medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Phil:
In answer to your first question, 24 June (octavo kalendas Julii) was
chosen for John's natal day as being exactly six months before the birth
of Christ on 25 December (octavo kalendas Julii). The feast is very old.
St Augustine, among others, points to the six month interval as the
explanation of its position in the calendar.
Cheers,
Martin Howley
Martin Howley, Humanities Librarian, Tel: (709) 737-8514
QE II Library, Memorial Univ of Newfoundland FAX: (709) 737-2153
St John's, NFLD, Canada A1B 3Y1 E-mail:[log in to unmask]
On Mon, 25 Jun 2001, Phil Feller wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> I have a question about the date chosen for celebrating the feast of
> the birth of John the Baptist. Luke 1:36 dictates that the feast
> would need to be sometime in June, to properly coordinate with the
> feast of the Nativity. Does anyone have any idea why June 24 was chosen?
[SNIP]...
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