Next week Wednesday, June 24, the church celebrates the Nativity
of St. John the Baptist. June 24 is also
this saint’s feast day, which is unusual (normally a the day of a saint’s death
is chosen as the feast day because that day marks the saint’s entrance into
heaven). However, Catholic tradition
holds that St. John was cleansed of original sin in the womb of his mother at
the greeting of Mary.
The nativity of St. John the Baptist comes three months after
the Annunciation (March 25) and six months before Christmas (December 25). If you are wondering why June 24, rather than
25, this is due to the Roman way of counting, which proceeded backward from the
calends (first day) of the succeeding month. Christmas was "the eighth day before the
Kalends of January". Consequently, St.
John's nativity was put on the "eighth day before the Kalends of
July." However, since June has only thirty days, in our way of counting
the feast falls on June 24.
St. John the Baptist, the forerunner or ‘messenger’ of Christ,
forms a link between the Old and New Testaments, being regarded as the last in
the line of Old Testament prophets and the first of the saints of the New. He was the son of Zacharias, a priest of the
Temple of Jerusalem, and Elisabeth, a kinswoman of the Virgin Mary. St. John was a preacher and lived an ascetic
life in the desert. He baptized in the
Jordan waters all who came to him in a penitent spirit. At the baptism of Christ, the Holy Ghost
appears in the form of a dove was seen to descend from heaven. He was imprisoned by Herod Antipas and later
executed as a consequence of a rash promise made by the tetrarch to his
step-daughter Salome.[i]
In 1901, three additional stained glass windows were
installed at Corpus Christi Church, further gifts from Michael Jenkins. In the main vestibule, St. Michael & St.
Gabriel were added, whereas the side vestibule was adorned with a portrait of St.
John the Baptist.
The saint is portrayed as an adult walking in the wilderness. He is dressed in a camel’s hair coat, but the
artist added a white outer garment of cloth, much like a toga. Around his waist is a leather girdle. His hair is rather wild an unkempt.
In his left hand he
holds the reed cross with a long slender stem, his attribute and a symbol for a
preacher. His right hand is lifted upwards as he is pointing
to God in heaven. From the reed cross a
banner unfolds with the words “Ecce Agnus Dei” (John 1:35-36).
The
next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he
exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
Reeds are growing at his feet, a reference to Jesus’
statement of John in Luke 7:24-26
When
John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John:
“What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?
What then did you go out to see? Someone
dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury
are in royal palaces. 26What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell
you, and more than a prophet.
Two white birds (doves?) are hovering nearby, perhaps foretelling
the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove at Jesus’ baptism.[ii]
