Happy Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist! In the passage from the Gospel of Luke about this Saint’s birth we read about God’s special call for him:
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel." // Luke 1:66, 80
Celebrating the Birth of a Saint
Today we are celebrating the birth of the Saint—which on the Catholic liturgical calendar is unusual. Feast days usually celebrate the death day or “birth into Heaven” of the Saint. In fact . . . there are only three birthdays on the liturgical calendar.
We celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas, and of the Blessed Virgin Mary in September. Jesus and Mary were both conceived free from Original Sin, Jesus because he was God and Mary by the favor of her Immaculate Conception. But Catholic tradition also tells us that Saint John the Baptist, while he inherited Original Sin at his conception, was sanctified within his mother's womb at the Visitation through his leap of faith in Jesus, and freed through God’s action from Original Sin before his birth. Saint Thomas Aquinas talks about “those who were sanctified in the womb,” as receiving “the grace of sanctification” by “a kind of privilege” (ST, III, Q. 68, art. 11) So . . . Saint John the Baptist, as the precursor to Jesus, gets this feast day in addition to the day upon which he was beheaded on August 29.
Midsummer Connection
The date of the solemnity coincides with Midsummer (in the Northern Hemisphere) and this has a basis in Scripture. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist tells his disciples, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Midsummer is when the hours of daylight begin to decrease after days have been steadily getting longer since about Christmas. At the birth of Jesus, the days increase and at the birth of John the Baptist, they decrease.
Because the solemnity falls right around the summer solstice, there are traditions all over the world associated with its celebration.
Celebrating With Catholic Traditions
One of the things for which John the Baptist is most remembered is his ability to bring people together in the name of Jesus and His Church. We can do that too! It’s a great way to build community and share some of these great Catholic traditions that have been celebrated for hundreds or thousands of years all over the world.
Here are some ideas for your celebration of this solemnity:
Go to Mass //
Pray with the readings for the solemnity about being named in the womb and called from birth (see Isaiah 49:1). Like Saint John the Baptist, God also has had a plan for your life from before you existed!
Repent //
Saint John the Baptist was always preaching about repentance. Go to the Sacrament of Confession and make sure to bless yourself with Holy Water on your way into the Church to remember your Baptism.
Celebrate With Family or Friends //
This can be a simple dessert at dinner or something larger! Try making a grasshopper cake in honor of the Saint who ate locusts and wild honey. Eating strawberries is traditional on this solemnity too.
Have a Bonfire //
The European and Latin American tradition is to have a bonfire on the vigil of the feast day (but feel free to do it tonight!). It is traditional to burn any worn out sacramentals in the bonfire as a reverent way to dispose of them.
Throw Water Balloons //
Have a water balloon fight in honor of the Saint who spent his ministry dousing his disciples in the Jordan River. In the Philippines they celebrate the day with a big country-wide water fight. (It would be even more exciting to celebrate with a little bit of water and bonfire.)
Decorate With Flowers //
Gather flowers and make a wreath to hang on your door. It is customary to do this as well as tie flowers with ribbons and hang them upside down as home decor. St. John’s Wort is a traditional flower for this day. (source)
Whether you are able to celebrate on this day or not, take a look at the liturgical calendar and pick a feast day that you’d be willing to host a party for. Then maybe your neighbors will pick a different feast day, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a whole year of Catholic fun, tradition, and community to celebrate together. Saint John the Baptist would approve!
Kendra Tierney Norton is grateful to be a wife, mother, and stepmother. She lives in the wilds of unincorporated Los Angeles County in a big old fixer-upper house with her husband and a varying number of their combined fourteen children, plus one fish, two cats, and twenty chickens. She likes to say that her goal is keeping Catholicism weird. To that end, she is the author of books including the Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life with Ignatius Press and O Come, Emmanuel: Advent Reflections on the Jesse Tree for Families with Emmaus Road Publishing, the creator of the TV series Catholic All Year At Home on FORMED, and the CEO of Catholic All Year, an apostolate dedicated to helping parents live out their Catholic faith and pass it along to their children.
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