The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
In Nativitate S. Ioannis Baptistae
On this day the Church celebrates the birth of Saint John the Baptist, the Forerunner of the Lord, whom Christ himself called the greatest born of women, and who was sanctified in his mother’s womb to prepare the way of the Redeemer.
The Church keeps the birthday into the world of very few saints, but the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist she celebrates with great solemnity, ranking it among the chief feasts of the year. For John is the Forerunner of our Lord, the voice that cried in the wilderness, and the last and greatest of the prophets, who pointed out the Lamb of God. His birth is kept on the twenty-fourth of June, six months before the Nativity of Christ, according to the witness of the Gospel that Elizabeth was in her sixth month when the angel came to Mary.
The angel’s promise
The birth of Saint John was foretold by the Archangel Gabriel to his father Zachary, a priest serving in the temple, who was told that his aged and barren wife Elizabeth should bear a son to be named John, and that this child should be great before the Lord, filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb, and should go before the Lord to prepare a people for him. Because Zachary doubted, he was struck dumb until the child should be born.
When Elizabeth was in her sixth month, the Blessed Virgin Mary, having conceived the Lord, came to visit her, and at the sound of Mary’s greeting the infant John leaped for joy in his mother’s womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. The Church has ever understood that in this moment John was sanctified and freed from original sin before his birth, so that he might be a fitting herald of the Saviour. This is the reason the Church celebrates his nativity itself, for he came holy into the world.
His birth and naming
When the child was born, the neighbours and kinsfolk rejoiced with Elizabeth, and on the eighth day, at his circumcision, they would have named him after his father. But Elizabeth said he should be called John, and Zachary, writing upon a tablet, confirmed the name the angel had given. At once his tongue was loosed, and filled with the Holy Ghost he sang the canticle Benedictus, blessing God who had visited and redeemed his people, and foretelling that the child should be called the prophet of the Most High, going before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.
The collect of the feast recalls that God made this day venerable by the nativity of Saint John, and prays that he would bestow upon his people the grace of spiritual joys and direct the souls of all the faithful into the way of eternal salvation. In honouring the birth of the Forerunner, the Church rejoices that the dawn was already breaking which heralds the Sun of Justice, Christ our Lord.
The Collect
O God, who hast made this day venerable by the nativity of blessed John: grant unto thy people the grace of spiritual joys, and direct the minds of all thy faithful into the way of eternal salvation.
Deus, qui præséntem diem honorábilem nobis in beáti Ioannis nativitáte fecísti: da pópulis tuis spiritúalium grátiam gaudiórum; et ómnium fidélium mentes dirige in viam salútis ætérnæ.
Patronage
Saint John the Baptist is venerated as the patron of countless churches, cities, and dioceses throughout the world, and is invoked as the Forerunner and herald of the Lord.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist is observed on the same day, 24 June, as a solemnity.
Common Questions
When is the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist?
It is celebrated on 24 June in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a First Class feast — six months before the Nativity of our Lord at Christmas. It is observed on the same day in the modern calendar.
Why does the Church celebrate the birth of Saint John?
The Church keeps the earthly birthday of only Saint John the Baptist and the Blessed Virgin Mary, besides the Nativity of our Lord, because both were sanctified before their birth. At the Visitation, John leaped for joy in his mother’s womb at the presence of Christ, and the Church understands that he was cleansed of original sin and so came holy into the world.
Why is the feast on 24 June, six months before Christmas?
The Gospel relates that Elizabeth was in her sixth month when the angel Gabriel announced the conception of Christ to the Virgin Mary. The Church accordingly places the Nativity of the Forerunner six months before the Nativity of the Lord.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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