Saint of the Week: John the Baptist
6/25/2026
John the Baptist
On June 24, we celebrate The Nativity of John the Baptist, the prophet and forerunner of Jesus. John the Baptizer is the only saint whose birth and martyrdom are both marked in the church calendar. When I was first considering becoming a priest, I went on a discernment retreat at Richmond Hill. Before becoming an ecumenical community and retreat center, Richmond Hill was a convent of the Catholic Sisters of the Visitation of Mary. All the rooms bear the names of saints and an appropriate Latin motto beneath them. My room was marked St. John the Baptist. "Contemptus mundi" read the motto, "contempt of the world." John preached the coming of the Messiah, rejecting the world's greed, cruelty, violence, injustice, sin, and death. I thought, "I'm in the right place." [KL]
From Lesser Feasts and Fasts:
John the Baptist, the prophet, and forerunner of Jesus, was the son of elderly parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah, and according to the Gospel of Luke, he was related to Jesus on his mother’s side. His birth is celebrated six months before Christmas Day, since, according to Luke, Elizabeth became pregnant six months before the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary.
John figures prominently in all four Gospels, but the account of his birth is given only in the Gospel according to Luke. His father, Zechariah, a priest of the Temple at Jerusalem, was struck speechless because he doubted a vision foretelling John’s birth. When his speech was restored, Zechariah uttered a canticle of praise, the Benedictus, which is one of the canticles used in the Daily Office, traditionally at Morning Prayer.
John lived ascetically in the desert. He was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt, and ate locusts and wild honey. He preached repentance, and called upon people to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom and of the Messiah, baptizing his followers to signify their repentance and new life. Jesus himself was baptized by John in the Jordan River.
John is remembered during Advent as a prophet, and at Epiphany as the baptizer of Jesus. The Gospel according to John quotes the Baptist as saying to his followers that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and prophesying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
The church usually celebrates a saint on the day of their martyrdom (or death). Because John's birth heralds Jesus's own arrival, his birth has also been celebrated. John the Baptizer is the only saint whose birth and martyrdom are both marked in the church calendar. (Mary, the mother of Jesus, shares in this distinction, but she was not martyred. The Episcopal Church celebrates several events in Mary's life like the Visitation and Annunciation. Her Nativity is celebrated on September 8, and her feast day is marked on August 15, traditionally the date of her Assumption, which I leave to the individual believer.)
Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and, following his example, constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
