Readings
for the Feast of

The Nativity of John the Baptist
Solemnity
June 24



MASS

         Vigil Mass


At the Vigil Mass

This Mass is used on the evening of 23 June, either before or after First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Solemnity.



ENTRANCE ANTIPHON          Lk 1: 15, 14
Hic erit magnus coram Domino, et Spiritu Sancto replebitur adhuc ex utero matris suae, et multi in nativitate eius gaudebunt.
He will be great in the sight of the Lord
and will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
even from his mother's womb;
and many will rejoice at his birth.


GLORIA


COLLECT
Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, ut familia tua per viam salutis incedat, et, beati Ioannis Praecursoris hortamenta sectando, ad eum quem praedixit, secura perveniat, Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum.
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that your family may walk in the way of salvation
and, attentive to what Saint John the Precursor urged,
may come safely to the One he foretold,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


FIRST READING          Jeremiah 1:4-10
In the days of King Josiah, the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

“Ah, Lord GOD!” I said,
“I know not how to speak; I am too young.”
But the LORD answered me,
Say not, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Have no fear before them,
because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.

Then the LORD extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying,

See, I place my words in your mouth!
This day I set you
over nations and over kingdoms,
to root up and to tear down,
to destroy and to demolish,
to build and to plant.


RESPONSORIAL PSALM          71:1-2,34a,5-6ab, 15ab, 17
De ventre matris meae tu es susceptor meus.

R. (6) Since my mother's womb, you have been my strength.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. Since my mother's womb, you have been my strength.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety, for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. Since my mother's womb, you have been my strength.
For you are my hope, O LORD;
my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother's womb you are my strength.
R. Since my mother's womb, you have been my strength.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. Since my mother's womb, you have been my strength.


SECOND READING           1 Peter 1:8-12
Beloved:
Although you have not seen Jesus Christ you love him;
even though you do not see him now yet believe in him,
you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Concerning this salvation,
prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours
searched and investigated it,
investigating the time and circumstances
that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated
when he testified in advance
to the sufferings destined for Christ
and the glories to follow them.
It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you
with regard to the things that have now been announced to you
by those who preached the Good News to you
through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,
things into which angels longed to look.



ALLELUIA          Cf. John 1:7, Luke 1:17
Hic venit ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, parare Domino plebem perfectam.
He came to testify to the light,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord.


GOSPEL          Luke 1:5-17
In the days of Herod, King of Judea,
there was a priest named Zechariah
of the priestly division of Abijah;
his wife was from the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
Both were righteous in the eyes of God,
observing all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren
and both were advanced in years.
Once when he was serving
as priest in his division’s turn before God,
according to the practice of the priestly service,
he was chosen by lot
to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.
Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside
at the hour of the incense offering,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing at the right of the altar of incense.
Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you shall name him John.
And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
John will drink neither wine nor strong drink.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb,
and he will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
to turn their hearts toward their children
and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”


CREDO


PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Munera populi tui, Domine, propitius intende, in beati Ioannis Baptistae sollemnitate delata, et praesta, ut, quae mysterio gerimus, debitae servitutis actione sectemur.
Look with favor, O Lord,
upon the offerings made by your people
on the Solemnity of Saint John the Baptist,
and grant that what we celebrate in mystery
we may follow with deeds of devoted service.
Through Christ our Lord.


PREFACE           The mission of the Precursor

Vere dignum et iustum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere: Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens aeterne Deus: per Christum Dominum nostrum. In cuius Praecursore beato Ioanne tuam magnificentiam collaudamus, quem inter natos mulierum honore praecipuo consecrasti. Qui cum nascendo multa gaudia praestitisset, et nondum editus exsultasset ad humanae salutis adventum, ipse solus omnium prophetarum Agnum redemptionis ostendit. Sed et sanctificandis etiam aquae fluentis ipsum baptismatis lavit auctorem, et meruit fuso sanguine supremum illi testimonium exhibere. Et ideo, cum caelorum virtutibus, in terris te iugiter praedicamus, maiestati tuae sine fine clamantes: Sanctus.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.

In his Precursor, Saint John the Baptist,
we praise your great glory,
for you consecrated him for a singular honor
among those born of women.

His birth brought great rejoicing;
even in the womb he leapt for joy
at the coming of human salvation.
He alone of all the prophets
pointed out the Lamb of redemption.

And to make holy the flowing waters,
he baptized the very author of Baptism
and was privileged to bear him supreme witness
by the shedding of his blood.

And so, with the Powers of heaven,
we worship you constantly on earth,
and before your majesty
without end we acclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts . . .


COMMUNION ANTIPHON          Lk 1: 68
Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, quia visitavit et fecit redemptionem plebis suae.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!
He has visited his people and redeemed them.


PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Sacris dapibus satiatos, beati Ioannis Baptistae nos, Domine, praeclara comitetur oratio, et, quem Agnum nostra ablaturum crimina nuntiavit, ipsum Filium tuum poscat nobis fore placatum.
May the marvelous prayer of Saint John the Baptist
accompany us who have eaten our fill
at this sacrificial feast, O Lord,
and, since Saint John proclaimed your Son
to be the Lamb who would take away our sins,
may he implore now for us your favor.
Through Christ our Lord.




Mass during the Day

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON          Jn 1: 6-7; Lk 1: 17
Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Ioannes. Hic venit, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, parare Domino plebem perfectam.
A man was sent from God, whose name was John.
He came to testify to the light,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord.


GLORIA


COLLECT
Deus, qui beatum Ioannem Baptistam suscitasti, ut perfectam plebem Christo Domino praepararet, da populis tuis spiritalium gratiam gaudiorum, et omnium fidelium mentes dirige in viam salutis et pacis.
O God, who raised up Saint John the Baptist
to make ready a nation fit for Christ the Lord,
give your people, we pray,
the grace of spiritual joys
and direct the hearts of all the faithful
into the way of salvation and peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


FIRST READING          Isaiah 49:1-6
Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.


RESPONSORIAL PSALM          Ps. 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
Confitebor tibi, quia mirabiliter plasmatus sum.

R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.


SECOND READING           Acts 13:22-26
In those days, Paul said:
“God raised up David as king;
of him God testified,
'I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.'
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’

“My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent.”


ALLELUIA          Luke 1:76
Tu puer, propheta Altissimi vocaberis: praeibis ante faciem Dominum parare vias eius.
You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.


GOSPEL          Luke 1:57-66,80
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.

When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.

All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.


CREDO


PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Tua, Domine, muneribus altaria cumulamus, illius nativitatem honore debito celebrantes, qui Salvatorem mundi et cecinit affuturum, et adesse monstravit.
We place these offerings on your altar, O Lord,
to celebrate with fitting honor the nativity of him
who both foretold the coming of the world’s Savior
and pointed him out when he came.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.


PREFACE           The mission of the Precursor
Vere dignum et iustum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere: Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens aeterne Deus: per Christum Dominum nostrum. In cuius Praecursore beato Ioanne tuam magnificentiam collaudamus, quem inter natos mulierum honore praecipuo consecrasti. Qui cum nascendo multa gaudia praestitisset, et nondum editus exsultasset ad humanae salutis adventum, ipse solus omnium prophetarum Agnum redemptionis ostendit. Sed et sanctificandis etiam aquae fluentis ipsum baptismatis lavit auctorem, et meruit fuso sanguine supremum illi testimonium exhibere. Et ideo, cum caelorum virtutibus, in terris te iugiter praedicamus, maiestati tuae sine fine clamantes: Sanctus.

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right and just.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.

In his Precursor, Saint John the Baptist,
we praise your great glory,
for you consecrated him for a singular honor
among those born of women.

His birth brought great rejoicing;
even in the womb he leapt for joy
at the coming of human salvation.
He alone of all the prophets
pointed out the Lamb of redemption.

And to make holy the flowing waters,
he baptized the very author of Baptism
and was privileged to bear him supreme witness
by the shedding of his blood.

And so, with the Powers of heaven,
we worship you constantly on earth,
and before your majesty
without end we acclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts . . .


COMMUNION ANTIPHON          Lk 1: 78
Per viscera misericordiae Dei nostri, visitavit nos Oriens ex alto.
Through the tender mercy of our God,
the Dawn from on high will visit us.


PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Caelestis Agni convivio refecti, quaesumus, Domine, ut Ecclesia tua, sumens de beati Ioannis Baptistae generatione laetitiam, quem ille praenuntiavit venturum, suae regenerationis cognoscat auctorem.
Having feasted at the banquet of the heavenly Lamb,
we pray, O Lord,
that, finding joy in the nativity of Saint John the Baptist,
your Church may know as the author of her rebirth
the Christ whose coming John foretold.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.


The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.



 
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