Passion of St. John the Baptist
On the twenty-ninth of August the Church recalls the martyrdom of John the Baptist, beheaded by Herod Antipas at the fortress of Machaerus around the year 30 because he had publicly denounced the tetrarch's incestuous marriage to his brother's wife Herodias. The dance of Salome and the platter bearing the head of the prophet have remained, for two thousand years, one of the most pictured scenes of the New Testament. John, the last of the prophets, was the first martyr for the holiness of marriage and for the truth that no political power stands above the law of God.