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The Beheading of St. John the Baptist | 1962 Missal | Latin Mass Readings | 8/29/2026 · Vox Liturgica

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  Vox Liturgica: The propers of the day according to the 1962 Roman Missal. The beheading of Saint John the Baptist, August 29 in the year of our Lord 2026.
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  Of today's feast, Dom Gaspar Lefebvre writes the following. After having solemnized on June 24, the joyous birth of Saint John the Baptist, the church today honors his glorious birth in heaven. Accepting our Lord and the blessed virgin, he is the only saint whose birth is honored.
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  For Saint John the Baptist holds in the worship of the church, the first rank after the angels. John the precursor who had passed thirty years in the desert where he had flourished like the palm tree and grown like the cedar of Livanus had the courage openly to reproach Herod with the scandal of his illegitimate union with Herodias, his sister-in-law whose husband Philip was still alive. It is against the law, he said to the king, for you to take the wife of your brother. Herodias forced Herod to imprison him and used an unexpected opportunity to obtain through her daughter Salome the beheading of the saint who thwarted her criminal passion. On this day Saint John completes his mission adding to the testimony he gave Christ at his baptism, the testimony of his martyrdom.
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  He was put to death towards the feast of Easter one year before the passion of Jesus. But the anniversary is psalmized on this day when his venerable head was found at a mesa in Syria in the year of our Lord 453, it is related by ancient authors that on a winter's day when Salome was dancing on a frozen river, the ice broke and closing again cut off the head of the immodest dancer. Of today's commemorated saint, Saint Sabina, the Roman murderology says at Rome, the birth in heaven of Saint Sabina, murder, who was struck by the sword under the emperor Hadrian and won the palm of martyrdom in the year of our Lord 126. In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost. Amen.
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  The introit. Fearlessly did I talk of thy decrees in the presence of kings and was never abashed. Fain would I have all my study in the law I love. Sweet it is to praise the Lord, to sing most high God in honor of thy name. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and will be through all ages of ages.
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  Amen. Fearlessly did I talk of thy decrees in the presence of kings and was never abashed. Fain would I have all my study in the law I love. The Collect, let us pray. May the August festival of Saint John the Baptist, thy precursor and martyr, we beseech thee, o Lord, affect for us the furtherance of our salvation who liveth and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God through all ages of ages.
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  Amen. A commemoration of Saint Sabina, God, who among other miracles of thy power has conferred the victory of martyrdom even upon fragile women. Mercifully grant that we who celebrate the natal feast of blessed Sabina, thy virgin and martyr may advance toward thee through her example, through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy son who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God through all ages of ages. Amen. A lesson from the prophet Jeremiah.
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  In those days, the word of the Lord came to me. Gird up thy loins, bestir thyself, and deliver to Judah all the charge I am giving thee. Do not be afraid of them as thou wouldst not have me shame thee before them. I mean to give thee strength this day. Strength as of a fortified city or iron pillar or brazen wall to confront the whole land.
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  Princes of Judah and priests and people. All will be thy adversaries but they shall not master thee. I will be at thy side, the Lord says, to bring thee deliverance. The gradual, the just man shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow to greatness like the cedars of Lebanon to show forth thy mercy in the morning and thy truth in the night.
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  Alleluia. Alleluia. The faithful man will burgeon like the lily. He will blossom in the Lord's sight forever. Alleluia.
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  A continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Mark. At that time, Herod had sent and arrested John and put him in prison in chains for the love of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife whom he had married. Because John had told Herod, it is wrong for thee to take thy brother's wife. Herodias was always plotting against him and would willingly have murdered him but could not because Herod was afraid of John recognizing him for an upright and holy man so that he kept him carefully and followed his advice in many things and was glad to listen to him. And now came a fitting occasion upon which Herod gave a birthday feast to his lords and officers and to the chief men of Galilee.
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  Herodias' own daughter came in and danced and gave such pleasure to Herod and his guests that the king said to the girl, ask me for whatever thou wilt and thou shalt have it. He even bound himself by an oath. I will grant whatever request thou makest though it were a half of my kingdom. Thereupon she went out and said to her mother, what shall I ask for? And she answered, the head of John the Baptist.
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  With that, she hastened into the king's presence and made her request. My will is, she said, that thou should give me the head of John the Baptist. Give it me now on a dish. And the king was full of remorse. But out of respect to his oath and to those who sat with him at table he would not disappoint her.
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  So he sent one of his guard with orders that the head should be brought on a dish. This soldier cut off his head in the prison and brought it on a dish and gave it to the girl and the girl gave it to her mother. When John's disciples heard of it, they came and carried off his body and laid it in a tomb. The offertory. The just man shall flourish like the palm tree.
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  He shall grow to greatness like the cedars of Lebanon. The secret. We pray, Lord, that the offerings we bring thee to commemorate the sufferings of thy holy martyr, John the Baptist, may, for his sake, bring us nearer to salvation. A commemoration of Saint Sabina. Lord graciously accept the sacrificial gifts that have been dedicated for thee for the sake of thy blessed martyr Sabina and grant that we may find in them a never failing source of help through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God through all ages of ages.
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  Amen. The common preface. Just it is indeed and fitting, right in for our salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, Oh, holy Lord, father almighty, everlasting God, through whom the angels praise thy majesty. The dominions worship it. The power stand in awe.
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  The heavens and the hosts of heaven together with the blessed Seraphim joyfully do magnify. We entreat thee that thou command it be permitted us to join with them in confessing thee while we say with lowly praise. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. The heavens and the earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
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  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. The communion. Thou hast set a jeweled crown, o Lord, upon his head. The post communion.
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  Let us pray. May the festival of Saint John the Baptist bring us grace, so that in partaking of this wondrous Eucharist, we may both revere its meaning and rejoice at its fulfillment in ourselves. A commemoration of Saint Sabina. Filled with the abundance of thy divine gift, we pray thee, Lord our God, that at the intercession of thy blessed martyr Sabina, it may be our bread of life forevermore through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God through all ages of ages. Amen.
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  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Saint John the Baptist, pray for us. Saint Sabina, pray for us.