---
title: "St. John the Baptist: Feast Day June 24, Life & Quotes"
url: https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/
description: "St. John the Baptist, Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord, patron of baptism and conversion. Feast day June 24, died c. 30. Their life and sourced quotes."
---

Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord · Feast day June 24

# St. John the Baptist

The feast day of St. John the Baptist is June 24, a solemnity in the US Catholic calendar. Traditionally invoked as patron of baptism and conversion. Below: a short life and 3 sourced quotations in their own words.

|  |  |
|---|---|
| Feast day | [June 24](https://blessbible.app/saints/june/#24) |
| In the US calendar | Solemnity |
| Title | Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord |
| Died | c. 30 |
| Patron of | [baptism](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#baptism), [conversion](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#conversion) |
| In their own words | [3 sourced quotations](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#words) |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | [Thursday, June 24, 2027](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#calendar) |

## Life

The son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who leapt in the womb at the approach of Christ and grew up to be the voice crying in the wilderness. All four Gospels open his preaching: repent, for the kingdom is at hand.

He baptized the Lord in the Jordan, pointed his own disciples away from himself — ‘He must increase, while I must decrease’ — and was beheaded by Herod for saying a king’s marriage was unlawful. The Church keeps both his birth in June and his passion in August.

## Patron of

Tradition invokes St. John the Baptist as patron of baptism and conversion.

[Baptism](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#baptism) [Conversion](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#conversion)

Patronages are traditional, not an official list. [All patron saints in Bless, A to Z](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/).

## In their own words

Each quotation names the work it comes from. Bless quotes these in the comments beside the verses listed under [In Scripture](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#scripture).

> He must increase, while I must decrease.

— *John 3:30 (CPDV)*, c. 30

> Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold, he who takes away the sin of the world.

— *John 1:29 (CPDV)*, c. 30

> Repent. For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.

— *Matthew 3:2 (CPDV)*, c. 30

## In Scripture

In Bless, St. John the Baptist’s words appear in the comments beside these verses. This page’s labels say how each is linked: “on this verse” means the saint wrote about that very verse; “on this theme” means the quotation shares its theme. Scripture is quoted from the Catholic Public Domain Version.

1. On this theme
   > and saying: “Repent. For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”
   — [Matthew 3:2](https://blessbible.app/bible/matthew/3/#v2) · CPDV
   Beside their words: [“Repent. For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#q192)
2. On this theme
   > On the next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and so he said: “Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold, he who takes away the sin of the world.
   — [John 1:29](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/1/#v29) · CPDV
   Beside their words: [“Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold, he who takes away the sin of the world.”](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#q191)
3. On this theme
   > He must increase, while I must decrease.
   — [John 3:30](https://blessbible.app/bible/john/3/#v30) · CPDV
   Beside their words: [“He must increase, while I must decrease.”](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#q190)

## In the calendar

The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows St. John the Baptist. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.

| Date | In the US calendar | Color | Mass readings (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Thursday, June 24, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/06/24/) | Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Solemnity) | White | Isaiah 49:1-6 · Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15 · Acts 13:22-26 · See Luke 1:76 · Luke 1:57-66, 80 |
| [Saturday, June 24, 2028](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2028/06/24/) | Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Solemnity) | White | Isaiah 49:1-6 · Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15 · Acts 13:22-26 · See Luke 1:76 · Luke 1:57-66, 80 |
| [Tuesday, August 29, 2028](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2028/08/29/) | Passion of St. John the Baptist (Memorial) | Red | 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-17 · Psalm 96:10, 11-12, 13 · Matthew 5:10 · Mark 6:17-29 |

Readings

Later citations were computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

[June 23 St. Joseph Cafasso](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-joseph-cafasso/) [June 25 St. William of Vercelli](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-william-of-vercelli/)

[All the saints of June](https://blessbible.app/saints/june/) [Born on June 24?](https://blessbible.app/saints/birthday/#06-24) [A saint for every day](https://blessbible.app/saints/)

Spotted a mistake in a date, a patronage or a quotation? [Report an error](https://blessbible.app/support/#report) and we’ll fix it in the app and here.

St. John the Baptist

Feast day June 24

On this page

1. [Life](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#life)
2. [Patron of](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#patron)
3. [In their own words](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#words)
4. [In Scripture](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#scripture)
5. [In the calendar](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-the-baptist/#calendar)

In the app

Bless shows a saint every day on its Today screen, with their life and their words. Free on iPhone.
