For thousands of years, man would set out into the wilderness to cultivate silence and encounter the Divine. He seemed to know in his bones that in order to get a glimpse of the mysteries of eternity, he must first detach himself from everything else.

There have always been places so removed from human society that the natural and supernatural seem to meet there in space and time–where we can peer beyond the veil separating us from eternity. It was in such a place, on the far side of the Jordan River, that the son of Zachariah baptized the Son of God.

Even if we don’t wander into the remotest wilderness, and make it only as far as our own backyard—perhaps a little before dawn on a misty morning—we still may have such an encounter. The noise, chatter, and worries of the everyday world fade away from our minds, and we see that every single thing in the universe, from great to small, contains the fingerprint of the Divine Master. The more rightly ordered our spiritual life, the more harmoniously these two worlds will exist for us—as they did for our first parents in Paradise.

The Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist occurs right after the longest day of the year. For the next six months, night falls earlier and lasts longer each day until we are waking up in a world that is still dark. Finally, in December, we reach the Nativity of our Lord, when the days grow longer once again.

The very motion of our planet proclaims the prophecy: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John, 3:30).

If the sky is prophet, so too is the earth. The humblest summer blossoms at our feet also echo the life of the Baptist. The little yellow wayside flower called “St. John’s wort” is so named because its bloom time lasts roughly from the time of St. John’s Nativity on June 24 until the feast of his Passion on August 29th.

On seeing Christ in the wilderness, the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold the lamb of God!” The light-seeking St. John’s wort reflects this in its own way, turning to follow the sun as it rises in the East and traverses the sky throughout the day. But if the flower is torn off and crushed, it drips with a dark red sap, echoing the Baptist’s beheading and blood.

This theme of nature pervades the Gospel narrative of St. John the Baptist, which takes place entirely outdoors, until he is imprisoned. But as Our Lord remarked, the throngs of people who sought out St. John did not go there for the scenery, to see “a reed shaken with the wind.”

They went for the one thing they could not get anywhere else–especially not from “the men in soft garments” in palaces or synagogues. They went to retreat from all worldly distraction, to better hear the voice of repentance: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths!” The Baptist’s message of preparation could have come only from one who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, who lived alone, in a cave, on the far side of the river, indifferent to worldly persuasions, unshaken by the wind.

The tradition that John lived in the wilderness since his early childhood is based on St. Luke’s account: “And the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel.” (Luke 1:80).

The place where St. John chose to fulfill his mission was not some arbitrary patch of sand along the Jordan River. Its history is deeply tied to the Old Testament: Overlooking the spot is the hill where Elias was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot.

Since Gospel times, pilgrims have visited, hermits inhabited, and historians studied that exact place where Christ was baptized by John, located about five miles north of the Dead Sea. Today it is called Al-Maghtas. According to John 1:28, in biblical times, it was called “Bethany beyond the Jordan.”

In the 12th century, a pilgrim from Kiev called Abbot Daniel traveled to the Holy Land, keeping extensive records of the sacred places he visited. He writes:

“Not far away from the river, at a distance of two arrow throws, is the place where the Prophet Elijah was taken into Heaven in a chariot of fire. There is also the grotto of Saint John the Baptist. A beautiful, strong, fast stream . . . full of water flows over the stones. The water is very cold and has a very good taste; it is the water that John drank while he lived in the holy grotto.”

That place has recently been excavated after being buried for about five hundred years, neglected since the fifteenth century because of wars, bandits, and natural disaster. Several churches have been discovered, including one over the cave where St. John lived, and another with steps leading right down to the old river (as it ran in the first century A.D., somewhat east of where it currently flows).

This location at the base of Elias’ hill would have strangely affected those waiting for the Messiah–who knew from Jewish Scripture that Elias would precede the Messiah. After somewhat cryptically telling his disciples: “And if you will receive it, he is Elias that is to come.” (Matthew 11:14) Christ offers further clarification:

“And his disciples asked Him, saying: ‘Why, then, do the scribes say that Elias must come first?’

“But He answering, said to them: ‘Elias indeed shall come, and restore all things. But I say to you, that Elias is already come, and they knew him not, But have done unto him whatsoever they had a mind. So also the Son of man shall suffer from them.’ Then the disciples understood, that He had spoken to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:10-13)

They understood because they knew where John the Baptist had lived, and preached, and baptized—right at the foot of the hill where Elias had been taken up to heaven. This is the place, in space and time, where the Old Testament met, recognized, and proclaimed, the New.