``Where
the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
The Decollation of St. John the Baptist
We celebrate the birth
of St. John the Baptist on June 24, and on July 2, the Feast of the Visitation, we ponder his
being filled with the Holy Ghost while still in his mother's womb.
During Advent, we hear much about
St. John as we prepare for the birth of our Savior -- and for the
return of Christ at the end of time.
Today though, on August 29, we
recall the murder of our Saint -- the "Decollation (beheading) of St.
John the
Baptist." 1 You'll find the story told best in
Matthew
14:1-13 and Mark 6:14-29.
First, some background information: Herod the Great -- the Herod who
arranged for the Massacre of the
Innocents (Matthew
2) -- had a number of
children with many different wives, and when he died, his kingdom was
divided up among three of them.
One of those children was a son named Aristobulus IV. Aristobulus, with
one of his many wives, fathered Herodias, a daughter.
And this is where things grow tricky: Herodias married her half-uncle,
Herod Phillip ("Herod II"). With him, she gave birth to the woman we
know as Salome. Herodias then divorced Herod II -- and married his
half-brother, Herod Antipas, who divorced his first wife to take up
with
Herodias.
That is the
situation of which St. John the Baptist publicly disapproved. And
Herodias disapproved of St. John's disapproval. And Herod Antipas felt
the need to keep his wife happy. Mark 6:17-18: "Herod himself had sent
and apprehended John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias
the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her. For John
said to Herod: It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife."
While John was imprisoned, Herod Antipas had a birthday; to celebrate,
he threw a great feast, inviting "the princes, and tribunes, and chief
men of Galilee" (Mark 6:21). During this banquet, Herodias's daughter
-- whom we know as Salome since her name was given as such in
Josephus's 1st century "Antiquities of the Jews" -- danced for Herod
Antipas, her step-father and half-uncle. Herod was pleased with her
wanton display, as Mark 6:22-23 tells us:
[T]he daughter
of the same Herodias had come in, and had danced, and pleased Herod,
and them that were at table with him, the king said to the damsel: Ask
of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he swore to her:
Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give thee, though it be the half of my
kingdom.
Salome goes to her mother to see what she should ask for. Instead of
telling her to ask for half of the kingdom, or gold, or jewels, the
vengeful Herodias tells her to ask for the head of John the Baptist,
the man who'd publicly shamed her. Salome does so, asking for his head
on a platter. She got her wish, and gave the gruesome reward to her
mother. When the disciples heard what happened, they came and took
John's headless body, burying it in a tomb.
The epilogue of this tale is given by the Flemish priest Cornelius à
Lapide (d. 1637):
Wherefore the
just vengeance of God burned against all who were concerned in this
crime. Herod was defeated by Aretas. Afterwards he was banished with
Herodias to Lyons, and deprived of his tetrarchy and everything by
Caligula, at the instigation of Herod Agrippa, the brother of Herodias,
as Josephus relates (xvii. 10).
Moreover, the head of the dancing daughter was cut off by means of ice.
Hear what Nicephorus says, "As she was journeying once in the
winter-time, and a frozen river had to be crossed on foot, the ice
broke beneath her, not without the providence of God. Straightway she
sank down up to her neck. This made her dance and wriggle about with
all the lower parts of her body, not on land, but in the water. Her
wicked head was glazed with ice, and at length severed from her body by
the sharp edges, not of iron, but of the frozen water. Thus in the very
ice she displayed the dance of death, and furnished a spectacle to all
who beheld it, which brought to mind what she had done.
The dramatic story of John's murder is given to being depicted
artistically, and has been throughout the millennia, especially in
paintings.
Detail
from Gustave Moreau's depiction of Herod's feast. Click to enlarge and
see the entire painting.
Literature, too, has joined the cause, most famously with Oscar Wilde's
play Salome. This play
identifies Salome's dance as the "Dance of the Seven Veils," and
given the nature of the dance, the play was a scandal when it was
written. Richard Strauss wrote an opera based on Wilde's work, and it,
too, had a hard time finding an audience when it was first revealed to
the public. The opera's "Dance of the Seven Veils":
Salome has been depicted by everyone from Theda Bara to Alla Nazimova
in silent movies, and from Rita Hayworth to Brigid Bazlen in "the
talkies."
And, speaking of silent movies and "talkies" in the same sentence, who
can forget Gloria Swanson in the fabulous 1950 movie "Sunset
Boulevard,"
with her
pathetic, long past her prime Norma Desmond character -- an old actress
obssessed with making a comeback by playing the young Salome in a play
she's
writing herself?
Yes, Salome has left her titillating mark. Sex -- one of God's greatest
and most pleasurable gifts -- has always been an easy sell when
presented out of context; much more difficult is doing what St. John
the Baptist did and standing up for keeping sex rightly ordered to
Sacrament, the only means to a sane social order. The example of his
fortitude that we honor on this feast is more important today than
ever. Don't be afraid to say what needs to be said -- with prudence,
with all mercy
and charity for sinners, and with no tolerance at all for error. Work
to acquire the cardinal
virtues, and "speak truth to power," as the
radicals used to say. Like the Forerunner, be "the voice of one crying
out in the wilderness"! And if you think you can't do that, at least never, ever lie!
Customs
The Litany of St.
John the Baptist that I have off the Feast of St. John the Baptist
page would be a good prayer for the day, as would today's Collect:
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 lives
and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God,
forever and ever. Amen.
In L'Aquila, in Italy's Abruzzo region, one can obtain a plenary
indulgence through the Perdonanza
Celestiniana (the Celestinian Forgiveness). In 1294, Pietro
Angelerio was crowned Pope Celestine V on this date, and granted a plenary indulgence thereafter to all who,
on the Feast of the Decollation of St. John, pass through the holy door
of the Santa Maria di Collemaggio basilica. On the day before, a
procession is held in which the papal bull granting the indulgence is
carried through the streets and brought to the basilica. There, it is
read, and a ritual is made of knocking three times with an olive branch
on the basilica's holy door, which is then opened for pilgrims to pass
through. The conditions of receiving the indulgence are 1) visiting the
basilica from Vespers on August 28 to sunset on August 29, and reciting
the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and a prayer for the Holy Father’s
Intentions; and 2) receiving the the Sacraments of Confession and the
Holy Communion (within 8 days before or after the day the indulgence is
sought). The indulgence may be sought for oneself or for a loved one
who has died. The text of the papal bull:
Celestine,
Bishop, servant of the servants of God, wishes health and gives the
apostolic blessing to all the faithful who will consider this letter.
Among the festivities that remember the saints more solemnly we should
honor the memory of the most important one, St. John the Baptist, as
he, although born from the womb of a sterile old-aged woman, was
fruitful of virtue and sacred gifts. He was the voice of the Apostles
and the silent prophets. Having concluded the prophets’ cycle and
announced the presence of Christ on earth with the Logos (Word) and
miraculous indications, he announced Christ as the light in the world’s
fog and in the darkness of ignorance that wrapped the earth. For this
reason, the Baptist followed the glorious martyrdom, mysteriously
imposed by the will of a shameless woman by the task to her entrusted.
We, that on the day of the beheading of Saint John, in the Benedictine
church of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in Aquila, received the tiara on
our head, want to give even more veneration to this saint, that should
be honoured, with hymns, religious chants, and with devout prayers of
the faithful. Therefore in this church, the feast of the beheading of
St. John is enhanced with scheduled ceremonies celebrated by the
devoted People of God, and more devoutly and fervently it shall be, as
much in such church the request of those who search for God will find
treasures of the church, as resplendent spiritual gifts, that will give
benefit in the future life, fortified by the mercy of the Almighty God,
and of the authority of his apostles, Saints Peter and Paul. On each
annual recurrence, we absolve from guilt and punishment, as a result of
all their sins committed since their Baptism, all those that sincerely
repentant and confessed will have entered the Basilica of Santa Maria
di Collemaggio from the vespers on the eve of St. John’s festivity
until the vespers immediately after the festivity.
Datum Aquile
III kalendas octobris, pontificatus nostri anno primo
Whether or not you can make it to L'Aquila, one of the best things you
can do this day after honoring St. John
the
Baptist and asking him to intercede for you is to meditate on and talk
to your children
about the importance of telling the truth. Model honesty to them, and
tell them stories about where dishonesty leads. Some stories for you to
download, including "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," "The Monkey and the
Dolphin," "The Crow and the Raven" (all by Aesop) and "The Emperor's
New Clothes": Stories About the
Importance of Honesty (pdf format, 6 pages).
Readings
Homily II.23
by the Venerable Bede
We might
consider and commit more actively to memory how almighty God allows his
chosen ones and beloved servants, those he has predestined to life and
his eternal kingdom, to be so stricken in this life by the persecution
of the wicked, to be wasted by so many kinds and such fierce
punishments and deaths. This is so that when we have viewed the
sufferings of perfect men, we may grieve less over the adversities that
perhaps have happened to us, and learn instead to esteem it complete
joy when we fall into various kinds of temptations (James 1:2), keeping
in mind that “The Lord chastises those he loves, and scourges every
child whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6).
Now although the principle stands that “We all offend in many
ways” (James 3:2), which of us dare to say that blessed John sinned in
act or word or dress or food, when the gospel history praises the
harshness of his clothing and the frugality of his meals; when
everything he said either rendered testimony to the truth or refuted
those who spoke against him; when even those who did not like him held
in veneration his works of justice? What place could there have been in
his inmost heart for sin, when the coming of the Holy Spirit
consecrated him even before his birth, when not even in comparison with
the ordinary way of human life could he be turned aside from the path
of virtue, who from his boyhood on led an entirely solitary life?
And yet a man of this sort, one who was so preeminent,
reached the end of his earthly life by shedding his blood after a long
period of affliction in chains. He who brought the good news of the
freedom of heaven was thrust into chains by wicked people; he who “came
to bear testimony to the light” (John 1:8), and who merited to be
called “a burning and shining lamp” by the very light which is Christ
(John 5:35), was shut up in the darkness of prison; he who was greater
than all those born of women (Matt. 11:11; Luke 7:28) was punished by
being beheaded at the request of the basest of women; and he to whom it
was granted to baptize the world’s Redeemer, to hear the Father’s voice
above him, and to see the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him,
was baptized in his own blood.
From the "Book
upon Virgins"
by St. Ambrose
We must not hurry by the record of the Blessed Baptist John. We must
ask what he was, and by whom, and why, and how, and when he was slain.
He was a righteous man murdered by adulterers. The guilty passed upon
their judge the sentence of death. Moreover, the death of the Prophet
was the fee of a dancing-girl. And lastly, there was a feature about it
from which even savages shrink; the order for completing the atrocity
was given amid the merriment of a dinner-party. From banquet to prison,
from prison to banquet, that was the course run by the servants of the
murderer. How many horrors does this simple crime embrace within its
details?
Who is there, that, on seeing the messenger hasten from the
dinner-table to the prison, would not have forthwith concluded that he
carried an order for the Prophet's release. If any one had heard that
it was Herod's birthday, and that he was giving a great feast, and that
he had offered a damsel the choice of whatever she listed, and that
thereupon a messenger had been sent to John's dungeon. If any one, I
say, had heard this, what would he have supposed? He would have
concluded that the damsel had asked and obtained John's freedom. What
have executions in common with dinners, or death with gaiety? While the
banquet was going on, the Prophet was hurried to death, by an order
from the reveller whom he had not troubled even by a prayer for
release. He was slain with the sword, and his head was served up in a
plate. This was the new dish demanded by a cruelty which the Feast had
been powerless to glut.
Look, savage King, look at a decoration which suiteth well with thy
banquet. Put out thine hand, so as to lose no part of the luxury of
cruelty, and let the streams of the sacred blood run between thy
fingers. Thine hunger the dinner hath been unable to satisfy, thy cups
have not been able to quench thine inhuman thirst. Suck, suck the blood
which the still palpitating veins are discharging from the place where
the neck has been severed. Look at the eyes. Even in death they remain
the eyes of a witness of thine uncleanness, but they are closing
themselves upon the spectacle of thy pleasures. Those eyes indeed are
shutting but it seems not so much from the laws of natural death, as
from horror at the scene of thine enjoyment. The golden mouth, whose
bloodless lips are silent now, can repeat no more the denunciation
which thou couldest not bear to hear, and still thou art afraid of it.
Footnotes:
1 "Decollation" means "beheading."
However, "collation" means "a light meal." It's a word one sees often
in traditional Catholic literature, especially with regard to monastic
life (ex., a convent's schedule might include "6pm Vespers; 6:30
Collation"). So when I see the word "decollation" in reference to St.
John the Baptist, I can't help but picture a man wearing animal skins,
vomiting up locusts and honey. Sorry. But it's true, and kinda funny.
So there it is.
