site.btaChurch Celebrates St. John's Nativity, Local Customs Add Herbs

Church Celebrates St. John's Nativity, Local Customs Add Herbs

Sofia, June 24 (BTA) - The church celebrates the feast of the
Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24, the day of the
solstice, and the people celebrate the first day of summer as
one of the charmed festivals of the year.

Christians have long interpreted the life of John the Baptist as
 a preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, and the
circumstances of his birth, as recorded in the New Testament,
are miraculous. John's pivotal place in the gospel is seen in
the emphasis Luke gives to the announcement of his birth and the
 event itself - both made prominently parallel to the same
occurrences in the life of Jesus.

The sole biblical account of the birth of John the Baptist comes
 from the Gospel of Luke. John's parents, Zechariah or Zachary -
 a Jewish priest - and Elizabeth, were without children and both
 were beyond the age of child-bearing. During Zechariah's
rotation to serve in the Temple in Jerusalem, he was chosen by
lot to offer incense at the Golden Altar in the Holy Place. The
Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and announced that he and his
wife would give birth to a child, and that they should name him
John.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist on June 24 comes three
months after the celebration on March 25 of the Annunciation,
when the Archangel Gabriel told Our Lady that her cousin
Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy,[3] and six months
 before the Christmas celebration of the birth of Jesus. The
purpose of these festivals is not to celebrate the exact dates
of these events, but simply to commemorate them in an
interlinking way. The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
anticipates the feast of Christmas.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist is one of the oldest
festivals of the Christian church, being listed by the Council
of Agde in 506.

All over Europe "Saint John's fires" are lighted on mountains
and hilltops on the eve of his feast. As the first day of
summer, Saint John's Day is considered in ancient folklore one
of the great "charmed" festivals of the year. Herbs are given
unusual powers of healing, which they retain if they are plucked
 during the night of the feast.