The Passion of St. John the Baptist

The Passion of St. John the Baptist, also called the Beheading of the Baptist, is the memorial commemorating the martyrdom of the great forerunner of the Lord, who prepared the way for Christ and pointed him out as the Lamb of God. Having fearlessly rebuked the tetrarch Herod Antipas for unlawfully taking his brother's wife, Herodias, John was imprisoned in the fortress of Machaerus.

As the Gospels of Matthew and Mark relate, at a banquet the daughter of Herodias danced before Herod, who rashly swore to give her whatever she asked; prompted by her vengeful mother, she demanded the head of John the Baptist on a platter, and the prophet was beheaded in his cell. Honored by the Church as the last and greatest of the prophets, a martyr for truth and for the sanctity of marriage, John is commemorated in this ancient observance on 29 August, distinct from the feast of his Nativity on 24 June.