Feast Saint John the Baptist - June 24

Saint John the Baptist
June 24

 

A voice cries out, “Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord!

Clear the way in the desert for our God!” (Isaiah 40:3)

The birth of Saint John the Baptist was foretold by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:19)to his father, Zechariah as he offered incense in the Temple. (Luke 1:11-14) From his birth John would be filled with the Holy Spirit, his mission to prepare the way for Christ, to turn the disobedient back to the way of the righteous; his witness would bring many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. (Luke 1:15-17)

In the womb of his mother Elizabeth John recognized the presence of Jesus in the womb of His mother Mary, by leaping for joy. (Luke 1:41) Zechariah who was struck “unable to speak” during a moment of disbelief in God (Luke 1:20), regained his speech at John’s birth the moment he wrote out the name of his son (Luke 1:63) Zechariah then filled with the Holy Spirit spilled forth God’s message that God “has provided for us a mighty Savior, a descendant of his servant David….You [John] will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him, to tell his people that they will be saved by having their sins forgiven.” (Luke 1:67-79) John then lived in the desert until the day when he appeared to the people of Israel.


“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. . .the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching, ‘Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins.’” (Luke 3:1-3) Many came to be baptized by John, a man dressed not in fancy clothes but in garments made of camel’s hair, who dined on locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4) It was John as he spoke out in the desert “Turn away from you sins, and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins.” (Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3-6, Matthew 3:2) who fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah in 40:3-5. John confirms the fulfillment himself when he answers the Jewish authorities question about his identity with, “I am ‘the voice of someone shouting in the desert: Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!’” (John 1:23) John was the voice sent to proclaim the Incarnate Word.

The following day, after being questioned by the Jewish authorities, Saint John saw Jesus coming to him, and spoke the glorious words Catholic’s hear every day at Mass during Consecration, “there [this] is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) As Jesus rose from the waters of Baptism, the Spirit of God came down like a dove, alighting upon the head of Our Lord, as a voice from heaven announced, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17) It is with the Baptism of Our Lord, the Spotless Lamb of God that Christ began the penance for the sins of the world.

After John baptized Jesus he gave his testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him. I still did not know that he was the one, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen it,…and I tell you that he is the Son of God.” (John 1 32-34)

John continued to baptize, and preach, bearing witness without compromise. He told Herod the ruler of Galilee that it was wrong for him to marry his brother’s wife Herodias. This angered Herod who had Saint John arrested and put in prison. On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced at the feast. Herod told the girl he would give her anything she asked for. “At her mother’s suggestion she asked him, ‘Give me here and now the head of John the Baptist on a plate.’” (Matthew 14:8) Saint John the Baptist was beheaded in prison.

Fr. James Kubicki S.J.

Apostleship of Prayer

The Birth of John the Baptist

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Art
Birth of Saint John the Baptist - Tintore
Naming of John the Baptist - Fra Angelico
Baptism of Christ - da Vinci
Beheading of Saint John the Baptist - Peter Paul Rubens

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Feast of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help

June 27

Our Blessed Mother is known by many names, Our Lady of Grace, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and among others, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. As Our Lady of Perpetual Help she is the Patroness of the Redemptorist Order founded by Saint Alphonsus in 1732. The history recorded by the Redemptorist, of the original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which now resides in the Redemptorist Church of St. Alphonsus is shrouded in obscurity. “It is the story of an unknown artist, a repentant thief, a curious little girl, an abandoned church, an old religious and a Pope.”

It is known to have been stolen from the island of Crete over 500 years ago, credited with a miracle by surviving a wild storm at sea while transported to Rome, its thief repentant made his dying wish to a friend that the picture be placed in a church, but the friend dies before carrying out his friends wish.

The wife of the person charged with this request was not told of deathbed appeal and chose to keep the beautiful picture. Her daughter is graced with a vision by Our Blessed Mother petitioning that the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help be placed in the Church of St. Matthew on Esquiline Hill between the two basilicas of Saint Mary Major and Saint John. The mother obeyed and placed the icon in St. Matthew’s in 1499. This church which was under the care of the Irish Augustinians was destroyed in 1798 and the icon saved by the Augustinians was eventually transported to Saint Mary in Posterula in1819.

Saint Mary's Church already had a picture of Our Blessed Mother as Our Lady of Grace so Our Lady of Perpetual Help was placed in a private chapel and would have been forgotten but for Brother Augustine Orsetti a friar from Saint Matthew who entrusted an altar boy from Saint Mary's, Michael Marchi, with information surrounding the placement of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. He was told that it was a miraculous picture and not to ever let it be forgotten.

Brother Augustine died in 1853 without fulfilling his desire to see the Virgin of Perptual Help be exposed for public veneration. Two years later the Redemptorist Missionaries purchased property, unknown to them at the time, that contained the ruins of the Church of Saint Matthew. On this property they constructed a church in honor of the Most Holy Redeemer and dedicated it to Saint Alphonsus Liguori their founder.

Late in December of 1855 the first group of young men began their novitiate here, one of them was Michael Marchi. This new Redemptorist community was interested in the history of their congregation and after examining authors of antiquities discovered that on the site of their church, the Most Holy Redeemer lay the remains of the Church of Saint Matthew, a church it was said, to have been the home of an ancient icon of the Mother of God. This information jogged the memory of Father Michael Marchi who believed he knew where this icon could be found. Under decree of Pope Pius IX, Our Lady of Perpetual Help was retrieved from Saint Mary's Church, carefully restored by Leopold Nowotny and finally presented to the public for veneration in the Church of Saint Alphonsus on the Via Merulana in Rome on April 26, 1866 where it can be seen today behind the altar.

The picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is called an icon (Greek eikon which means image). An icon is a special picture that actually makes present to those who gaze upon them, the person pictured in a spiritual way. It is a window through which we gaze into the mystery of God, and are brought into the presence of the holy person or incident pictured; we are seeing the written Gospel message that Scripture communicates by words.The beauty of an icon can move a soul in prayer to a more intimate relationship with the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.


"All the signs in the liturgical celebrations are related to Christ: as are sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints as well. They truly signify Christ, who is glorified in them. They make manifest the “cloud of witnesses” who continue to participate in the salvation of the world and to whom we are united, above all into sacramental celebrations.” (CCC 1161, Hebrews 12:1) "The contemplation of sacred icons, united with meditation on the Word of God and the singing of liturgical hymns, enters into the harmony of the signs of celebration so that the mystery celebrated is imprinted in the heart's memory and is then expressed in the new life of the faithful." (CCC 1162) “The veneration of sacred images is based on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. It is not contrary to the first commandment.” (CCC 2141)

The icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help painted by an unknown artist depicts the moment when the Archangels reveal the instruments of the Passion to the Infant Jesus. The Greek letters which appear on the icon indicate the names of the four figures: Jesus Christ, Mother of God, Archangel Gabriel and Archangel Michael. The gold background of the icon symbolizes heaven. Our Blessed Mother appears to be looking directly at those who view this image as she presents Jesus to us with her right hand. She is portrayed as both Virgin and Mother with her tunic red, the color virgins wore in the time of Christ and her mantle blue, the color mothers wore in Palestine. The Archangel to the right is Gabriel, who holds a cross and nails. On the left Michael holds the urn filled with gall, the lance and the reed with the sponge.

Many have contemplated the meaning of the sandal of Jesus which hangs by a “thread” in this icon. Some attributed this to His alarm at the thought of His Passion and death, others attributed this image to a reminder to cling to Our Blessed Mother, who always leads to Jesus, and protects us as our spiritual mother, a roll given to her at the foot of the cross by her Son. (John 19:26-27) Besides these I saw this as an image of my own spiritual journey, which at times “hung by a thread” due to my pride, indifference, ignorance or stubbornness to place my trust in God. My unwillingness to even consider that the goals He set for my life could truly trump any goals I set for myself or that His ways far exceeded mine. Fortunately (for all of us), Jesus, in His Divine Mercy, never lets go of that thread, and in time, by the grace of God I grabbed that thread and pulled myself back into His loving arms.

The Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is celebrated on June 27 with the Novena beginning June 19. Please visit my store Lynn's Timeless Treasures for items related to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.