Solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist

 It intrigues me that the Church celebrates this feast day as a solemnity. There are only two other birthdays celebrated liturgically in the Roman calendar - Christmas on 25 December, which is a solemnity and holy day of obligation, and 8 September which is the Nativity of Our Lady which is classified as a feast. I would have thought that Our Lady's birthday would therefore be considered a solemnity. Instead, I think we have the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady which is a solemnity but not, in New Zealand, a holy day of obligation. The latter is related to the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 15 August which is the patronal feast of New Zealand and a holyday of obligation. The reason for St John the Baptist to have this honour I think is related to the high regard in which the saint was held by Our Lord who said of him: "Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater that John the Baptist." (Mtt 11: 11) Furthermore, in the second reading for the Office of readings for today in the Divine Office St Augustine tells us how St John the Baptist plays a pivotal role in the transition from the Old Testament to the New: " John marks the frontier between the Old and the New Testaments. The Lord speaks of him as the boundary line....". It is John who is the precursor: "John was a 'voice', but in the beginning the Lord was the Word. John was a voice for a time: but Christ, who in the beginning was the Word, is the Word in eternity."