Our Patron Saint
St John the Baptist
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST was the son of the priest Zechariahs and his aged wife Elizabeth. The Angel Gabriel announced his birth to his childless parents. He was born to be the prophet, forerunner and baptizer of Christ as it was prophesized in the writings of Isaiah: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness...to go before the Lord, to prepare His ways, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
St. John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his very birth. His whole youth was spent in the wilderness in prayer and fasting. He was preparing himself to be the “Preparer of Christ.” And when the fullness of time came, God led John out of the desert into the region of the Jordan River to preach the baptism of repentance in the face of the Coming Kingdom of God which was at hand in Jesus. Clothed in camel's skin, and with the look of a man worn by the wild severity of the wilderness, John appeared with his proclamation:
"Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! Bear fruit that befits repentance! For even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, which does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance but He who is coming after me, is mightier than I...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with Fire."
And then, as everyone knows, Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized of John. John was perplexed with the request of Jesus and exclaiming for all to hear he cried: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World. I need to be baptized of you, and do you come to me?"
But Jesus insisted and John allowed Him to enter the water, and as He was baptized, the Holy Spirit of God was over Jesus showing Him as Christ the Messiah; and the prophetic words of Isaiah the Prophet were heard from the voice of the Father Himself: "This is my Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” It was the great epiphany of God, the manifestation of the Blessed Trinity: The Son immersed in the streams of the Jordan, and the Father and the Holy Spirit bearing witness that He is in truth the Beloved, the Lamb, the Messiah, the Son of God.
Many people thought that John was the Messiah. But he said very plainly that he was not:
"I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly in the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease."
St. John did decrease. But as Christ increased before men, the holy forerunner did not remain silent. He continued to preach repentance and righteousness, and he preached it even to the throne of the government authorities. King Herod was living in adultery, with Herodias, his brother's wife. St. John prophesied against them. And the whole world knows of the notorious birthday party at which Herod, under the spell of the dancing and the wine, ordered the beheading of the holy man. Thus to the other glories of his short life, to his praying and fasting and preaching and baptizing, was added the final crown of martyrdom, the most perfect glory of dying for the Truth of God.
Indeed the glories of St. John the Baptist are many. And generations of men have sung his praise, chanting hymns to his honor and building Churches to his name. But no greater glory can ever be added to Saint John than the glory he received from the Lord Whose way he prepared. For Jesus said: "Among those born of women, none is greater than John the Baptist."
