Almighty God, by whose providence thy servant John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of thy Son our Saviour, by preaching of repentance: Make us so to follow his doctrine and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and after his example constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
St John the Baptist is perhaps unique among all saints in that his principal feast day is his birth—his actual earthly birth—rather than his death, i.e., his “heavenly” birth. (For some saints, their principal feast is their “translation”, i.e., the moving of their relics from one location to another. This is especially true for those jurisdictions which were the destination of said translation.) However, St John’s role in the Nativity story means that his own nativity, 24 June, six months before the Nativity of our Lord, is the more familiar feast.