29 august: the beheading of john the forerunner

john is the only person other than jesus and the theotokos whose day of birth and day of falling asleep are celebrated. because his birth is midsummer's, and comes six months from christmas, it is seldom missed. his beheading is less important in the western church. indeed the story was skipped a few weeks ago in the new revised common lectionary.

but if one notices the great importance of john in the gospels as the last of the prophets, the head of the old testament, as it were, then it is hard to pay too much attention to the story of his beheading.