While on June 24th, the church celebrates with joy the birth of St John the Baptist, today it celebrates with sadness his martyrdom. It is very distressing and heart-breaking to hear the story of the beheading of the Baptist, the result of a pretty dance by a young ballerina. What would a young girl ask for as a gift for her well-performed dance? A necklace, a diamond bracelet, pretty sandals for her feet, a silk dress, some jewelry....? Certainly not the head of a person she never met! But jealousy by her mother caused the death of a beloved saint, and today we honor him. We have one huge church dedicated to him in the Maltese islands, precisely the domed church at Xewkija in Gozo, where a few paintings by Paul Camilleri Cauchi honor him, as is fitting, including the one represented here. John takes center stage before Christmas and after Christmas, as he prepares the way for the Lord’s coming, and calls the people for conversion, to repent and to reform their lives. Another massive painting of his martyrdom is in the oratory of St John’s Cathedral in Valletta, the masterpiece by Caravaggio, which I have featured several times in past blogs on this day.
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