[Rank]
Quarta die infra Octavam Nativitatis S. Joannis Baptistae;;Semiduplex;;2;;vide Sancti/06-24

[Rule]
vide sancti/06-24
9 lectiones

[Lectio4]
From the Sermons of St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea-in-Pontus.
!Hom ii. Ps. xxviii.)
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. What voice is this What are these waters Let us take that which is here said as a prophecy. Thou rememberest how that this is the record of John, when the Jews (sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then Art thou Elias And he saith, I am not. Art thou that Prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou that we may give an answer to them that sent us. ~(What sayest thou of thyself?) He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. (John i. 19-23; Isa. xl. 3, 4.) Therefore, John is the voice of the Lord. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before thy face (Luke vii. 27) to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (i. 17.) This voice upon the waters was heard upon those of Jordan, wherein he baptized, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (iii. 3.) Nor was this voice heard upon the waters of Jordan only, but also, in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there. (John iii. 23.)

[Lectio5]
The voice of the Lord upon the waters, then, is John upon baptism. Then also the God of glory thundereth. For (when Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan..) there came a voice from heaven, saying, This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. (Mark i. 9, II.) Then also was it true that The Lord is upon many waters when He was pleased to come from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him... to fulfil all righteousness ~(Matth. iii. 13, 15,) which is of the law. (Rom. x. 5.) The voice of the Lord is powerful powerful to heal the weaknesses of the people through the baptism of repentance, baptizing through John with water unto repentance. (Matth. iii. 11.) The voice of the Lord is powerful, which saith Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and Bring forth fruits meet for repentance. 

[Lectio6]
The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars. This may well be said of him who, being sent as a messenger before the face of the Lord, to make ready for Him a prepared people, made the crooked places straight, by breaking down and treading flat the haughty growths of ungodliness that had lifted themselves up to block out the acknowledgment of God. He by whom every valley was exalted, and every mountain and hill was made low, the same was he who broke the cedars, and made straight in the desert an highway for our God, by laying low in repentance the hearts that were haughty, and proud, and lifted up. The Lord availing Himself of that preparation, smote down at His coming every power that withstood Him, which are spoken of under a similitude as the cedars of Lebanon. For the Lord must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet, (i Cor. xv. 25,) and trodden down these cedars.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
!Luke 1:57-68
Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her and they rejoiced with her. And so on
_
From the Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
!Bk. ii. on Luke's
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied. Behold how good is God, and how ready to forgive sinners Not only doth He give back that which He hath taken away, but He addeth moreover such and such things, more than either we ask or think. He that had hitherto been dumb, now speaketh prophecy. But the greatest grace of God is in this, that he which had denied, now maketh profession. Therefore let no man despair, nay, though he well knoweth what have been his past sins, let him never give up hope of a reward from God. If thou knowest how to amend thy crooked ways, God knoweth how to turn away the judgments of His anger.

[Lectio8]
And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest. How gracefully, while as he prophesieth of the Lord, he turneth his address to the Prophet, making mention of this great mercy of the Lord along with the others, lest, while he openly gave thanks for his own benefits, he should seem to keep the silence of unthankfulness regarding those which he knew had been given to his boy. But some will perhaps deem it his folly that he addressed his discourse to a babe of eight days old. Verily, if we call to mind that John heard the voice of Mary's salutation when he was in his mother's womb, we shall understand how much rather he could hear the voice of his father now when he was born.

[Lectio9]
Zacharias knew well that a Prophet hath ears which open under the influence of the Spirit of God, instead of that of advancing age. He that had had sense to leap in the womb for joy, wanted not understanding. At the same time remark unto how many Zacharias prophesied, and though both he and his wife were filled with the Holy Ghost, yet all things are done in due order, and the woman studieth rather to learn the things of God than to teach them.
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