San Juan - Saint John the Baptist

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The feast of the Nativity, or birthday of Saint John the Baptist, the precursor of the Messiah and born six months before him, is observed on June 24, and is one of the oldest feasts in the liturgy of the Church. He was the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tradition places the home and birthplace of Saint John near the village of Ain-Karim, six miles west of Jerusalem, where a Franciscan church marks the site.

 

What we know of this Saint, from his sanctification before his birth to his martyrdom under King Herod, is set down in Holy Scriptures. He has always had a chief place in the veneration given by the Church to the heroic servants of God. While the feast of other Saints is celebrated on the day of their death, the birthday of Saint John the Baptist is his feast day.

 

Before Saint John was born, an angel announced that “many would rejoice in his birth”, and so June 24 is ranked among the joyous feasts of the year.

 

San Juan is the patron saint for the mission church in Coyote. His Feast Day is June 24