Mary Our Queen Church hosted a parish festival for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24.

PEACHTREE CORNERS—Mary Our Queen Church hosted a parish festival for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24, complete with fireworks and a dunking booth.  

The evening’s Mass was followed by festivities on the church plaza, including a live band, a bonfire, an opportunity to taste honey and locusts and a fireworks display. Children lined up to Dunk the Priest, who was newly ordained Father Colin Patrick, at the dunking booth in honor of the John the Baptist.  

The newly ordained Father Colin Patrick cools off in the dunking booth at the June 24 parish festival at Mary Our Queen Church.

The earliest record of the celebration of this feast is found in AD 506. It has always been seen as one of the great celebrations of the church, and it occurs six months before Christmas.  

There are only three birthdays commemorated annually in the church: those of Jesus, his blessed mother and his cousin–St. John the Baptist.