Today marks the Nativity of the Forerunner of Christ St. John the Baptist. I don’t believe I have done a post dedicated to him yet, and even if I have, a new one seems appropriate. Here is the account of his birth:
57Â Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. 58Â And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59Â And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariâ²ah after his father, 60Â but his mother said, âNot so; he shall be called John.â 61Â And they said to her, âNone of your kindred is called by this name.â 62Â And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. 63Â And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, âHis name is John.â And they all marveled. 64Â And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65Â And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; 66Â and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, âWhat then will this child be?â For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67Â And his father Zechariâ²ah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
68Â âBlessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people,
69Â and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70Â as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71Â that we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72Â to perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
and to remember his holy covenant,
73Â the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, 74Â to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75Â in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
76Â And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77Â to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78Â through the tender mercy of our God,
when the day shall dawn upon us from on high
79Â to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.â
80Â And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
(Luke 1:57-80)
More can be found at his wiki, located here.