Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy servant John the Baptist triumphed over suffering and despised death: Grant, we beseech thee, that we, enduring hardness and waxing valiant in fight, may with the noble army of martyrs receive the crown of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Michelangelo-Caravaggio_021_Beheading-of-St-John-the-Baptist_cropped

From the Legend:  Saint John the Baptist, having spoken out against the adulterous and incestuous relationship Herod was having with his brother’s wife Herodias, was imprisoned and subsequently beheaded.  John preached repentance from sins, and therefore was very unpopular in his day. Nonetheless, like Jeremiah and other prophets before him, he preached the commandments of God before men.  May the LORD give us the grace to be bold witnesses for the Faith, to maintain the standards of biblical morality, and to embrace the words God spoke to Jeremiah: “Be not dismayed at their faces: lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen wall against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.”

St Mark 6:17-29
17 At that time: Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her.
18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.
19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:
20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.
21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;
22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

12 thoughts on “The Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist”

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