FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS – FEAST DAY ~ DECEMBER 28TH: Today is the Fourth Day of the Octave of Christmas and we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs.
THE HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS: Today’s feast is to remember and honor the Holy Innocents, the male children executed because of King Herod’s fury to find the Christ child. The Holy Innocents (1st c.) are the children mentioned in the account of Jesus’ birth in Matthew’s Gospel (2:16-18). When Herod, the king of Judea, heard of the birth of an extraordinary child from the Wise Men who, heading to Bethlehem, followed the star from the east, he became “greatly troubled” (Matthew 2:1-18). When the Magi came to Jerusalem to find and adore the Baby Jesus, the newborn King of the Jews, King Herod requested that they inform him of the Child’s location under the pretense of offering Him adoration, too. After paying the Child homage and offering Him their gifts, the Wise Men were warned in a dream not to betray Jesus’ location, and departed for their home country by another route. Meanwhile the Holy Family was warned by an Angel to flee into Egypt.
King Herod, feared for his throne after the Magi told him of the birth of Jesus. Although he told those men to report back to him after they found the babe, they were warned by an Angel and chose to return a different way. Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and ordered his soldiers to massacre all male children ages two and under that were in Bethlehem and on the boarders, hoping that Jesus would be among those killed, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men (Matthew 2:1-18). According to Matthew, this fulfilled a prophecy of Jeremiah 31:15: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.” These Holy Innocent children have been viewed as the first martyrs of the early church and have been celebrated way before the 5th century when it was praised as a part of Epiphany. Notwithstanding, by the 5th century, it had become a different celebration and eventually became a Saint’s day.
Herod was known for his cruelty. He had killed his wife, his brother and his sister’s two husbands, to name only a few. He was despised by the Jews for his allegiance to Rome. He was prone to extreme retaliation by any perceived threat to his throne. That cruelty then led him to infamously order the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under. Many Medieval theologians claimed that 144,000 were killed, adopting the number mentioned in Revelation 14:3, though the number would have been much smaller. The Greek Liturgy asserts that Herod killed 14,000 boys, the Syrians speak of 64,000. Modern writers reduce the number considerably, since Bethlehem was a rather small town. Knabenbauer brings it down to fifteen or twenty (Evang. S. Matt., I, 104), Bisping to ten or twelve (Evang. S. Matt.), and Kellner to about six (Christus and seine Apostel, Freiburg, 1908).
It is impossible to determine the day or the year of the death of the Holy Innocents, since the chronology of the birth of Christ and the subsequent Biblical events is most uncertain. All we know is that the infants were slaughtered within two years following the apparition of the star to the Wise Men. The Church venerates these children as martyrs (flores martyrum); they are the first buds of the Church killed by the frost of persecution; they died not only for Christ, but in His stead. The Latin Church instituted the feast of the Holy Innocents at a date now unknown, not before the end of the fourth, and not later than the end of the fifth century. The Roman Station of December 28 is at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, because that church is believed to possess the bodies of several of the Holy Innocents. A portion of these relics was transferred by Sixtus V to Santa Maria Maggiore. The church of St. Justina at Padua, the cathedrals of Lisbon and Milan, and other churches also preserve bodies which they claim to be those of some of the Holy Innocents.
Honored as martyrs, the Holy Innocents were typically included in narrative cycles recounting the life of Jesus. These innocent victims gave testimony to the Messiah and Redeemer, not by words but by their blood. The Holy Innocents saved the Child Jesus from death by King Herod by the shedding of their own blood. They triumphed over the world and won their crown without having experienced the evils of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Sts. Irenaeus, Augustine, and other early Fathers give the title of Martyrs, and as such they have been commemorated from the 1st century and honored in the Liturgy of the Church. We commemorate this day, not only for those poor children, innocent of any crime, 2,000 years ago, but for all who have lost their lives in war, famine, natural disaster or abortion. As Catholics we believe all life is a gift from God and therefore should be sacredly protected. The Holy Innocents are the special Patron Saints of babies, small children, Choirboys, Children’s choirs and Foundlings. Their feast day is commemorated on December 28th.
“The innocents were slaughtered as infants for Christ; spotless, they follow the lamb and sing forever: Glory to you, O Lord.”
PRAYER: God, today we recall that the Innocent Martyrs bore witness not by words but by their death. Grant that our way of life may give witness to our Faith in You, which our lips profess… Amen🙏