"YOU SHALL GO AHEAD OF THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS..."

With each place we visit we can feel ourselves coming closer and closer to Calvary.  However, before there was Christ on Calvary there was his precursor.  Today we visited the birthplace of St. John the Baptist.  This was a remarkable site that captivated us all.  We began the visit with a reading of John's birth outside the Church.  

Benedictus (Canticle of Zachariah)

Once we entered the church itself, certainly a work of art, but the real prize was yet to be seen.  In the back corner of this beautiful church was a small cave with an altar in the back.  Under this altar was a small star that marked the birth place of John the Baptist -  Christ's herald.  We felt blessed and humbled to be in such a place.  

                                                 St. John the Baptist's place of birth

Here was a man who would help God to pave the way for Christ's coming, and here was a group of seminarians who had come to venerate this spot before they themselves set out to pave the way for his second coming.  Of course this site pales in comparison to the birthplace of Christ, but I am pretty sure that is how John would have wanted it, as it was he who said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”