Adam's on the front porch watching one of those Oklahoma sunsets that make you forgive the state for everything else. Dave pulls up. Walks toward the house, chest out, confident, ready to record. Adam asks the only question that matters: did you bring the equipment? He did not. New baby syndrome. Joshua got his first bath that night, Lady Pamela's still on the mend and bending over a tub isn't on the menu yet, and somewhere between bathing the kids and getting out the door, the recording gear stayed home. So Dave logged a solid hour of windshield time driving back and forth across town to fetch it. The baby's worth it. Six days old and already back to birth weight, sleeping three hours at a stretch, an almost unfairly easy kid for a man who's had colicky ones before.
The pour is a curveball: Saltire, a 14-year independent bottling distilled at Tomar, a first-fill Oloroso sherry cask. It's a Speyside, but nobody at the table would've guessed it. It drinks salty, like saltwater taffy, like it grew up near the ocean. The notes promise polished leather, dried cherries, tobacco, and, if you add water, burnt sugar, hazelnut, and "speckled chocolate milk," a phrase that derailed the conversation for a solid minute because nobody could agree what speckled chocolate milk is supposed to be. Cheers to Jesus. We're on the winning side.
Then Adam reaches past the planned backbiting episode, grabs Francis Weiser's Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs off the shelf, and lands on something better: the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24th.
Here's the hook that got him. The Church only celebrates three birthdays. Jesus. Our Lady. And John the Baptist. Everybody else gets honored on the day they die, because for a saint that's the real birthday, the day they enter eternal life. So why John? The tradition says all three were born free from original sin. John wasn't conceived without it like Jesus and Mary, but he was sanctified in the womb when he leapt at the sound of Our Lady's voice at the Visitation. Born clean. St. Augustine treats it as a settled tradition, and if the Fathers are in, the guys are in.
The logic of the date is the part that'll stick with you. June 24th rides the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and from there the light starts to wane all the way down to Christmas and the winter solstice, when it turns and climbs again. John said it himself: I must decrease, so that He must increase. That's not just a calendar coincidence. It's a map of the soul. The more room you take up in your own heart, the less there is for Christ. If you want Him to be king there, you've got to get out of the way.
Then the fun: how to actually live it. Put it on the calendar and get to Mass. Pray the Benedictus as a family and light a candle. Build a bonfire on the eve, John the Baptist is one of the three fires on the Catholic year. Feed the kids honey sticks and, if you're brave, dried crickets, locusts and wild honey, desert food. Make it the anchor of your summer. This is the Establish pillar in the flesh, the small traditions that hand your kids an identity they'll carry for life. Catholic spice. Raise your glass.
TOPICS COVERED
Dave forgets the recording equipment thanks to "new baby syndrome," and logs an hour of windshield time driving back for it
Joshua Niles at six days old, back to birth weight and sleeping three hours at a stretch, an unfairly easy baby
Lady Pamela still recovering, and a dad bathing the kids to take the load off
The aside on Irish twins, baby formula, and why breastfeeding affects fertility
Elizabeth Niles getting blessed by Pope Leo, and which popes "bless with their kisses"
Whiskey of the week: Saltire 14-year, an independent bottling distilled at Tomar, first-fill Oloroso sherry cask
A Speyside that drinks salty, like saltwater taffy, and the mystery of "speckled chocolate milk"
Dave's wheat experiment, tripling the planting and cutting it by hand with a scythe, and the open call for a small-scale wheat-farming expert to email the show
The broody-hen saga, abandoned eggs, four surprise chicks, and Adam's "apartment" trick for relocating broody hens at night
Why the episode pivoted from a planned backbiting topic to living liturgically
Francis Weiser's Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs as a source for feast-day living
The Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24th
Why the Church celebrates only three birthdays: Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist
The tradition that all three were born free from original sin, and John sanctified in the womb at the Visitation
Who John was: son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Zechariah struck mute, "no one greater born of women"
The small-t tradition that John's parents died young and he was raised in the desert by angels
John as the forerunner and the "best man" escorting the bride to Christ the Bridegroom
Fifteen churches dedicated to John the Baptist in ancient Constantinople alone
John as patron of tailors, shepherds, and masons, and why each one fits
Why June 24th: the summer solstice and "I must decrease so that He must increase" as a map of the soul
The real reason it's the 24th and not the 25th: the Roman calendar counting backward from the kalends
Weiser's pushback on the idea that the feast was a baptized pagan party
Just how high this feast ranked in the early Church: three Masses, abstaining from servile work, and a 14-day fast prescribed by a German synod in 1022
The other two feasts of John: the Decollation (Aug 29) and the East's celebration of his conception (Sep 23)
St. John Paul II on Christ as door, vine, mother hen, and actual Bridegroom
Tier-one celebration: put feast days on your calendar and get to Holy Mass
Joseph Pieper on a true feast requiring the divine and abundance
Family traditions like pierogies, and how they hand kids a Catholic and ethnic identity
Praying the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79) as a family and lighting a candle
Tier-two celebration: a bonfire on the eve, the three fires of the Catholic year, and feeding the kids crickets and honey sticks
Tier-three celebration: making the feast the anchor of your family's summer vacation
REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE
Books & Writings:
Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs by Francis X. Weiser, S.J. (out of print; the episode's primary source)
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre (the best man / bridegroom imagery)
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary by Brant Pitre (recommended alongside it)
The Gospel of Luke, chapter 1 (Zechariah and Elizabeth; the Benedictus, vv. 68-79; Gabriel telling Mary that Elizabeth is in her sixth month)
Saints & Church Fathers:
St. John the Baptist (the Nativity, June 24; the Decollation, Aug 29; the conception, Sep 23 in the East)
St. Augustine (the tradition that John was sanctified in the womb)
St. Joseph (referenced for his multiple feasts, including St. Joseph the Worker)
St. Faustina and Divine Mercy Sunday (an example of a feast the Church raised up for the times)
St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary and the confraternity (the first-Saturday plenary indulgence)
People:
Adam Minihan (host; founder of M6 Marketing; writes The Grounded Builder on Substack)
Dave Niles (host; Porter Prairie homestead)
Lady Pamela Niles (recovering after the birth of baby Joshua)
Joshua Niles (six days old) and the Niles children, including Joseph and Elizabeth
Pope Leo (who blessed Elizabeth Niles) and Pope Francis
Joseph Pieper (Adam's private devotion; on the nature of a feast)
St. John Paul II (Christ as Bridegroom)
Programs & Institutions:
Select International Tours (sponsor; the guys' pilgrimage company)
When Adam and Dave decided to lead their first pilgrimage, they asked around for who to work with, and one name came back over and over: Select International Tours. The best. Having used them now, the guys can attest to it. No matter where in the world you want to go, Select has a tour ready for you. Whether you want to lead a pilgrimage or attend one, do yourself a favor and head to selectinternationaltours.com to see everything they offer. You won't regret it.
The Amen app is the free Catholic prayer app that inspires your daily conversation with God through faithful meditations and nourishing Scripture. Please enjoy this latest offering from the Augustine Institute.
