Tomorrow’s liturgy is quite special in that the usual Sunday liturgy is “giving way” to the Solemnity of a saint namely, St. John the Baptist. Very rare indeed that the Lord’s Day is substituted by a saint. But this one is a very special saint! In fact, he comes “first” in time before Jesus – or at least 6 months before, by human reckoning. Fr. Cantalamessa, the Franciscan preacher of the Pontifical household, explains why we have this date. He says, “Why June 24? In announcing the birth of Christ to Mary, the angel tells her that her cousin Elizabeth is in her sixth month. So, John the Baptist had to be born six months before Jesus and in this way the chronology is respected. The reason why it is June 24 instead of June 25 is because of the ancient way of calculating, which was according to calends, ides and nones. Naturally, these dates have a liturgical and symbolic value rather than a historic one. We do not know the exact day and year of Jesus' birth and so we do not know exactly when John was born either.” For more on this homily you can go here:
The Birth of John the Baptist has always been a special feastday to my family. Four of us eight siblings were born in a place called San Juan so we all “grew up” with this Saint in one way or the other. My younger sister, mother of 5 boys, also decided to name one of them John Carlo since he was born on June 24. So the celebration continues...
Now here is one “curious thing” about the liturgy of St. John the Baptist which the same homily of Fr. Cantalamessa points out and which I tried to research on. The Franciscan friar wrote: “Few know that the seven musical notes -- do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti -- have something to do with John the Baptist. They are derived from the first seven syllables of the first strophe of a liturgical hymn composed in his honor.”
This Latin hymn begins with this word: “Ut queant laxis resonare fibris...” The literal translation goes: "In order that the slaves might resonate (resound) the miracles (wonders) of your creations with loosened (expanded) vocal chords, wash the guilt from (our) polluted lips, Saint John."
The Birth of John the Baptist has always been a special feastday to my family. Four of us eight siblings were born in a place called San Juan so we all “grew up” with this Saint in one way or the other. My younger sister, mother of 5 boys, also decided to name one of them John Carlo since he was born on June 24. So the celebration continues...
Now here is one “curious thing” about the liturgy of St. John the Baptist which the same homily of Fr. Cantalamessa points out and which I tried to research on. The Franciscan friar wrote: “Few know that the seven musical notes -- do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti -- have something to do with John the Baptist. They are derived from the first seven syllables of the first strophe of a liturgical hymn composed in his honor.”
This Latin hymn begins with this word: “Ut queant laxis resonare fibris...” The literal translation goes: "In order that the slaves might resonate (resound) the miracles (wonders) of your creations with loosened (expanded) vocal chords, wash the guilt from (our) polluted lips, Saint John."
For other translations of the same line you could check here.
The insight I am left with after looking at these connections is the significance of John the Baptist from the time of his conception up to his ministry and up to our present time. The announcement of his birth rendered his Father Zechariah “purified” – mute, wordless until the “Word of the Lord” shall be fulfilled (cf Lk 1:18-23). The ministry of John the Baptist is to be the “voice” – the one who cried out in the desert, ‘prepare the way of the Lord.’ He was the voice but not the “Word!” (cf Jn 1:22-23)
The insight I am left with after looking at these connections is the significance of John the Baptist from the time of his conception up to his ministry and up to our present time. The announcement of his birth rendered his Father Zechariah “purified” – mute, wordless until the “Word of the Lord” shall be fulfilled (cf Lk 1:18-23). The ministry of John the Baptist is to be the “voice” – the one who cried out in the desert, ‘prepare the way of the Lord.’ He was the voice but not the “Word!” (cf Jn 1:22-23)
I suppose John’s challenge to us is the same: how could we be so “purified by God” so as to be channels of his communication, bearers of his Word? The enlarged translation of the Gregorian chant given above is enlightening, even if it harbors on the’new age language’ - “The Divine Mind needs an unconfined and freely moving relationship with us that will resonate our speech, or the very fiber of our being, to produce a miracle of communication, which will solve, dissolve, and release the restrictions of our speech.”
