Dec-28: Feast of the Holy Innocents

 Dec-28: Feast of the Holy Innocents



During the Octave of Christmas, we celebrate a particular feast day on December 28th: the Feast of the Holy Innocents. 

Also known as Childermas, it commemorates the children slaughtered by the barbaric King Herod whose goal was to kill the Christ Child and preserve his own power. 

The Holy Innocents died in Christ's stead so that He could die in ours. "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. [Jeremiah 31:15]"

The Story of the Holy Innocents

Herod the Great, named King of Judea by Mark Anthony, was unpopular with his people because of his cozy connections with the occupying Romans and his religious indifference. He curried favour by renovating the Second Temple in Jerusalem, overseeing the expansion of the Temple Mount and building the military complex at Masada. But he was deeply insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He married ten wives, changed his succession plans many times, murdered his wife Mariamne and her two sons, her brother, and his sister’s two husbands. His son Herod Antipas, ordered the beheading of John the Baptist. His grandson Herod Agrippa, ordered the martyrdom of the Apostle St James the older brother of St John the Apostle and Evangelist.

Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures, citing Micah 5:2, named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts, and warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Joseph too was told by an Angle of the Lord to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” Herod was an evil man, but ultimately, he was powerless against the Infant King of Glory. 

In the great plan of our salvation, only God the Father could dictate the perfect timing of Christ’s sacrifice. His enemies pursued Him from the womb to the tomb, but He fulfilled His purpose with the help of the Holy Innocents.  We consider the Holy Innocents to be some of the first martyrs of the Church. When they sacrificed their lives for a name they did not know, they shed their blood just as He would. The Holy Innocents died because of Him and for Him. They gave their precious lives so that God’s plan could be fulfilled in Him. 

The Collect for Holy Mass on this feast day says that the Innocents proclaimed Christ "not in speech, but by death alone." In this way, they became our timeless benefactors in the Faith. 

Here is what St Augustine says of the Holy Innocents: "Blessed are you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah! You suffered the inhumanity of King Herod in the murder of your babes and thereby have become worthy to offer to the Lord a pure host of infants. In full right do we celebrate the heavenly birthday of these children whom the world caused to be born unto an eternally blessed life rather than that from their mothers' womb, for they attained the grace of everlasting life before the enjoyment of the present. The precious death of any martyr deserves high praise because of his heroic confession; the death of these children is precious in the sight of God because of the beatitude they gained so quickly. For already at the beginning of their lives they pass on. The end of the present life is for them the beginning of glory. These then, whom Herod's cruelty tore as sucklings from their mothers' bosom, are justly hailed as "infant martyr flowers"; they were the Church's first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.

The Holy Innocents are the Patron Saints of Babies, so today we pray to them for all children.

Holy children of God, you suffered death before you enjoyed the fullness of life, yet now you rest and reign with Christ in glory.   Look down from heaven on our poor earth where children like you still suffer and die at the hands of those blinded by this world.   Surround and protect the innocent and when our own poor efforts fail, comfort and console the parents whose loss we can hardly comprehend or imagine.  We commend to your joyful company in heaven the souls of all dear children who have died.   Help us to become like you, simple, pure and true! Teach us to accept love and blessings like you!   Fill us with the joy and laughter of life to remind us that to such babes as you, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs. Amen.  (Credit Father Joseph Veneroso, M.M.)

References:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/holy-innocents
https://www.catholiccompany.com/magazine/the-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-a-reflection/#
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2020-12-28


Location: Bethlehem

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