St. John the Baptist

John was the son of the priest Zachariah and St. Elizabeth, born when they were old. He lived in the wilderness, dressed in camel hair, and called Israel to repentance at the Jordan. He baptized Christ there and pointed Him out: “Behold the Lamb of God.” When he rebuked King Herod for taking his brother’s wife, he was imprisoned in the fortress of Machaerus and beheaded at the request of Salome. Christ said no one born of women was greater than John.

• Feast: August 29 (New Calendar)
• Lived: died c. 30
• Place: Machaerus, beyond the Jordan