PY338BSP St John The Baptist #338

Each beautifully designed medal is stamped in heavy gauge bronze and finished in a heavy silver plating that is thick enough to be engraved. The medals are rubbed with a soft patina to give them the distinct 'Py look.'

Born somewhere around 6-2 BC

Died around 30 AD

Venerated in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Anglicanism, and Islam

Feast Day June 24 (Birth). August 29th (Beheading)

Patron Saint of French Canada, Newfoundland, Puerto Rico, Florence and others

Usually depicted as or with the following: Cross, Lamb, camel-skin robe

John the Baptist was the son of Zachary, and Elizabeth, a kinswoman of Mary who visited her. He was probably born at Ain-Karim southwest of Jerusalem after the Angel Gabriel had told Zachary that his wife would bear a child even though she was an old woman.

He lived as a hermit in the desert of Judea until about A.D. 27. When he was thirty, he began to preach on the banks of the Jordan. St. John was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of Baptism. John followed the example of previous Hebrew prophets, living austerely, challenging sinful rulers, calling for repentance, and promising God's justice.

John is regarded as a prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Baha'i Faith, and Mandaeism.

All four Gospels(in Christianity) record John the Baptist's ministry. They depict him as proclaiming Christ's arrival.

John's baptism was a purification rite for repentant sinners, performed in "living water" (in this case a running river) in accord with Jewish custom. John anticipated a messianic figure who would be greater than himself.[ Jesus was among those whom John baptized. It has been suggested that Jesus may have been a follower of John. Herod Antipas saw John as a threat and had him executed. Jesus ministry followed John's, and some of Jesus' early followers had previously been followers of John. John, like Jesus, preached at a time of political, social, and religious conflict.

Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Perea and Galilee, had him arrested and imprisoned at Machaerus Fortress on the Dead Sea when John denounced his adulterous and incestuous marriage with Herodias, wife of his half brother Philip. John was beheaded at the request of Salome, daughter of Herodias, who asked for his head at the instigation of her mother.

Picture Shown is not actual size. Approximate size of medal is smaller, about 7/8" in diameter (the size of a nickel).