Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, the one whom the Lord had sent to be His own Herald, in proclaiming His coming into this world, and to prepare the path and everything for His entry and appearance in our midst. Only Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother also have feast days celebrating their birthdays. So why does the Church give such special reverence to the birth of St. John the Baptist?
Today’s feast anticipates the feast of Christmas. We celebrate the birth of John the Baptist on June 24th, six months before we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th. A family relation of Jesus, St. John the Baptist is called “the Forerunner” because he was sent by God to “prepare the way of the Lord” ahead of Jesus’ public ministry. The birth of St. John the Baptist to his elderly and previously barren parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, is recorded in St. Luke’s Gospel. His birth was announced to his father Zechariah by the Archangel Gabriel, who also brought the news of Christ’s birth to the Blessed Virgin Mary. John the Baptist’s nativity is one of only three birthdays celebrated by the Church, along with the nativities of Jesus and Mary. Though not an official dogma, according to ancient tradition St. John the Baptist was freed from original sin at the moment his mother heard the greeting of the Blessed Virgin at the Visitation, causing John to leap in his mother’s womb through the action of the Holy Spirit. So, like Jesus and Mary, St. John would have been born without sin, and therefore his birthday is also worthy of special honor. Because Christ praised John the Baptist so highly by saying “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist,” he was one of the most highly venerated saints in the ancient and medieval Church. Before Christ’s public life began, a divine impulse sent Saint John into the desert; there, with locusts for his food and wearing haircloth, in silence and in prayer, he chastened his soul. In his youth he remained hidden, because He for whom he waited was also hidden. St. John the Baptist is the Patron Saint of Baptism; bird dealers; converts; convulsions; convulsive children; cutters; epilepsy; epileptics; farriers; hailstorms; Knights Hospitaller; Knights of Malta; lambs; Maltese Knights; lovers; monastic life; motorways; printers, spasms; tailors; builders. St. John also serves as the patron saint of a variety of places throughout the world. St. John the Baptist has two feasts: his nativity on June 24th and his passion on August 29th.
In the breviary St. Augustine explains the reason for today’s observance in the following words: “Apart from the most holy solemnity commemorating our Savior’s birth, the Church keeps the birthday of no other person except that of John the Baptist. [The feasts of the Immaculate Conception and of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin had not yet been introduced]. In the case of other Saints or of God’s chosen ones, the Church, as you know, solemnizes the day on which they were reborn to everlasting beatitude after ending the trials of this life and gloriously triumphing over the world. “For all these the final day of their lives, the day on which they completed their earthly service is honored. But for John the day of his birth, the day on which he began this mortal life is likewise sacred. The reason for this is, of course, that the Lord willed to announce to men His own coming through the Baptist, lest if He appeared suddenly, they would fail to recognize Him. John represented the Old Covenant and the Law. Therefore he preceded the Redeemer, even as the Law preceded and heralded the new dispensation of grace.”
Today we mark the moment when the Lord brought forth into this world the news and revelation of His salvation, of the long awaited salvation and Saviour that He has always promised and spoken about to His people. The Lord has reassured all of us that His love for us has always endured, and He will deliver unto us His providence and strength.
PRAYER: O God, who raised up Saint John the Baptist to make ready a nation fit for Christ the Lord, give your people, we pray, the grace of spiritual joys and direct the hearts of all the faithful into the way of salvation and peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever… Amen 🙏🏽
SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/solemnity-of-the-nativity-of-saint-john-the-baptist-2/