Conception of Elizabeth of the the Holy and Glorious Forerunner and Prophet John the Baptist

23 September - The conception of the Forerunner and Prophet John the Baptist is commemorated.

His parents were Zechariah (Zachary), a priest at the Temple in Jerusalem, and Elizabeth.

The Archangel Gabriel foretells to Zechariah the conception and birth of the Holy and Glorious Forerunner and Prophet John the Baptist. The story of The Archangel Gabriel, The Holy Prophet Zechariah, and The Holy and Glorious Forerunner and Prophet John the Baptist's conception and birth is told in Lk. 1:1-80.

The Feast of the Conception of the Forerunner and Prophet John the Baptist is one day longer than nine months before the Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Prophet and Glorious Forerunner John the Baptist on 24 June.
The only feast of a conception and a birth that are exactly nine months apart is the Great Feast of The Annunciation of The Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary (25 March) and the Great Feast of Nativity According to the Flesh of Holy God the Son within the Holy Trinity / Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ (25 December). The reason is because only God is perfect.

23 September is 6 months and 2 days before the commemoration of the Great Feast of the Annunciation of The Theotokos, 25 March.

St. John of the Desert, Phoenix, AZ

Catholic Encyclopedia