We don’t celebrate the birthdays of many saints. There’s the feast of the birth of Sanctity Himself on Christmas. There’s the Nativity of our fallen nature’s solitary boast, the Mother of God. And there’s the birth of St John the Baptist on June 24. That’s about it.
John rightly is celebrated since the Lord Himself said of His precursor Voice: “Amen I say to you, there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist” (Mt 11:11).
Not only that, tradition held, even before St Augustine (d 430) mentioned it, that John was born with his guilt for Original Sin already forgiven. Thus it was that he leapt in his mother Elizabeth’s womb. John’s feast, once so important that it was customary for priests to read three Masses, as at Christmas, falls six months before Christ’s birth, but seemingly a day off because of the way that the Romans calculated time. Christmas falls on the eighth day before the Kalends (aka first) of January, therefore John’s feast is on the eighth day before the Kalends of July. But December has 31 days and June only 30. Hence, the 24th, not the 25th.
Speaking of customs, this feast and its Vigil are ornamented with many traditions. There is the famous blessing of bonfires on the Vigil. In France, wheels of straw are woven, set alight, and rolled down hills. I like that one. It might be tricky to pull off in cities these days.
In Bavaria, witches are burned. Again, hard to pull off nowadays owing to the lack of real witches (not to mention the inevitable protests). You might send your unburned witches to Bavaria, where, as I heard from a priest friend, they use witches of straw. The interest in fire surely comes from it being Midsummer, when daylight is greatest. St John himself said that the Lord, who is the Light, must increase and he decrease (John 3:30). Sure enough, the days get shorter from this time onward until the Light is born again at the Winter Solstice.
Also, according to a monk of Winchcombe Abbey (demolished 1539), fire is supposed to drive off dragons and other pests who gadded about poisoning wells et al. Dragons and witches are now rare. Liturgists?
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” Words which we all should burn into our hearts.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.