All creation groaned in anticipation of the coming of the Word, and the babe leapt in Elizabeth’s womb! St. John the Forerunner—you who made straight the way before the Way—intercede for us and for all the unborn on this day, as a possible decision in the courts looms. With your nativity, the barrenness of your mother was destroyed and the silence of your father broken at long last—we sing with you, Baptizer: let our mouths be filled with Thy praise and let the waters of true Life flow through our barren souls!