Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.
Within The Octave of Saint John the Baptist.
27 June.
English: The "Voice in the Desert".
Français: La voix dans le désert.
Artist: James Tissot (1836-1902).
Date: Between 1886 and 1894.
Current location: Brooklyn Museum, New York City
Credit line: Purchased by public subscription.
Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2007, 00.159.44_PS1.jpg.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Saint John the Baptist.
Illustration: PINTEREST
The Church, honouring The Saints in proportion to the part they played in The Mystery of The Incarnation of The Word, gives to Saint John the Baptist a special place.
[Editor: The Rubrics which accompany The Papal Bull "Divino Afflatu", of Pope Saint Pius X, establish the following order among The Feast Days: "The Feasts of The Lord; of The Blessed Virgin Mary; of The Angels; of Saint John the Baptist; of Saint Joseph; of The Holy Apostles."]
Each day in The Mass, as well as The Confiteor, at The Suscipe and at The Nobis Quoque Peccatoribus, the name of Saint John the Baptist precedes that of The Apostles.
It is the same in The Litany of The Saints. His Feast Day immediately precedes that of The Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. By ending the Mission of The Prophets and commencing that of The Apostles, he is the link between The Old Testament and The New Testament.
Let us, also, give to Saint John the Baptist the place of honour which is due to him in our Veneration of The Saints. The Veneration must, indeed, be hierarchically ordered so that we may never forget that Jesus is the principal author of our Redemption, and that The Saints are, more or less, great as they are more or less united to Him as secondary instruments.
The Feast of The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist falls in the Season when The Cycle shows us that The Church, which, as this Saint foretold, was born in The Baptism of The Holy Ghost and of fire at Pentecost, and goes on continually developing herself. It is, indeed, to The Holy Precursor that she owes it to have known Jesus, The Spouse that makes her the fruitful mother of many Souls.
As with the Jews, a friend was the intermediary between the bride and the spouse and prepared the wedding-feast. Saint John the Baptist is called, in the Gospel, "the friend of The Spouse". It is he whom God has chosen to prepare for The Lord, by his Preaching and Baptism of Penance, a perfect people.
And, after having adorned the bride, he presents The Spouse to her. "John was the man sent as a witness, so that, through him, all should believe in Jesus."
Jesus comes to him in the waters of The Jordan and, at this Divine Contact, the water acquired the Virtue which, in Baptism, causes our Souls to be born to supernatural life. As Saint John the Baptist Baptises Christ in The Jordan, he hears the voice of The Father proclaiming that Jesus is His well-beloved Son. He sees The Holy Ghost hovering over Him in the form of a Dove and he reveals that Jesus is "The Lamb of God".
Let us remember that, after having Baptised The Master, the one who is called John the Baptiser has also presided over our own Christening, for all The Baptistries (particularly that of Saint John Lateran, in Rome) are Dedicated to him, and his image is to be used for the adornment of Baptismal Fonts.
Having thus been brought by him to Jesus, let us also, through Saint John the Baptist, approach The Eucharist, reciting the words of the Agnus Dei, by which he indicated The Saviour.
Mass: As on The Feast Day.
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