Beheading of John the Baptist

DECOLLATION OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

Today is the feast day of the decollation(beheading) of St. John the Baptist. He was the last prophet of the Old Testament; also the greatest since he actually beheld the Saviour with his own eyes, while all the other prophets only pointed toward Him. John was purified in his mother's womb at the salutation of our Blessed Mother when she visited St. Elizabeth, who was carrying the Baptist. He was the precursor of Christ; he pointed him out at the river Jordan. He then baptized Him at His request. Anyway, this is the day he was beheaded by Herod at the request of Salome, the daughter of Herodias, his brother's wife. Since it had been told to him by the Baptist that he could NOT have his brother's wife, a plot was schemed to kill the Baptist. Salome danced for Herod and pleased him and filled him with lust. He told her to ask for anything and he would get it for her. She asked for the head of John the Baptist. This dismayed Herod, but he had it done.

John had said concerning Christ: "He must increase and I must decrease." Thus the feast of the Decollation of St. John may be considered as one of the landmarks of the liturgical year. With the Greeks it is a holy day of obligation. (It doesn't even get an honorable mention in the western Church anymore). This Feast's great antiquity in the Latin Church is evidenced by the mention made of it in the martyrology called St. Jerome's, and by the place it occupies in the Gelasian and Gregorian sacramentaries. The precursor's blessed death took place about the feast Pasch; but, that it might be more freely celebrated, this day was chosen, whereon his sacred head was discovered at Emesa.

The vengeance of God fell heavily upon Herod Antipas. Josephus(a Jewish historian, who I believe converted), relates how he was overcome by the Arabian Aretas, whose daughter he had repudiated in order to follow his wicked passions; and the Jews attributed the defeat to the murder of St. John. He was deposed by Rome from his tetrarchate, and banished to Lyons in Gaul(France), where the ambitious Herodias shared his disgrace. As to her dancing daughter Salome, there is a tradition gathered from ancient authors, that, having gone out one winter day to dance upon a frozen river, she fell through into the water; the ice, immediately closing round her neck, cut off her head, which bounded upon the surface, thus continuing for some moments the dance of death.


Talk about Divine Justice! (I hope it's true; it seems so appropriate)!

St. John the Baptist, please pray for unrepentant sinners, especially those in our own families.