St. John the Baptist is a soul so ardently Marian that, even in his mother’s womb, he rendered Our Lady a pronounced act of devotion. He is the apostle, the faithful disciple, the perfect devotee of the Blessed Virgin, who hears her voice, discerns in Her the first echoes of the voice of the Lamb of God whom he is to announce, and he trembles for sheer joy.
Therefore, we should venerate in St. John the Baptist the model of a true and perfect devotee of Our Lady, asking him to make us perfect devotees of Her. And let us have the ears of our soul attuned so that, when we hear the voice of Mary Most Holy, we also tremble with jubilation, such that a request from Her never finds us reluctant, unhappy, annoyed, unwilling to attend Her. On the contrary, may her voice make us tremble with joy, even when She speaks an austere word of renunciation, sacrifice and suffering.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
St. John the Baptist as a child – Parish of St. John the Baptist, Figueiró dos Vinhos (Portugal)
