2023-06-24 07:01:00
June 24, 2023 / 12:01 a.m.
Every June 24, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.
In one of his famous sermons, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) referred to this celebration: “The Church celebrates the birth of John as something sacred and he is the only one of the saints whose birth is celebrated.” Thus, the Bishop of Hippo echoed an ancient conviction of the Church about John the Baptist: his birth represents a turning point in the history of salvation.
Then, Augustine explains why: “John becomes like the dividing line between the two Testaments, the old and the new. This is what the Lord himself testifies to, when he says: the law and the prophets came down to John ”.
Announced by the angel
In the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke it is said how Zacharias, a Jewish priest married to Elizabeth, had not been able to have children since his wife was barren and elderly. Then, the angel Gabriel appears to him, to the right of the altar, and tells him that his wife will have a son who will be the forerunner of the Messiah, and whom he should call “John.” However, Zacarías, seized with fear, doubted that this was possible, and remained silent “until everything was fulfilled”.
After the angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to announce that she would be the mother of the Saviour, she, the “full of grace”, went to see her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant, and stayed to help her until she died. your child is born That child, born of the woman they called barren, was John, “voice crying out in the desert”, the man who would pave the way for the Messiah. John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus Christ.
A Christocentric Celebration
Just as the birth of the Lord Jesus is celebrated every December 25 during the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year), the birth of Saint John is celebrated every June 24, the summer solstice (the longest day). In this way it is possible to say that after Jesus the “days are getting longer” (they are longer) and after John, “they are going less” (they are shorter), until “the sun of Justice”, the Lord, “be born again”.
Both dates were thus established by the Church from the 4th century, with the aim that, superimposed on two important festivals of the Greco-Roman calendar, they would acquire a new meaning. The “day of the sun” (December 25) and the “day of Diana”, fertility festival (June 24), would since then be Christian holidays, because they evoke the work of salvation, while maintaining a link with the cycle of natural life, the work of God.
The saint who is celebrated twice
The Catholic Church has considered in the Christian calendar another date to celebrate Saint John the Baptist, but, on this occasion, remembering his death: “The martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist” (August 29 of each year).
More information about San Juan Bautista here:
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