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June 26, 2025 – Last June 24 was the Feast Day for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. It celebrates the birth of John, “a prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus, whom he later baptised.” But first John’s father Zechariah had to be struck dumb. That event came before John’s nativity, his being born; in fact even before his conception.
(As Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”)
John’s father was a member of the “priestly order of Abijah,” and he and his wife Elizabeth were righteous before God but also old and childless. Then God sent the angel Gabriel to tell Zechariah he was about to become a father. But Zechariah had his doubts: “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.“ And that was why he got struck dumb. As Gabriel said, “Since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born.” (Luke 1:20.) He got struck dumb because he doubted. (He should have accepted on faith what was, to him, counterintuitive.) So what happened?
The time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced… [T]hey were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John…”
Which provides a valuable life lesson: If you won’t listen to an angel sent by God, at least listen to your wife! As shown by Luke 1:64, saying that right after Zechariah wrote out John’s name, “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.” Then came his Benedictus (Song of Zechariah), “the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist.”
[John] was to be a prophet, and to preach the remission of sins before the coming or the Dawn from on high. The prophecy that he was to “go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways[,”] an allusion to the well-known words of Isaiah 40:3 which John himself afterwards applied to his own mission (John 1:23)…
Luke’s account ends with Luke 1:80, saying the child John “grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.”
Wikipedia added that this Feast comes three months after the March 25 Annunciation, when “Gabriel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy.” (He was one busy angel.) On the flip side, it comes six months before Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. Also, the “purpose of these festivals is not to celebrate the exact dates of these events, but simply to commemorate them in an interlinking way.” Finally, Wikipedia added that this Nativity is “one of the oldest festivals of the Christian church, being listed by the Council of Agde in 506 as one of that region’s principal festivals, where it was a day of rest and, like Christmas, was celebrated with three Masses: a vigil, at dawn, and at midday.”
This John went on in later years to become famous for eating Locusts and Wild Honey – “symbolizing his detachment from worldly comforts and reliance on God’s provision” – and for wearing a garment of camel hair. But in the end he was famous for his head being chopped off at the behest of Salome, of whom more below. Which I suppose is part of a “prophetic mission and ascetic lifestyle.” Or as one Christian mystic said, “It is to vigor, not comfort that you are called.”
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And now some loose ends for this 2025 version. First off, this morning’s Daily Office included Psalm 119:126, “It is time for you to act, O LORD, for they have broken your law.” And boy did that sound timely! Also, years ago I got a CD of Gregorian chants by the Benedictine Monks Of The Abbey Of Saint-Maurice. Lately I’ve been listening to it a lot. On a similar note: A helpful hint for handling the often-hostile Public Discourse these days? “As a good Christian I try not to hate people just because they have a different opinion.” But I can prophesy a response by some, to which you can add, “Or demonize people, just to ease my conscience – for hating people just because they have a different opinion.” (In the meantime you might meditate on Salome…)
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The upper image is courtesy of the link – Benedictus (Song of Zechariah) – in the Wikipedia article, Nativity of St. John the Baptist. The caption: “Detail of Zechariah writing down the name of his son (Domenico Ghirlandaio, 15th century, Tornabuoni Chapel, Italy).”
The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.
Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.
For this post I borrowed from Nativity of John the Baptist – 2015, On “John T. Baptist,” Peter and Paul – 2021, On John “T. Baptist” – 2023 (et alia), and John the Baptist, ’24 – and “Christian First Graders.”
On camel’s hair, see What is a Hair Shirt? – Historical Index: A “coarse garment intended to be worn next to the skin, keeping the wearer in a state of discomfort and constant awareness:”
Originally, these garments were known as cilices, in a reference to the Latin word cilicium, meaning “covering made from goat’s hair.” Early shirts were made from sackcloth or coarse animal hair so that they irritated the skin, and later versions integrated additional uncomfortable features such as thin wires or twigs. Several characters in the Bible wore hair shirts as demonstrations of religious faith, and the practice was picked up by devout members of society and the Church. The term “cilice” is now used more generally for any object worn to increase discomfort.
Re: “To vigor, not comfort.” Here’s the full quote on the life of a new Christian:
Hearing now and again the mysterious piping of the Shepherd, you realize your own perpetual forward movement… Do not suppose from this that your new career is to be perpetually supported by agreeable spiritual contacts, or occupy itself in the mild contemplation of the great world through which you move. True, it is said of the Shepherd that he carries the lambs in his bosom; but the sheep are expected to walk, and to put up with the bunts and blunders of the flock. It is to vigour rather than comfort that you are called.
From Evelyn Underhill’s Practical Mysticism, Ariel Press, 1914, at page 177.
The Psalm 119:126 translation is from the Book of Common Prayer Psaltery.
Re: Gregorian chant. For a sample, ️Gregorian Chant. Christian Meditation Music. Relaxation.
The lower image is courtesy of Salome – Wikipedia. The caption: “‘Salomé,’ by Henri Regnault (1870).” The article added that this Salome (III) was…
…a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, who was the son of Herod the Great, with princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great, and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New Testament, where she is not named, and from an account by Flavius Josephus. In the New Testament, the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas demands and receives the head of John the Baptist.
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