Flora Cantábrica

Birth of Saint John the Baptist

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Birth of Saint John the Baptist
This is the only saint whose feast day is celebrated on his birthday.
Saint John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus Christ (six months from today—December 24th—we will be celebrating the birth of our Redeemer, Jesus).
The first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke tells us about John’s birth as follows: Zechariah was a Jewish priest who was married to Saint Elizabeth, and they had no children because she was barren. When they were already old, one day while he was in the Temple, an angel appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar.
When he saw him, he was frightened, but the angel said to him: «Do not be afraid, Zechariah; for I tell you that you will see the Messiah, and that your wife will bear a son, who will precede him. You will name him John. He will not drink wine or anything else that can intoxicate, and even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will convert many to God.»
But Zechariah replied to the angel, «How can I be sure that this is true, since my wife is already old, and so am I?»
The angel said to him, «I am Gabriel, who sits on the throne of God, from whom I have been sent to bring you this news. But since you have not believed my words, you will remain mute and will not speak again until all this is fulfilled.»
Six months later, the same angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary, informing her that she would be the mother of the Son of God, and also giving her the news of her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
Filled with joy, she ran to her cousin and offered her help in those moments. Entering her house, she greeted her. At that moment, the child John leaped for joy in his mother’s womb, for he had just received the grace of the Holy Spirit at the touch of the Son of God who was in the Virgin’s womb.
Saint Elizabeth, too, felt filled with the Holy Spirit and, with a prophetic spirit, exclaimed: «Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. From whence comes this great joy to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? For at that instant when the voice of your greeting reached my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. Oh, blessed are you who believed! For all that was spoken to you from the Lord would surely be fulfilled.» And the Virgin remained in her cousin’s house for approximately three months; until Saint John was born.
We know nothing of Saint John’s childhood. Perhaps, while still a boy and orphaned by his parents, he fled to the desert filled with the Spirit of God because contact with nature brought him closer to God. He spent his entire youth dedicated solely to penance and prayer. He wore only a camel’s hide for clothing, and whatever Providence provided for him, he ate whatever wild fruits, roots, and especially locusts and wild honey. His only concern was the Kingdom of God.
When John was about thirty years old, he went to the banks of the Jordan, led by the Holy Spirit, to preach a baptism of repentance.
John did not know Jesus; but the Holy Spirit told him that he would see him in the Jordan, and gave him this sign so that he would recognize him: «He on whom you see me as a dove, that is he.»
Having arrived at the Jordan, he began preaching to the people, saying, «Bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not be confident, saying, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for truly I tell you that God is able to raise children to Abraham from these stones.» Behold, the axe is already laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.»
And the people asked him, «What shall we do?» And he answered, «Whoever has two tunics, let him share with him who has none; and whoever has food, let him do likewise.»…
«I indeed baptize you with water to move you to repentance; but he who is to come after me is mightier than I, and I am not worthy even to untie the strap of his sandals. He it is who will baptize you in the Holy Spirit…»
The Jews began to suspect whether he was the Christ who was to come and sent some priests to ask him, «Who are you?» He plainly confessed, «I am not the Christ.» They persisted, «Then how do you baptize?» John answered, saying, «I baptize with water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. He is the one who is to come after me…»
At this time, Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to seek John to be baptized. John resisted, saying, «I must be baptized by You, and You come to me!» To which Jesus replied, «Let me do this now; this is how it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.» Then John condescended to Him.
After Jesus had been baptized, as soon as He came up out of the water and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descended like a dove and remained upon Him. And at that moment
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