St John the Baptist

John the Baptist holds a unique place in salvation history as the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets and the herald of Jesus Christ. Born to Zechariah and Elizabeth, a relative of the Blessed Virgin Mary, his birth was foretold by the Archangel Gabriel. John lived a life of prayer and penance in the desert, clothed in camel’s hair and sustained by locusts and wild honey. Preaching a baptism of repentance in the wilderness near the Jordan River, he prepared the way for the Lord, famously baptizing Jesus in the waters of the Jordan. His bold proclamation of truth led to his arrest by King Herod Antipas, and he was ultimately beheaded at the request of Herodias’s daughter. Tradition holds that his relics are honored in several locations, including the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.