THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ DECEMBER 28, 2024
Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Saturday, the Fourth Day in the Octave of Christmas!
On this Special Feast of the Holy Innocents, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of all children, we pray for the souls of all the faithful departed, particularly all those killed for the faith, and for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest. We pray for God’s grace and mercy and for the safety and well-being of our children and for peace in our family and the whole world. We continue to remember the souls of the faithful departed and the souls in Purgatory. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
“Blessed are those who have died in the Lord; let them rest from their abors for their good deeds go with them.” ~ Rev 14:13
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary | December 28, 2024 | EWTN on YouTube |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | December 28, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary for Peace with Pope Francis” | LIVE Basilica of St. Mary Major | October 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary Novena From Lourdes” | December 28, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| December 28, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” oùn YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Saturday, Fourth Day in the Octave of Christmas, December 28, 2024
Reading 1, First John 1:5-2:2
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 124:2-3, 4-5, 7-8
Gospel, Matthew 2:13-18
THE LITURGICAL YEAR IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/12/03/the-liturgical-year-in-the-catholic-church/
THE HOLY ROSARY: WHAT IS THE HOLY ROSARY AND WHY DO WE PRAY THE HOLY ROSARY? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/21/the-holy-rosary-what-is-the-holy-rosary-and-why-do-we-pray-the-holy-rosary/
THE SAINTS: WHO ARE THEY AND HOW ARE THEY CANONISED? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/01/the-saints-who-are-they-and-how-are-they-canonised/
PURGATORY: WHAT IS PURGATORY? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/15/purgatory-and-limbo/
SAINTS OF THE DAY: 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🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:
Bible Readings for today, Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs | USCCB| https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 2:13-18
“He ordered the massacre of all boys in Bethlehem”
“When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: 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.”
In today’s Gospel reading, there is a strong contrast between God’s efforts to preserve the life of Joseph and Mary’s child and Herod’s efforts to kill their child. The Angel of the Lord prompts Mary and Joseph to flee into Egypt for their child’s protection. Herod orders all the male children under two to be killed in the Bethlehem area to ensure the death of Joseph and Mary’s child. God is always at work in our world to preserve and enhance life in its various forms, especially life at its most vulnerable. We tend to be at our most vulnerable at the beginning of our lives, in our mother’s womb and in the first months of life, and also at the end of our lives when we often have to deal with sickness in one shape or form. The Gospel reading today suggests that there are other forces in our world that, like Herod, work to eliminate life, especially when it is at its most vulnerable. Our calling from God, our mission in life, is to keep aligning ourselves with God’s life giving work. The feast of the Holy Innocents reminds us that far too many innocent lives have been and, indeed, are being slaughtered. The sobbing and loud lamenting at the loss of innocent life that is referred to at the end of the Gospel reading is all too familiar to our ears today. Yet the forces for life that have been released into the world through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus remain stronger than the forces of death. As baptized believers we can each make those forces for life, that Spirit of life, tangible and visible in the way we live and relate to others.
Our first reading today declares: ‘God is light; there is no darkness in Him at all’.
The birth of Jesus brought a light into that dark world, the light of God’s love. Jesus’ life revealed a different kind of power to the power of those in authority at the time. His life and his death revealed the power of love, a love that was self-emptying in the service of others. Our calling is to allow this love to take flesh in our own lives. It is in this way that, in the words of the first reading, ‘we live our lives in the light, as God is in the light’. The calling to allow Jesus, the light of God’s love, to shine in and through our lives, is a noble but challenging one. We will often fail in our living out of this calling. We sin, but as the first reading says, ‘if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins’. As declared in the first, ‘if we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth’. We have to be alert to the ways we can fail to take that path of humble, self-emptying, service of others which is the way of Jesus, the way of God. There is darkness in each one of us but the darkness does not define us because the light of God’s mercy is always stronger than the darkness of our sins. God remains faithful to us and keeps on calling us to bring the light of his Son into the darkness of our world.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today on this special feast of the Holy Innocents, we’re reminded that Jesus was born into a violent world, where those in power were often ruthless in their efforts to protect their own position. This event, which happened at the time when the Lord Jesus was coming into the world serves as a good reminder to all of us just what kind of wickedness and evil that we mankind can do if we let the temptations of worldly desires and greed to affect us and to rule over our lives and actions. That is why we have to keep in mind to stay away from the path of indulgence and immersion in worldly power and glory, or else we may end up falling into the trap of sin, out of which it may be difficult for us to escape. Let us all redirect our focus and attention in life, that we may truly stay on the path of the Lord and His righteousness, and not lose sight on His salvation and grace simply because we fail to resist the temptation to sin, to resist the pressure of our desires and the weakness of our flesh. We have to keep in mind that God is ultimately the reason why we live our lives, and it is to serve Him and to glorify Him that we carry out our actions through life, not for our own personal ambitions and glory. After all, no worldly glory and power lasts forever, like the example of King Herod himself showed us, how after his death, his kingdom quickly fell apart and was divided and eventually absorbed by the Romans who supported his rule. The magnificent Temple that he had built was destroyed by the Romans during the Jewish rebellion merely few years after it was completed. Worldly glory and power is indeed fleeting and impermanent, but our faith in God will lead us to an eternity of true happiness and joy. May the Lord continue to bless us and guide us in our way of life that we will stay true to the path that He has shown us and not be easily swayed by the temptations of our pride and desires. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours to glorify Him at all times, and may He remain with us and continue to strengthen us each day, and bless our current Christmas observances and celebrations. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to remain faithful and take the path of humble, self-emptying and keep aligning ourselves with God’s life giving work and service of others which is the way of Jesus, the way of God and to bring the light of His Son into the darkness of our world. Amen🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF DECEMBER:
MONTH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: The month of December is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Chosen before time to be the Mother of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ, God created Mary perfect and full of grace, preserving her from the stain of Original Sin. Mary Immaculate is the most beautiful fruit of the work of redemption accomplished by her Son, thereby making her the perfect model of holiness for all Christians.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER – FOR PILGRIMS OF HOPE: We pray that this Jubilee Year strengthen our faith, helping us to recognize the Risen Christ in our daily lives, and that it may transform us into pilgrims of Christian hope.
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
PRAYER INTENTIONS: Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of all children, we pray for the souls of all the faithful departed, particularly all those killed for the faith, and for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest. We pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world today, as we face these incredibly challenging times. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the safety and well-being of all those traveling during this season of Christmas. We pray for the sick and dying, especially sick children, those who are mentally and physically ill, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for an end to war, political and religious unrest. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed and we pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for torture victims, the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable in our communities and around the world. We pray for all parents and children, for peace, love, justice and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world… Amen🙏
Let us pray:
Lord, I surrender all hurt, pain and confusion to You. I unite myself, this day, with the sorrow of those who lost these little children and I trust that their lives, as they reign now in Heaven with You, are a sign for me of things to come. Lord, give me insight, wisdom and strength so that I can work in accord with Your will to protect the most innocent from the evils of this world. May I never cower in the face of evil, and may I always fulfill my duty to protect those entrusted to my care. Your birth into our world was the greatest sign that You are our Savior and that You can turn all things into good. Jesus, I entrust my life to You and know that You will right every wrong. Saint Joseph, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe….have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary, The Holy Innocents, Martyrs ~ Pray for us 🙏
Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all. Journey mercies for all those traveling during this Christmas season. Wishing all of us a most blessed, safe and grace-filled Christmas Season and relaxing weekend! Amen🙏
Blessings and love always, Philomena💖
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