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San Giovanni Battista, ora pro nobis
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Sancti Joánnis Baptístæ Præcursóris, et Mártyris tui quæsumus, Dómine, veneránda festívitas salutáris auxílii nobis præstet efféctum: Qui vivis.*August 29th is the Feast of the Passion of San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist), Prophet and Martyr. Beheaded circa 28 AD by Herod the Tetrarch, Saint John’s relics were entombed by his disciples in Samaria. [An alternative tradition says his head was buried on Mount Olive near Jerusalem.]
Desecrated by pagans in 362 AD, the Saint's holy relics were recovered by monks and scattered throughout Christendom.
Confirmed by a miracle, the venerable head was first found some three hundred years later and brought to the city of Emesa in Syria.
In time, Arian heretics moved the relic to a monastery in nearby Spelaion. Discovered again in 453 AD, the Saint's head was translated to Constantinople.
Hidden again during the Iconoclast Controversy in the eighth century, the head was discovered for the third time in the city of Comana in Pontus and returned to the Imperial Capital in 857 AD.
Today several church's claim to possess the skull, including the Amiens Cathedral in France. According to tradition, after the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) and the sacking of Constantinople, a portion of the Saint’s skull was moved to the Cathedral. Hidden by the Mayor of Amiens during the wanton destruction of the French Revolution (1789-1799), it was eventually returned in 1816.
In addition to the Passion of St. John the Baptist, the Church commemorates his nativity on June 24th.
In celebration, I’m posting the Collect of the Day. The accompanying photo was taken in the Madonna Incoronata Chapel inside Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Pontifical Shrine in East Harlem, New York. Evviva San Giovanni!
Collect of the Day
O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death, grant that, as he died a Martyr for truth and justice, we, too, may fight hard for the confession of what you teach. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
* May the august festival of St. John the Baptist, Thy precursor and martyr, we beseech Thee, O Lord, effect for us the furtherance of our salvation. Who Livest.
