St. John the Baptist, witness to a truth about marriage

Andrea Solario, Wikimedia Commons

     The post-Vatican II Missal and Breviary gave us, on the Feast of the Passion (or Beheading, Decollation) of St. John the Baptist, slightly more (in their Collects, e.g.) of what we need in our time than the pre-Vatican II Missal and Breviary had done (I include also the Anglican Collect):

Antiphon, Invitatory (Liturgy of the hours):
Come, let us worship the Lamb of God on this feast of Saint John[,] who went before Christ in life and in death.

Agnum Dei, quem in passione Ioannes præcessit, venite, adoremus.

The Lamb of God, whom in [his] passion [too] John has gone before, Come, let us adore.

Second Reading, Office of readings (Liturgy of the hours):
There is no doubt that blessed John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose forerunner he was, and gave his life for him.  His persecutor had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth.  Nevertheless, he died for Christ.  Does Christ not say:  I am the truth?  Therefore, because John shed his blood for the truth, he surely died for Christ (Homily 23 of St. Bede, Liturgy of the hours, citing CCSL 122, pp. 354, 356-357).

Neque enim dubitandum est quia beatus Ioannes pro Redemptoris nostri, quem præcurrebat testimonio, carcerem et vincula sustinuit pro ipso et animam posuit, cui non est dictum a persecutore ut Christum negaret sed ut veritatem reticeret; et tamen pro Christo occubuit.  Quia enim Christus ipse ait:  Ego sum veritas, ideo utique pro Christo, quia pro veritate sanguinem fudit.

Responsory to Reading 2, Office of Readings (Liturgy of the hours):
Herod sent out a band of men to arrest John
and had him chained and imprisoned
—on account of his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, whom he had married.
He sent an executioner who beheaded John in prison.
—On account of his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, whom he had married.

R/. Misit Herodes rex ac tenuit Ioannem et vinxit eum in carcere, * Propter Herodiadem, uxorem fratris sui, quia duxerat eam.
V/. Misso spiculatore, decollavit eum in carcere. * Propter.

Responsory to Reading 1, Matins (Breviary, 1960):
R. Herod the King sent forth, and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison, for he feared him, for Herodias' sake,
* His brother Philip's wife, for he had married her.
V. For John had rebuked Herod, for Herodias' sake.
R. His brother Philip's wife, for he had married her.

R. Misit Herodes rex manus, ac tenuit Ioannem, et vinxit eum in carcere, quia metuebat eum, propter Herodiadem,
* Quam tulerat fratri suo Philippo uxorem.
V. Arguebat Herodem Ioannes propter Herodiadem.
R. Quam tulerat fratri suo Philippo uxorem.

Antiphon to Psalm/Canticle 2, Morning Prayer (Liturgy of the hours):
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a good and holy man, and guarded him carefully.

Responsory to Reading 2, Matins (Breviary, 1960):
R. John the Baptist had rebuked Herod,
* For Herodias' sake, his brother's wife, whom he had married while his brother was yet alive.
V. Herod sent an executioner, and commanded to behead John in the prison.
R. For Herodias' sake, his brother's wife, whom he had married while his brother was yet alive.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
R. For Herodias' sake, his brother's wife, whom he had married while his brother was yet alive.

R. Ioannes Baptista arguebat Herodem
* Propter Herodiadem, quam tulerat fratri suo viventi uxorem.
V. Misso Herodes speculatore, praecepit amputari caput Ioannis in carcere.
R. Propter Herodiadem, quam tulerat fratri suo viventi uxorem.

Antiphon to Psalm/Canticle 3, Morning Prayer (Liturgy of the hours):
Although John's words disturbed him greatly, Herod enjoyed listening to John.

Reading 3, Matins (Breviary, 1960; St. Ambrose, Treatise concerning virgins):
We must not hurry past the record of blessed Baptist John. We must ask what he was; by whom he was slain; and why and how. He was a righteous man, murdered for his righteousness by adulterers. He was a judge, who suffered condemnation to death by the guilty ones because he had justly judged their guilt. He was the prophet whose death was a fee paid to a dancing-girl for a lascivious dance. And lastly a thing from which even savages would shrink his head was served up as a dish at a banquet. For the order to commit the atrocity was given amid the merriment of a dinner-party; and the servants of the murderer introduced the murder amid the courses of the meal, running from banquet to prison, and from prison to banquet! See how many infamies are contained in this one crime.

Quóniam beáti Ioánnis Baptístæ non strictim prætereúnda est recordátio, ínterest ut quis et a quibus et quam ob causam, quo modo et quo témpore sit occísus, advértere debeámus. Ab adúlteris iustus occíditur, et a reis in iúdicem capitális scéleris poena convértitur. Deínde præmium saltatrícis, mors est Prophétæ. Postrémo (quod étiam omnes bárbari horrére consuevérunt) inter épulas atque convívia consummándæ crudelitátis profértur edíctum; et a convívio ad cárcerem, de cárcere ad convívium ferális flagítii circumfértur obséquium. Quanta in uno facínore sunt crímina!

Collect (Liturgy of the hours, new Roman Missal):
O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist
should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death,
grant that, as he died a Martyr for truth and justice,
we, too, may fight hard for the confession of what you teach (2010 translation of the Roman Missal).

God our Father,
you called John the Baptist
to be the herald of your Son's birth and death.
As he gave his life in witness to truth and justice,
so may we strive to profess our faith in your gospel.

Deus, qui beatum Ioannem Baptistam et nascentis et morientis Filii tui Præcursorem esse voluisti, concede, ut, sicut ille veritatis et iustitiæ martyr occubuit, ita et nos pro tuæ confessione doctrinæ strenue certemus.

O God, who willed that Blessed John the Baptist be [and remain (voluisti, a perfect)] the Precursor of both the being-born and the dying of your Son, grant that, as he fell in death a witness to the truth and to conduct in accordance with the divine law [(iustitiae)], so we, too, may contend strenuously for the confession of your teaching [(confessio became "an acknowledgment of Christ under torture" or suffering)].

Collect (1962 Roman Missal):
May the holy festival of Thy Forerunner and Martyr, St John the Baptist, we beseech Thee, O Lord, afford us help unto salvation.

Sancti Joannis Baptistae Praecursoris et Martyris tui, quaesumus, Domine, veneranda festivitas salutaris auxilii nobis praestet effectum.


Antiphons, Lauds (Breviary, 1960):
Ant. For Herod had laid hold upon John, * and bound him, and put him in prison, for Herodias' sake.
Ant. Herodes enim tenuit * et ligavit Ioannem, et posuit in carcerem propter Herodiadem.

Ant. O Lord my King, * give me in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
Ant. Domine mi rex, * da mihi in disco caput Ioannis Baptistae.

Ant. The damsel danced, * and her mother charged her saying See thou ask nothing, but only the head of John.
Ant. Puellae saltanti * imperavit mater: Nihil aliud petas, nisi caput Ioannis.

Ant. John had rebuked Herod for Herodias' sake, * his brother Philip's wife, for he had taken her.
Ant. Arguebat Herodem * Ioannes propter Herodiadem, quam tulerat fratri suo Philippo uxorem.

Ant. Give me in a charger the head of John the Baptist. * And the King was sorry, for his oath's sake.
Ant. Da mihi in disco * caput Ioannis Baptistae: et contristatus est rex propter iusiurandum.

To the Benedictus:
Ant. Herod sent * an executioner, and commanded that John's head should be cut off in the prison. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
Ant. Misso Herodes * spiculatore, praecepit amputari caput Ioannis in carcere. Quo audito, discipuli eius venerunt, et tulerunt corpus eius, et posuerunt illud in monumento.

Antiphon to Psalm/Canticle 2, Evening Prayer (Liturgy of the hours):
He sent an executioner to behead John who was in prison.

Antiphon to Psalm/Canticle 3, Evening Prayer (Liturgy of the hours):
The disciples of John came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Intercessions, Evening Prayer (Liturgy of the hours):
You called John the Baptist to give testimony to you by his life and even by his death,
—help us to imitate his unceasing witness to your truth.

Tu, qui per martyrium Ioannis iustitiam vindicare voluisti,

—fac nos veritatem tuam indeficienter testificari.

You who, by the testimony [and martyrdom] of John, willed to demand [(vindicare)] righteousness,
—cause us to bear witness to your truth unfailingly.

Collect (The Episcopal Church):
Almightie God, by whose prouidence thy seruaunte John Baptiste was wonderfully borne, and sente to prepare the way of thy sonne our sauiour, by preaching of penaunce; make us so to folowe his doctrine and holy lyfe, that we may truely repent accordying to his preachyng; and after his example constantly speake the trueth, boldly rebuke vice, and paciently suffre for the truethes sake (1549 Book of common prayer).

Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Saviour by preaching repentance:  Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and, following his example, constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake (Lesser feasts and fasts 2000).

Cf. St. Augustine, Sermon 82.8.11-10.13.