Russian nineteenth century icon of the head of St. John

Today is the feast of the beheading of St. John the Baptist. He was decapitated by order of the tetrarch Herod Antipas after being imprisoned by condemning the tetrarch's illicit marriage to the former wife of his half-brother, Philip. Herod himself seemed to take strange pleasure in hearing the Baptist's sermons, but Herodias, his wife, and her daughter Salome, were greatly perturbed by this and schemed to have him killed. The famous story of the prurient dance of the Seven Veils and Herod's rash and criminal oath to his step-daughter are already well-known. The story itself has been told and re-told and had a peculiar (and perhaps somewhat grotesque) resonance among the decadent authors of the turn of the last century, having been celebrated in Richard Strauss's Salome which perhaps over-romanticizes the tale, as well as the strange and sinister illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley for Oscar Wilde's own French-language retelling of the story (Wilde himself threatened to defect to France if his strange play was banned in England). The decapitation of the Forerunner also plays a great role in the Grail legends, and of the four Grail hallows (the chalice, the lance, the platter and the sword), one of them, the sword, is almost always said to be that which decapitated him, while in several versions the platter is said to also be that on which his head was placed after his death. He is the patron of the Knights Hospitallers, now known as the Order of Malta, whose three-story building in Rome is considered the smallest sovereign nation on earth.

Today is also the feast of St. Merry or Medericus of Autun, an eighth-century Benedictine whose reputation for holiness became so troublesome he actually ran away from the monastery to become a hermit. He later returned after his brethren discovered his hideout. He is shown in art as an abbot with prisoners and chains near him. He may also be shown experiencing a vision of God the Father or teaching monks. Today is also the feast of St. Sabina, the titular of the Dominican church of Santa Sabina in Rome, and indeed St. Dominic is said to have been greatly devoted to her. The basilica is said to have been built on the site of her house, as before her martyrdom, she was a rich Roman widow who gave over her residence to Christian worship during the persecutions. A patroness of Rome, she also watches over children who have difficulty in walking and of housewives and is invoked against hemorrhage. Today is also the feast of St. Sebbe, King of the East Saxons, the husband of St. Osyth and a hermit after resigning his crown in 694. He is said to be the founder of the first monastery at Westminster. The Catholic Forum saints' calender also lists a saint venerated today named "Hyperdulia," but that has got to be some sort of weird mistake. I mean, really.