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| Holy Family with the Infant St John, Bernardino Luini |
The mysterious conformity of
Christ and his Precursor, the incomparable proximity which unites one to the
other, are to be found many times marked down in the sacred scriptures. If
Christ is the Word, eternally uttered by the Father, he is to be the Voice
bearing this divine utterance whither so ever it is to reach; Isaias already
hears the desert echoing with these accents, till now unknown; and the prince
of prophets expresses his joy, with all the enthusiasm of a soul already
beholding itself in the very presence of its Lord and God! The Christ is the
Angel of the Covenant; but in the very same text wherein the Holy Ghost gives
Him this title, for us so full of hope, there appears likewise bearing the same
name of angel, the inseparable messenger, the faithful ambassador, to whom the
earth is indebted for her coming to know the Spouse: Behold, I send my angel,
and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord whom ye
seek, and the Angel of the testament whom you desire, shall come to his Temple;
behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts And put ting an end to the prophetic
ministry, of which he is the last representative, Malachi's terminates his own
oracles by the words which we have heard Gabriel addressing to Zachary, when he
makes known to him the approaching birth of the Precursor.
The presence of Gabriel, on
this occasion, of itself shows with what intimacy with the Son of God, this
child then promised shall be favored; for the very same Prince of the
heavenly hosts, came again, soon afterwards, to announce the Emmanuel.
Countless are the faithful messengers that press around the throne of the Holy
Trinity, and the choice of these august ambassadors usually varies, according
to the dignity of the instructions, to be transmitted to earth by the Most
High.
From an aged and barren womb,
was born John, the fore-runner of the Lord.
This child shall be great before
the Lord: for His hand is with him.
This child shall be called a
Nazarite; he shall not drink wine nor strong drink, and from his mother's womb,
he shall eat nothing unclean.
Give ear, ye Islands; and hearken
ye people from afar: The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of
my mother he hath been mindful of my name.
The Roman Breviary - First Vespers
The Nativity of St. John the
Baptist
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The Virgin Holding the
Sleeping Child, with St John and Two Angels, Bernardino Luini
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O glorious St. John
the Baptist,
Greatest prophet among those born of woman, although
thou wast sanctified in thy mother’s womb and didst live a most innocent life,
nevertheless it was thy will to retire into the wilderness, there to devote
thyself to the practice of austerity and penance; obtain for us of thy Lord the
grace to be wholly detached, at least in our hearts, from earthly goods, and to
practice Christian mortification with interior recollection and with the spirit
of holy prayer.
St. John the Baptist, precursor of Christ, R. Pray for
us.
St. John the Baptist, shining lamp of the world, R.
Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, angel of purity before thy
birth, R. Pray for us.
O most zealous
Apostle,
Who, without working any miracle on others, but solely by the example of thy life of
penance and the power of thy word, didst draw after thee the multitudes, in
order to dispose them to receive the Messias worthily and to listen to His
heavenly doctrine; grant that it may be
given unto us, by means of the example
of a holy life and the exercise of every
good work, to bring many souls to
God, but above all those souls that are enveloped in the
darkness of error and ignorance and that
are led astray by vice.
St. John the Baptist, intrepid preacher of truth, R.
Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, voice crying in the wilderness,
R. Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, miracle of mortification and penance, R. Pray for us.
O Martyr
invincible,
Who, for the honor of God and the salvation of souls,
didst with firmness and constancy withstand the impiety of Herod even at the
cost of thine own life, and didst rebuke him openly for his wicked and
dissolute life; by thy prayers obtain
for us a heart, brave and generous, in
order that we may overcome all human respect and openly profess our faith in loyal obedience to the teachings of Jesus
(☨) Christ, our divine Master.
St. John the Baptist, example of profound humility, R.
Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, great defender of holy
matrimony, R. Pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, glorious martyr of zeal for
God’s holy law, R. Pray for us.
O God, we rejoice at the apostolate of Saint John the
Baptist, though whom we came to know our Redeemer and King. Through his
intercession we implore…
(Mention your request)
We offer this prayer to Thee (☨) God the Father,
through Christ Our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God forever and
ever. R. Amen.
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,
Blessed art thou among women, And blessed is the fruit Of thy womb, Jesus. Holy
Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Glory Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
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| St. John the Baptist ora pro nobis. |
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