Feast of the Holy Innocents:

Feast day : 28 December

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Innocents, the young children who were massacred in Bethlehem and neighbouring towns, shortly after the birth of Jesus. The Gospel of St. Matthew 2: 1-18 narrates the story of the cruel order passed by King Herod to secure his throne forever by eliminating the ‘new-born king’, born in Bethlehem. The thousands of innocent children who were massacred that day became the first glorious martyrs for Christ by dying for Him, in His stead and the Church today honors their glorious martyrdom through this feast. King Herod’s effort to protect his throne was made futile in a short while. Around the same time he fell sick and was tormented both mentally and physically with illnesses. His innumerable crimes tortured his mind whilst his body wasted away. He suffered greatly for his sins but never once repented for them. Even in his miserable state, he persisted in his cruelty

Scriptures:

Following the birth of Jesus, the wise men from the East, who could interpret celestial signs in the sky, followed the star that rose at his birth. They came to Jerusalem and paid a visit to King Herod asking him “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay homage.” But this news greatly disturbed King Herod and he enquired with his chief priests and scribes where the promised Messiah was to be born. According to the prophecies, the coming of the Messiah was to be from Bethlehem in Judea. So he sent the wise men to Bethlehem saying “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

The wise men left for Bethlehem and were led by the star to the exact place where Jesus was born. They paid homage to the Divine Infant and offered their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. However, they did not return to Herod because they were warned in a dream to return to their country by another road. King Herod was preparing to kill the Holy Infant and so the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him. Then Joseph took Mary and Jesus by night and went to Egypt.”

But when King Herod learnt that he was tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated and ordered for the killing of all infants two years old and under, in and around Bethlehem!! This was a cruel order and by doing so he wanted to do everything in his power to eliminate every chance of survival of the Divine child, the new-born king. It is believed that thousands of children were mercilessly put to death under his order. These innocent children became the first martyrs for Christ by dying for Him, in His stead. Their glorious martyrdom is celebrated today by the Church.

Tradition:

King Herod’s effort to protect his throne was made futile in a short while. Around the same time he fell sick and was torment both mentally and physically with illnesses. His innumerable crimes tortured his mind whilst his body wasted away. He suffered greatly for his sins but never once repented for them. Even in his miserable state, he persisted in his cruelty and ordered for all the Jews of rank to be shut up in a circus at Jericho and gave orders to his sister Salome and her husband Alexander to have them massacred as soon as he died! He knew that the Jews would greatly rejoice at his death and by ensuring death in all the families in his kingdom, he made sure his death would be marked as a day of lamentation for the whole nation rather than a day of celebration. His evil deeds knew no bounds and he died miserably persisting in his sinful state.