The Benedictus is the name given to Zachary’s canticle of praise. It is a splendid song of thanksgiving for the blessing of redemption, and is therefore daily recited by the priests of the Church in their office at Lauds. In this prayer Zachary exhibits a truly priestly mind. He does not think of himself or of his own happiness, or of the honour which was brought to him by the birth of such a son. His thoughts are occupied by the salvation which God had prepared for the whole world; and he regards his son only in the light of the prophet and precursor, whose birth heralded the near approach of the Saviour.
Birthdays and feast-days. The Church celebrates the nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24th. In the case of other Saints it is not the day of their birth, but the day of their death which is solemnized, this last being the day of their entry into the glory of heaven. The nativity of only two Saints is celebrated, namely, that of our Lady (Sept. 8th), because she was conceived without the stain of sin, and that of St. John the Baptist, because he was filled with the Holy Ghost before his birth, and was thereby cleansed from original sin. We all come into the world the children of wrath, infected by the taint of original sin, and for this reason Catholics do not celebrate their natural birthday so much as the day of their supernatural birth, or their feast-day, i. e. the feast of the Saint whose name they received in Baptism. On our feast-day we should thank God not only for having given to us and preserved the life of our body, but also for that supernatural and eternal life to which we were born again in holy Baptism, being hereby made members of His holy Church and heirs of heaven. The name of a Saint was given to us in Baptism, in order that he whose name we bear may intercede for us with God, and that we may have a model before us to imitate.
Application. John came into the world in a state of grace, and grew daily in grace and virtue. You, indeed, came into the world in a state of original sin, but by Baptism this sin was taken from you, and you received sanctifying grace. But have you never lost that grace by mortal sin f Have you spent the years of your youth in piety and the fear of God, or in thoughtlessness and forgetfulness of God ? Oh, do not desecrate the beautiful years of your youth by sin and folly, or you will bitterly repent it some day, and, full of sorrow, will exclaim: “Give back to me my youth. Oh, would that I had better employed the years of my youth!” “Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Eccles. 12, 1).
