John the Forerunner

Spiritu sancto, inquit, replebitur adhuc ex utero matris suae. Videtis quemadmodum Joannes ante pervenit ad coelum quam tangeret terram, ante accepit divinum Spiritum quam haberet humanum, ante suscepit divina munera quam corporis membra, ante coepit vivere Deo quam sibi, immo ante vixit ille Deo quam Deus viveret illi, juxta Apostoli: Vivo autem jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus. Sexto mense suae matris exsultat in utero, et in uterum Virginis venisse nuntiat Christum. Fervens nuntius, qui ante gestivit nuntiare quam vivere; impatiens dux, qui antequam perveniret ad corpus pervenit ad Regem; ante rapuit arma quam membra; ante aciem petiit quam lucem; et ut vinceret mundum, vivit ante naturam, ipse sine visceribus viscera matris exsuscitat; et quia tardabat corpus, solo spiritu implet evangelizantis officium. Quid dicam? Joannes antequam Christum praecederet, se praecessit. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XCI

'With the Holy Spirit,' the angel said, 'he shall be filled while yet in the womb of his mother.' 1 You see how John reaches heaven before he touches earth, that first he received the Divine Spirit before a human one, that he acquired Divine gifts before corporeal members, that first he lived for God before himself, that he lived for God before God would live for him, according to what the Apostle says, 'It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.' 2 In the sixth month he leaps in the womb of his mother and he announces that Christ has come into the womb of the Virgin. He is an eager messenger who was intent on making an announcement before living, he is an impatient guide who before he came to the body came to the King. He took up arms before his corporeal members, he sought the battlefield before the light, and that he gain victory over the world, he lived before nature's way. Without internal organs he shook the internal organs of his mother, and because his body was slow, with the spirit alone he fulfilled the duty of evangelising. What shall I say? Before he was the forerunner of Christ, John was his own forerunner. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 91 1 Lk 1.15 2 Gal 2.20