John the Baptist, son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, was the forerunner of the Messiah. The Gospel tells us that before his birth, when Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, visited Elizabeth, he leapt for joy in his mother's womb, a sign that he recognised Christ. He was born three months after the angel Gabriel announced to Mary: "Behold, Elizabeth, your kinswoman, is in her sixth month". Elizabeth was old, and Zacharias did not believe in this sudden fecundity: having doubted the angel's word, he lost the use of his speech and only regained it when his son was born. Jesus testified to John: "Among women's children, there is none greater than John the Baptist." John baptised him and then stepped aside to make way for him.
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