Josephus relates, that John was brought bound into the castle of Macheron, and there slain; and ecclesiastical history says [Theodoret, Hist., Eccles., 3, 3] that he was buried in Sebaste, a city of Palestine, once called Samaria. But the beheading of John the Baptist signifies the lessening of that fame, by which he was thought to be Christ by the people, as the raising of our Saviour on the cross typifies the advance of the faith, in that He Himself, who was first looked upon as a prophet by the multitude, was recognized as the Son of God by all the faithful; wherefore John, who was destined to decrease, was born when the daylight begins to wax short; but the Lord at that season of the year in which the day begins to lengthen.
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).