Monday, November 5, 2012 - Litany Lane Blog:
Humble, Philippians 2:1-4, Psalms 131:1, 2, 3 Luke 14:12-14, St Elizabeth, Nativity of St John The Baptist
Good Day Bloggers! Humble, Philippians 2:1-4, Psalms 131:1, 2, 3 Luke 14:12-14, St Elizabeth, Nativity of St John The Baptist
Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift knowledge and free will as well,
make the most of it. Life on earth is a stepping to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
November 02, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children, as a mother I implore you to persevere as my apostles. I am praying to my Son to give you Divine wisdom and strength. I am praying that you may discern everything around you according to God’s truth and to strongly resist everything that wants to distance you from my Son. I am praying that you may witness the love of the Heavenly Father according to my Son. My children, great grace has been given to you to be witnesses of God’s love. Do not take the given responsibility lightly. Do not sadden my motherly heart. As a mother I desire to rely on my children, on my apostles. Through fasting and prayer you are opening the way for me to pray to my Son for Him to be beside you and for His name to be holy through you. Pray for the shepherds because none of this would be possible without them. Thank you."
October 25, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children! Today I call you to pray for my intentions. Renew fasting and prayer because Satan is cunning and attracts many hearts to sin and perdition. I call you, little children, to holiness and to live in grace. Adore my Son so that He may fill you with His peace and love for which you yearn. Thank you for having responded to my call." ~ Blessed Virgin Mary
October 02, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children; I am calling you and am coming among you because I need you. I need apostles with a pure heart. I am praying, and you should also pray, that the Holy Spirit may enable and lead you, that He may illuminate you and fill you with love and humility. Pray that He may fill you with grace and mercy. Only then will you understand me, my children. Only then will you understand my pain because of those who have not come to know the love of God. Then you will be able to help me. You will be my light-bearers of God’s love. You will illuminate the way for those who have been given eyes but do not want to see. I desire for all of my children to see my Son. I desire for all of my children to experience His Kingdom. Again I call you and implore you to pray for those whom my Son has called. Thank you." ~ Blessed Virgin Mary
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Word: humble hum·ble [huhm-buh]
Origin: 1200–50; Middle English ( h ) umble < Old French < Latin humilis lowly, insignificant, on the ground. See humus, -ile
adjective
1. not proud or arrogant; modest: to be humble although successful.
2. having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.: In the presence of so many world-famous writers I felt very humble.
3. low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.; lowly: of humble origin; a humble home.
4. courteously respectful: In my humble opinion you are wrong.
5. low in height, level, etc.; small in size: a humble member of the galaxy.
verb (used with object)
6. to lower in condition, importance, or dignity; abase.
7. to destroy the independence, power, or will of.
8. to make meek: to humble one's heart.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 131:1, 2, 3
1 [Song of Ascents] Yahweh, my heart is not haughty, I do not set my sights too high. I have taken no part in great affairs, in wonders beyond my scope.2 No, I hold myself in quiet and silence, like a little child in its mother's arms, like a little child, so I keep myself.
3 Let Israel hope in Yahweh henceforth and for ever
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Epistle - Philippians 2:1-4
1 So if in Christ there is anything that will move you, any incentive in love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any warmth or sympathy -- I appeal to you,2 make my joy complete by being of a single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind.
3 Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others,
4 everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Gospel Reading - Luke 14:12-14
Jesus said to his host, 'When you give a lunch or a
dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relations or
rich neighbours, in case they invite you back and so repay you. No;
when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the
blind; then you will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you and
so you will be repaid when the upright rise again.'
Reflection
• The Gospel today continues to present the teaching
which Jesus was giving about different themes, all related to the cure
in the environment of a banquet: a cure during a meal (Lk 14, 1-6); an
advice not to take the first places (Lk 14, 7-12); advice to invite the
excluded (Lk 14, 12-14). This organization of the words of Jesus around a
determinate word, for example, table or banquet, helps one to perceive the method used by the first Christians to keep the words of Jesus in their memory.
• Luke 14, 12: Interested invitation. Jesus is eating in the house of a Pharisee who has invited him (Lk 14, 1). The invitation to share at table is the theme of the teaching of today’s Gospel. There are different types of invitations: the interested invitations for the benefit of oneself and disinterested invitations for the benefit of others. Jesus says: "When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relations or rich neighbours, in case they invite you back and so repay you”. That was the normal custom of the people: to invite friends, brothers and relatives to eat. And nobody would sit at table with unknown persons. They would sit around the table only with persons who were their friends. That was the custom of the Jews. And even now we also act in the same way. Jesus thinks differently and orders to invite unknown people; these were invitations which nobody used to make.
• Luke 14, 13-14: Disinterested invitation. Jesus says. “On the contrary, when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; then you will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you. So you will be repaid when the upright rise again.” Jesus orders to break the closed circle and asks to invite the excluded: the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. This was not the custom and it is not either today. But Jesus insists: “Invite these persons”. Why? Because in the disinterested invitation, addressed to excluded and marginalized persons, there is a source of happiness: “And then you will be blessed for they have no means to repay you”. This is a strange type of happiness, a diverse happiness! You will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you. It is the happiness that comes from the fact that you have done a gesture totally gratuitous, without asking for anything. Jesus says that this is the happiness which God will give us in the resurrection; the Resurrection which he will give us not only at the end of history, but even now. To act in this way is already a resurrection!
• It is the Kingdom which will be confirmed. The advice which Jesus gives us in the Gospel today recalls the sending out of the seventy-two on the mission of announcing the Kingdom (Lk 10, 1-9). Among the different recommendations given on that occasion, as signs of the presence of the Kingdom, there is: (a) the invitation to the table and (b) the acceptance of the excluded: “Whenever you go into a town, where they make you welcome, eat what is put before you, cure those who are sick and say: the Kingdom of God is very near to you!” (Lk 10, 8-9) Here, in these recommendations, Jesus orders to transgress that norm of legal purity which prevented fraternal living together.
Personal questions
• An interested or disinterested invitation: which of these takes place in my life?
• If you invited in a disinterested way, would this cause some difficulties? Which ones?
• If you invited in a disinterested way, would this cause some difficulties? Which ones?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Saint of the Day: Saint Elizabeth
Feast Day: November 5
Patron Saint: pregnant women
 |
| St Elizabeth, Mother of John The Baptist (Visitation) |
Zachary's wife and John the Baptist's mother; was "of the daughters of Aaron" (Luke 1:5), and, at the same time, Mary's kinswoman (Luke 1:36), although what their actual relationship was, is unknown. St. Hippolytus (in Niceph. Call., Hist. Eccles., II, iii) explains that Sobe and Anna, their mothers, were sisters, and that Sobe had married a "son of Levi". Whether this indication, probably gathered from some apocryphal writings, and later on adopted by the compilers of the Greek Menologium, is correct, cannot be ascertained. Elizabeth, like Zachary, was "just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame" (Luke 1:6). She had been deprived, however, of the blessings of motherhood until, at an advanced age, a son was promised her by the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:8-20). When, five months later, Elizabeth was visited in her home by the Virgin Mary, not only was her son sanctified in her womb, but she herself was enlightened from on high to salute her cousin as "the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43). According to some modern critics, we should even attribute to her the canticle "Magnificat". After the birth and circumcision of John the Baptist, the Gospels do not mention Elizabeth any more. Her feast is celebrated on 8 September by the Greeks, and 5 November in the Latin Church.
Biblical Narrative
According to the Gospel of Luke, Elisabeth was a daughter of Aaron the high priest (Luke 1:5-7). She and her husband Zechariah were "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (1:6), but childless. While ministering in the temple of the Lord, Zechariah was visited by the angel Gabriel (Luke 8-12):Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zechariah: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
Zechariah doubted "whereby" he could know this since both he and his wife were very old. The angel identified himself as Gabriel and said he would be "dumb, and not able to speak" until the words were fulfilled, because he did not believe. When the days of his ministry were complete, he returned to his house (Luke 1:16-23).
Luke 1:24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
According to the account, the angel Gabriel was then sent to Nazareth in Galilee to her "cousin" Mary, then a virgin, espoused to a man called Joseph, and informed her that she would conceive by the Holy Ghost and bring forth a son to be called Jesus. After she was also informed that her "cousin Elisabeth" had begun her sixth month of pregnancy, she travelled to "the hill country of Judah",to visit (Luke 1:26-40). The "Treasury of Scripture Knowledge" places this as Hebron.
Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
15th century depiction of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, with Elizabeth on the left.
After Mary heard Elisabeth's blessing, she spoke the words now known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Again, Henry notes that "it was here, in Hebron, that circumcision was first instituted", and it was here that the LORD turned Abram's name to Abraham when he gave him the covenant of circumcision.
Luke 1:56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
57 Now Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zechariah, after the name of his father.
60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
That was the last mention of Elizabeth, who is not mentioned in any other chapter in the Bible. The chapter continues with the prophecy of Zechariah, (known as the Benedictus,) and ends with the note that John "grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts" until his ministry to Israel began; so it is unknown how long Elisabeth and her husband lived after that (Luke 1:65-80).
The Visitation (Christianity)
The Visitation is the visit of Mary with Elizabeth as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, 1:39–56. It is also the name of a Christian feast day commemorating this visit, celebrated on 31 May in the West (2 July in calendars of the 1263–1969 period and in the modern regional calendar of Germany) and 30 March in the East.
Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth; they are both pregnant. Mary is pregnant with Jesus and Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist.
Mary left Nazareth immediately after the Annunciation and went to Hebron, south of Jerusalem, to attend her cousin Elizabeth. Catholics believe that the purpose of this visit was to bring divine grace to both Elizabeth and her unborn child. Even though he was still in his mother's womb, John became aware of the presence of his Divine Saviour; he leapt for joy as he was cleansed from original sin and filled with divine grace. Elizabeth also responded and recognised the presence of Jesus.
Thus Mary, now for the first time, exercised her function as mediatrix between God and man. Elizabeth remarks to Mary: "And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed [art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb. And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed [is] she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord (Luke 1:42–45)."
It is also at this point, in response to Elizabeth's remark, that Mary proclaims the Magnificat (My soul doth magnify the Lord), Luke 1:46–55, for which reason this canticle had traditionally been reserved for this feast day.
In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the Visitation is the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.
This feast is of medieval origin. It was kept by the Franciscan Order before 1263 when Saint Bonaventure recommended it and the Franciscan chapter adopted it. The Franciscan Breviary spread it to many churches. In 1389 Pope Urban VI, hoping thereby to obtain an end to the Great Western Schism, inserted it in the Roman Calendar, for celebration on 2 July. In the Tridentine Calendar, it was a Double. When that Missal of Pope Pius V was replaced by that of Pope Clement VIII in 1604, the Visitation became a Double of the Second Class. It remained so until Pope John XXIII reclassified it as a Second-Class Feast in 1962. It continued to be assigned to 2 July, the day after the end of the octave following the feast of the birth of John the Baptist, who was still in his mother's womb at the time of the Visitation. In 1969, however, Pope Paul VI moved it to 31 May, "between the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (25 March) and that of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (24 June), so that it would harmonize better with the Gospel story."
Roman Catholics who use a pre-1969 calendar and Anglicans who use the 1662 Book of Common Prayer celebrate the feast on 2 July. So does the entire Catholic (and Lutheran) Church of Germany, using the post-1969 calendar of Pope Paul VI (but with the variations permitted in the German Regional Calendar).
The celebration of a feast day commemorating this event in the Eastern Orthodox Church is of relatively recent origin, dating only to the 19th century.
The impetus to establish a feast day in the Liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church, and the composition of a service to be included in the Menaion, were the work of Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin (†1894), head of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.
The Gorneye Convent in Jerusalem, which was built on the traditional site of the Meeting of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) and St. Elizabeth, celebrates this Feast on 30 March.
(Julian Calendar 30 March corresponds, until 2099, to Gregorian Calendar 12 April.) If 30 March falls between Lazarus Saturday and Pascha (Easter), the Visitation Feast is transferred to Bright Friday. Celebration of the Feast of the Visitation has not yet been accepted by all Orthodox jurisdictions.
Mary left Nazareth immediately after the Annunciation and went to Hebron, south of Jerusalem, to attend her cousin Elizabeth. Catholics believe that the purpose of this visit was to bring divine grace to both Elizabeth and her unborn child. Even though he was still in his mother's womb, John became aware of the presence of his Divine Saviour; he leapt for joy as he was cleansed from original sin and filled with divine grace. Elizabeth also responded and recognised the presence of Jesus.
Thus Mary, now for the first time, exercised her function as mediatrix between God and man. Elizabeth remarks to Mary: "And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed [art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb. And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed [is] she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord (Luke 1:42–45)."
It is also at this point, in response to Elizabeth's remark, that Mary proclaims the Magnificat (My soul doth magnify the Lord), Luke 1:46–55, for which reason this canticle had traditionally been reserved for this feast day.
In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the Visitation is the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.
Western Christianity
 |
| The Visitation |
Roman Catholics who use a pre-1969 calendar and Anglicans who use the 1662 Book of Common Prayer celebrate the feast on 2 July. So does the entire Catholic (and Lutheran) Church of Germany, using the post-1969 calendar of Pope Paul VI (but with the variations permitted in the German Regional Calendar).
Eastern Christianity
 |
| Visitation St. George Church , Macedonia |
The impetus to establish a feast day in the Liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church, and the composition of a service to be included in the Menaion, were the work of Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin (†1894), head of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.
The Gorneye Convent in Jerusalem, which was built on the traditional site of the Meeting of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) and St. Elizabeth, celebrates this Feast on 30 March.
(Julian Calendar 30 March corresponds, until 2099, to Gregorian Calendar 12 April.) If 30 March falls between Lazarus Saturday and Pascha (Easter), the Visitation Feast is transferred to Bright Friday. Celebration of the Feast of the Visitation has not yet been accepted by all Orthodox jurisdictions.
Sainthood
Elizabeth is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church on November 5, and in the Orthodox and Anglican traditions on September 5, on the same day with her husband Zacharias/Zechariah. She is commemorated as a matriarch in the Calendar of Saints (November 5) of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and Zechariah is commemorated as a prophet.References
- "Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 5 Nov. 2012 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15480a.htm>.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Snippet I: Nativity of St. John the Baptist
The Nativity of St. John the Baptist (or Birth of John the Baptist, or Nativity of the Forerunner)
is a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of John the Baptist, a
prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus.
He also baptized Jesus.
Christians have long interpreted the life of John the Baptist as a preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, and the circumstances of his birth, as recorded in the New Testament,
are miraculous. John's pivotal place in the gospel is seen in the
emphasis Luke gives to the announcement of his birth and the event
itself—both made prominently parallel to the same occurrences in the
life of Jesus.
The sole biblical account of birth of John the Baptist comes from the Gospel of Luke. John’s parents, Zechariah or Zachary — a Jewish priest — and Elizabeth, were without children and both were beyond the age of child-bearing. During Zechariah's rotation to serve in the Temple in Jerusalem, he was chosen by lot to offer incense at the Golden Altar in the Holy Place. The Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and announced that he and his wife would give birth to a child, and that they should name him John. However, because Zechariah did not believe the message of Gabriel, he was rendered speechless until the time of John's birth; at that time, his relatives wanted to name the child after his father, and Zechariah wrote, "His name is John" and could speak (Luke 1:5-25; 1:57-66). Following Zechariah's obedience to the command of God, he was given the gift of prophecy, and foretold the future ministry of John (Luke 1:67-79).
Liturgical Celebrations
At the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to inform her that she would conceive of the Holy Ghost Jesus, he also informed her that Elizabeth, her cousin, was already six months pregnant (Luke 1:36). Mary then journeyed to visit Elizabeth. Luke’s Gospel recounts that the baby “leapt” in Elizabeth’s womb at the greeting of Mary (Luke 1:44).
The Nativity of St John the Baptist on June 24 comes three months after the celebration on March 25 of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel told Our Lady that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy, and six months before the Christmas
celebration of the birth of Jesus. The purpose of these festivals is
not to celebrate the exact dates of these events, but simply to
commemorate them in an interlinking way. The Nativity of St. John the
Baptist anticipates the feast of Christmas.
The Nativity of St John the Baptist 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.
In Western Christianity
Ordinarily the day of a saint's death is usually celebrated as his or her feast day,
because that day marks his entrance into heaven. To this rule there are
two notable exceptions, the birthdays of Blessed Mary and of St. John
the Baptist. Mary, already in the first moment of her existence, was
free from original sin (for which reason even her very conception is
commemorated by a special feast), and John was cleansed of original sin
in the womb of his mother.
The Nativity of St John the Baptist, though not a widespread public holiday outside of Quebec, is a high-ranking liturgical feast, kept in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran Churches. Since in the Roman Rite it is celebrated since 1970 as a Solemnity,
in the 1962 form of that liturgical rite as a feast of the first class
and in still earlier forms as a Double of the First Class with common
Octave, it takes precedence over a Sunday on which it happens to fall.
The Reformed and free churches give this celebration less prominence.
Since the day was celebrated in Lutheran Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach composed three church cantatas for the occasion:
- Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe, BWV 167, 24 June 1723
- Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, 24 June 1724
- Freue dich, erlöste Schar, BWV 30, 24 June 1738 or a later year
In Eastern Christianity
In the Eastern Orthodox Church and other Eastern Christian Churches, St John the Baptist is usually called St John the Forerunner, a title used also in the West ("Πρόδρομος" in Greek, "Precursor"
in Latin). This title indicates that the purpose of his ministry was to
prepare the way for the coming of Jesus Christ. In the East also, the
Feast of his Nativity is celebrated on June 24. It is a major feast day and is celebrated with an All-Night Vigil. It has an Afterfeast of one day. The feast always falls during the Apostles' Fast.
In addition to the birth of John the Baptist, the Orthodox Church
also has the following commemorations of the life of John the Baptist:
- January 7 - The Synaxis of St John the Forerunner (main feast day, immediately after Theophany (Epiphany) on January 6)
- February 24 - First and Second Finding of the Head of St. John the Forerunner
- May 25 - Third Finding of the Head of St. John the Forerunner
- August 29 - The Beheading of St. John the Forerunner
- September 23 Conception of St John the Forerunner and the Commemoration of Sts. Zechariah and Elizabeth.
The Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates the "Birth of John the Forerunner" on January 15, and June 7 is the "Commemoration Day of St John the Forerunner." August 30 is the Feast of "Saints John the Forerunner and Job the Righteous."
The question would naturally arise as to why the celebration falls on
June 24 rather than June 25 if the date is to be precisely six months
before Christmas. It has often been claimed that the Church authorities wanted to Christianize the pagan solstice
celebrations and for this reason advanced Saint John's feast as a
substitute. This explanation is questionable because in the Middle Ages
the solstice took place around the middle of June due to the inaccuracy
of the Julian calendar. It was only in 1582, through the Gregorian calendar reform, that the solstice returned to June 21 as it had been in the fourth century.
Therefore, a more likely reason why the festival falls on June 24
lies in the Roman way of counting, which proceeded backward from the Kalends (first day) of the succeeding month. Christmas was "the eighth day before the Kalends of January" (Octavo Kalendas Januarii).
Consequently, Saint John's Nativity was put on the "eighth day before
the Kalends of July." However, since June has only thirty days, in our
present (Germanic) way of counting, the feast falls on June 24.
Nevertheless, the significance of the feast falling around the time
of the solstice is considered by many to be significant, recalling the
words of John the Baptist with regard to Jesus: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
Customs
Beyond the religious commemoration, many regional customs associated
with the Nativity of John the Baptist are in fact more related to the
concurrent celebration of midsummer which are themselves remnants of
pre-Christian pagan midsummer festivals.
All over Europe Saint John's Day festivities are closely associated
with the ancient nature lore of the great summer festival of
pre-Christian times. "Saint John's fires" are lighted on mountains and
hilltops on the eve of his feast. As the first day of summer, Saint
John's Day is considered in ancient folklore one of the great "charmed"
festivals of the year. Hidden treasures are said to lie open in lonely
places, waiting for the lucky finder. Divining rods should be cut on
this day. Herbs are given unusual powers of healing, which they retain
if they are plucked during the night of the feast. In Germany they call
these herbs Johanneskraut (St. John's herbs), and people bring them to
church for a special blessing. In Scandinavia and in the Slavic
countries it is an ancient superstition that on Saint John's Day witches
and demons are allowed to roam the earth. As at Halloween, children go
the rounds and demand "treats," straw figures are thrown into the
flames, and much noise is made to drive the demons away.
In the 7th century, Saint Eligius warned against midsummer activities and encouraged new converts to avoid them in favor of the celebration of St. John the Baptist’s birth.
References
- Fr. Weiser. "Feasts of Saint John the Baptist". Catholic Culture: Liturgical Year. Catholic Culture. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
