The Divine Ministry of Jesus Christ 

fruits on the morning of the second day of Passover (Lev 23:15 17).

460

 An earlier date for Passover allows less 

time for the crops to mature. Consequently, earlier dates for Passover were more likely to be delayed due to 

the addition of a leap month (AdarII). For these reasons, the Passover of 

A.D.

 17 was delayed from late March 

to late April, resulting in a later than usual date for the following Hanukkah. 

    There are a number of distinct events described by Blessed Anne Catherine between the Hanukkah of 

A.D.

17/18 and the beheading of John the Baptist. The exact length of time is difficult to discern. However, shortly 

after describing John's martyrdom, she describes a Feast of the New Moon (celebrated at the start of each and 

every month). This particular first day of the month was also the time for celebrating  the return of the trees to 

new life. 

461

 She likewise refers to the rising of the sap in the trees and a ritual of purification of trees at the 

start of this same month. This celebration is clearly the Jewish New Year for trees,

462

 which falls in the Jewish 

month of Shevat. There is some dispute among the Jews as to whether the correct day for this celebration 

should be Shevat 1 or Shevat 15, but Blessed Anne Catherine places it on the same day as the Feast of the New 

Moon (first day of the month). In 

A.D.

 18, following the date for Hanukkah explained above, Shevat 1 

coincided with Saturday, February 5.

463

    Blessed Anne Catherine places Hanukkah before, and the New Year for trees on Shevat 1 after, John the 

Baptist's beheading. Hanukkah ends on Tevet 2; Shevat is the next month after Tevet. Therefore, John the 

Baptist was martyred sometime during the month of Tevet, in early 

A.D.

 18. In that year, Tevet began on 

January 7 and ended on February 4. Some events are described between the end of Hanukkah (Tevet 2) and 

John's martyrdom; additional events are described between John's martyrdom and the New Year for trees 

(Shevat 1).

464

 So, John most likely died about the middle of Tevet, and about the end of January, in 

A.D.

 18. 

    Not long after describing the New Year for trees, Blessed Anne Catherine describes the Feast of Purim.

465

She states that Jesus taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath:   for it was the Sabbath of the Purim 

festival. 

466

 Purim lasts only two days, Adar 14 and 15, and is preceded by the fast of Esther on Adar 13. If the 

year contains both AdarI and AdarII, Purim is placed in AdarII; otherwise it falls in Adar I. In 

A.D.

 18, Purim 

coincided with the Sabbath because AdarI 14 and 15 coincided with Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 

20.

467

 Even if the leap month of AdarII were placed in 

A.D.

 18 instead of 

A.D.

 17, the Purim of 

A.D.

 18 would 

still coincide with the Sabbath of Saturday, March 19, but the Jewish month would be called AdarII. 

    On the other hand, in 

A.D.

 17, Purim fell on Tuesday, March 30, and Wednesday, March 31. This assumes 

the above conclusion that 

A.D.

 17 included AdarII. If it did  not, then the Purim of 

A.D.

 17 would be one 

month earlier, and would occur on Sunday, Feb. 28 and Monday, March 1 (and still not on the Jewish 

Sabbath). 

    Therefore, Purim would coincide with the Sabbath in 

A.D.

 18, but not in 

A.D.

 17. Therefore, the Sabbath of 

Purim placed by Blessed Anne Catherine soon after the martyrdom of John the Baptist occurred in 

A.D.

 18, 

not 

A.D.

 17. This line of reasoning confirms the above conclusion that John was beheaded in early 

A.D.

 18, 

after more than a year of imprisonment. 

    The astute reader of The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations will notice that Blessed Anne Catherine 

describes only three Passovers during the Ministry of Jesus when there should be four 

A.D.

 16, 17, 18, and 19 

(the last being the Passover of Christ's Passion). The editor of that book calls the Passover following the 

beheading of John the Baptist the second Pasch, when it is in fact the third.

468

 The mistake occurs because 

Blessed Anne Catherine does not describe all four Passovers. The four Gospels of Jesus Christ likewise do not 

describe, or even mention, every Passover during Christ's Ministry. Thus, there was a Passover between the 

arrest and the beheading of John the Baptist that is not mentioned in her book. 

    After writing the above chronology of the martyrdom of John the Baptist, I came across a footnote in 

Blessed Anne Catherine's book,  The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which reads as follows:  In 1823, when 

recounting Jesus' stay in Hebron during the third year of His ministry, some ten days after the death of the 

Baptist, Catherine Emmerich said that she saw Our Lord teaching, on Friday the 29th day of the month of 

Thebet [Tevet] . 

469

 Comparing this new information to the above chronology of John the Baptist's 

martyrdom, I found that, in my chronology, Tevet 29 did coincide with a Friday in the third year of Christ's 

Ministry. Since Jesus was baptized at the beginning of His Ministry in Oct. of 

A.D.

 15, the first year would be 

fall of 

A.D.

 15 to fall of 

A.D.

 16, the second year would be 

A.D.

 16 to 17, and the third would be 

A.D.

 17 to 18. 

The above chronology places John the Baptist's death in the third year of Christ's Ministry, in early 

A.D.

 18. 

113