The friend of the
Bridegroom rejoiceth because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore
is fulfilled."
St. John had been cast into the
fortress of Machærus by a worthless tyrant whose crimes be had rebuked, and he
was to remain there till he was beheaded, at the will of a girl who danced
before this wretched king. In this time of despair, if St. John could have
known despair, some of his old disciples visited him. St. John did not speak to
them of himself, but he sent them to Christ, that they might see the proofs of
his mission.
Then the Eternal Truth pronounced
the panegyric of the Saint who had lived and breathed for Him alone:
"Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not
risen a greater than John the Baptist"
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Barbieri Giovanni Francesco Saint
John The Baptist
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Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Barbieri_Giovanni_Francesco_Saint_John_The_Baptist
