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John
was born in Jerusalem and lived in the first century. He's the
second cousin of Jesus, and was also miraculously conceived.
His mother, St. Elizabeth, was a barren older woman when Archangel
Gabriel came to her and her husband, Zachary, and foretold the
birth of their son, John. Zachary was literally dumbstruck by
the news and remained so until the baby’s circumcision.
When King Herod decreed death to all newborns, Elizabeth fled
with John and hid in a mountain. Herod managed to kill Zachary,
so Elizabeth raised John alone in the desert. She died when
John was 27, and he remained in the wilderness, eating locusts
and honeysuckle growing into a Holy man. He was renowned as
a powerful preacher and baptist reputedly working a plethora
of miracles, and people mistakenly believed that he was the
promised messiah. When the Holy Cousins finally met, John baptized
Jesus who was then recognized and acknowledged as the “Son
of God.” John considered pagans to be a “brood of
vipers,” and he publicly criticized King Herod for his
incestuous marriage to his niece, Herodias, who was also the
wife of his half-brother. Salome, the daughter of Herodias and
niece of the king, performed an exotic dance at her uncle/stepfather’s
birthday party. For this dance, he said, he would give her any
request. The scandalized Queen instructed her daughter Salome
to ask for the outspoken Baptist’s head, which was presented
to the royal stripper on a platter. The dutiful daughter held
the bloody head in her hands and brought it to her embittered
mother, who stabbed its tongue repeatedly with a dagger. John’s
role as baptist is the reason for his association with health
spas. He’s also the patron of auto routes, highways and
road workers (because of his famous quote, “Make straight
the way”), leather workers (because he called Jesus the
“Lamb of God”), as well as Jordan, farriers and
candlemakers; and he’s invoked against spasms. His feast
day is June 24. |
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click on one of
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St.
John the Baptist
Patron St. of
Health Spas |
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