The Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist August 29th, complements the Solemnity of his birth, celebrated on June 24th. John is the cousin of Jesus. He was conceived when his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were elderly. John’s birth took place about six months prior to that of Christ and coincides with the Gospel episode of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. The motivations for John the Baptist’s martyrdom were corruption, power and hatred, called the very breath of Satan. Herodias, the wife of Herod Antipas, the former wife of his half-brother, played the primary role in his martyrdom.  John was arrested because he had denounced the sin of her illegal marriage. During the celebration of Herod’s birthday, Herodias’s daughter, Salome, performed a dance in honor of the king who remained enchanted and told her she could ask him for anything she wanted, even to half of his kingdom. After consulting her mother, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod did not want to do it but could not refuse, even though he “believed John the Baptist was a prophet”. Initially, he protected John and “liked to listen” to him. But he kept him in prison because John had accused him of the sin of adultery. Herod “heard God’s voice” in the prophet, “telling him to ‘change your life’. But his greed and corruption prevented him from putting God before himself.