Advent and Saint John the Baptist - An Overlooked but Powerful and Necessary Intercessor

During Advent several years ago I learned how important it is to invite Saint John the Baptist to be a part our deepening spiritual life and especially to prepare our hearts for an outpouring of grace into our souls at Christmas. As a matter of fact, it seems to be necessary because God, Himself, has set it up this way.

St. John the Baptist is often called the “Precursor,” recalling his role in “preparing the way for the Lord.”

While he certainly did exactly that during his lifetime, he continues to help prepare the hearts of all to come to know Christ more intimately.

I learned about this from a meditation from the Magnificat Magazine. I have included it below (see To Prepare A People Fit for the Lord). After the meditation, I have included three prayers for you to choose from to pray for yourself, your family and/or your ministry in the Church. As for myself, from this point on, in addition to Jesus and Mary I will ask for the intercession of Saint John the Baptist also for everything that I do to build up the Church in myself and in others, especially my family.

TO PREPARE A PEOPLE FIT FOR THE LORD

We find displayed in John the Baptist’s life characteristics that ought to attach to all whose work is to prepare the way of the Lord. He was not simply making ready for Christ’s coming in history, his is preparing the way of the Lord whenever the Lord comes to men. He went before him even before birth; he went before him in his public life. And the Fathers of the Church tell us that he will come before him on the Last Day, that he will announce the Lord at his last coming, to judge the living and the dead. He is the herald of every one of Christ’s comings…

John the Baptist is always preparing the way of the Lord in the hearts of men and of nations. Since Christ is forever he who is to come, since the whole history of the Church, from Ascension Day to the Last Judgment, is the history of his coming in the hidden world of men’s souls, John is also forever going before him, because the pattern of things in Christ’s Incarnation is the pattern for everything that happens in his Mystical Body. Just as every grace comes to us through Mary because she could not have borne Christ without being equally the mother of his Mystical Body, so in every conversion the way has been prepared by John the Baptist…

There is always an Advent going on and this Advent is filled by John the Baptist. It is John the Baptist’s peculiar grace that he prepares the way for what is about to happen. It belongs to him specially to be there for the final preparation before every spiritual unfolding, every missionary development, every missionary awakening; and this grace of his is at work now. He it is who hastens the coming of Christ by sending out his resounding call to repentance, to conversion; and the power of his call makes men ready for Christ to come to them. It seems to me that we ought to feel this call of his as most specially pressing today.

Cardinal Jean Danielou (+1974 French Jesuit Theologian and an advisor at Vatican II)

Magnificat Magazine - December 2023 Edition - Meditation from Thursday, December 19

BELOW ARE THREE PRAYERS TO CHOOSE FROM. Pray one or pray all of them.

1. PRAYER TO SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

This traditional prayer in honor of St. John the Baptist has three parts, corresponding to the three stages of his life: his decision to go into the wilderness to practice a life of penance and mortification; his preaching to those who followed him into the wilderness, preparing their hearts for the coming of Christ; and his martyrdom at the order of King Herod.

Note the attributes of John the Baptist that are included in the prayer: He is, as Christ Himself said, the "greatest prophet born of woman"; he was freed from Original Sin in his mother's womb at the time of the Visitation of Saint Mary to Saint Elizabeth; and he is the forerunner of Christ, preparing the way of the Lord.

Prayer to St John the Baptist

O glorious Saint John the Baptist, greatest prophet among those born of woman, although thou wast sanctified in thy mother's womb and didst lead a most innocent life, nevertheless it was thy will to retire into the wilderness, there to devote thyself to the practice of austerity and penance; obtain for us of thy Lord the grace to be wholly detached, at least in our hearts, from earthly goods, and to practice Christian mortification with interior recollection and with the spirit of holy prayer.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Amen.

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

O most zealous Apostle, who, without working any miracle on others, but solely by the example of thy life of penance and the power of thy word, didst draw after thee the multitudes, in order to dispose them to receive the Messias worthily and to listen to His heavenly doctrine; grant that it may be given unto us, by means of thy example of a holy life and the exercise of every good work, to bring many souls to God, but above all those souls that are enveloped in the darkness of error and ignorance and are led astray by vice.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Amen.

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

O Martyr invincible, who, for the honor of God and the salvation of souls didst with firmness and constancy withstand the impiety of Herod even at the cost of thine own life, and didst rebuke him openly for his wicked and dissolute life; by thy prayers obtain for us a heart, brave and generous, in order that we may overcome all human respect and openly profess our faith in loyal obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ, our divine Master.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Amen.

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

V. Pray for us, Saint John the Baptist
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
O God, who hast made this day to be honorable in our eyes by the commemoration of blessed John the Baptist, grant unto Thy people the grace of spiritual joy, and direct the minds of all Thy faithful into the way of everlasting salvation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

2. BEAUTIFUL LITANY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

This simple prayer recalls the many reasons John the Baptist is regarded as a saint.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11).

John the “Forerunner,” as he is commonly referred to in the Orthodox Church, is one of the greatest saints of all time, one of the only saints whose birthday is celebrated by the Catholic Church. He had his own following before Jesus began his public ministry, and yet deemed himself not “worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of [Jesus’] sandals” (Mark 1:7).

He was a holy man and remains a powerful intercessor in Heaven. One way to pray to this man beloved by God is to pray the Litany of St. John the Baptist. It is a beautiful prayer, one that summarizes the many reasons why he is recognized as a saint.

Litany of St. John the Baptist

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.
Queen of Prophets, pray for us.
Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, precursor of Christ, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, glorious forerunner of the Sun of Justice, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, minister of baptism to Jesus, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, burning and shining lamp of the world, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, angel of purity before thy birth, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, special friend and favorite of Christ, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, heavenly contemplative, whose element was prayer, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, intrepid preacher of truth, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, voice crying in the wilderness, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, miracle of mortification and penance, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, example of profound humility, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, glorious martyr of zeal for God’s holy law, pray for us.
St. John the Baptist, gloriously fulfilling thy mission, pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

V. Pray for us, O glorious St. John the Baptist,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us Pray:
O God, Who hast honored this world by the birth of Saint John the Baptist, grant that Thy faithful people may rejoice in the way of eternal salvation, through Jesus Christ Our Lord.
R. Amen.

3. POWERFUL PRAYER TO SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

O God, You raised up St. John the Baptist to prepare a people fit for Christ. We call upon St. John’s intercession to properly prepare us and (state the name of the person or group you are praying for) ____________ with a true sense of repentance to receive Your grace and salvation. Make us and _____________faithful to Truth and justice, as You did Your servant, John the Baptist, herald of Your Son’s birth and death. Lord, may You increase Your life within us.
Amen.