> From: Steven Cartwright [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>
> My understanding of the placement of John the Baptist's feastday on June
> 24th, with specific reference to the solstice, is that it has to do with
> John's words in the gospel of John: "He must increase, and I must
> decrease." After the summer solstice, the days begin getting shorter
> again, i.e., they decrease until the winter solstice, the time of
> Christmas, when the days begin to lengthen again.
>
Thank you for answering my question and offering this information. I
hadn't thought of this but it makes sense.
> I think also that's why Christmas was placed around the solstice. It took
> the place of the Roman festival of sol invictus, and represented the
> return of light to the world in the birth of Christ.
>
It probably contributed to the pros of celebrating Jesus' birth
then, as opposed to the other dates that were used by one group or another
before they settled on Dec 25.
BTW, do you know when the feast of John was first associated with 24
June?
Francine Nicholson
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