Feast of the Holy Innocents

The Feast of the Holy Innocents is celebrated on December 28.

Why do we celebrate a Feast of the Holy Innocents?

The Feast of the Holy Innocents, or Childermas in Old English, commemorates the death of the male children in Bethlehem who were 2 years of age or under. King Herod the Great had ordered this, in order to ensure that the infant Messiah sought by the Magi would be unable to displace him on his throne. This is why Saint Joseph was told in a dream to take the Child and the Blessed Virgin and flee to Egypt to escape the persecution of King Herod.

On this day we are reminded, as well, that all lives are precious, and it is our responsibility to protect every life from the moment of conception to natural death.

Pope Francis stated in his 2016 address for the Feast of the Holy Innocents:

Christmas is … accompanied, whether we like it or not, by tears. The Evangelists did not disguise reality to make it more credible or attractive. They did not indulge in words that were comforting but unrelated to reality. For them, Christmas was not a flight to fantasy, a way of hiding from the challenges and injustices of their day. On the contrary, they relate the birth of the Son of God as an event fraught with tragedy and grief. Quoting the prophet Jeremiah, Matthew presents it in the bluntest of terms: “A voice is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children” (2:18). It is the sobbing of mothers bewailing the death of their children in the face of Herod’s tyranny and unbridled thirst for power.

Today too, we hear this heart-rending cry of pain, which we neither desire nor are able to ignore or to silence. In our world – I write this with a heavy heart – we continue to hear the lamentation of so many mothers, of so many families, for the death of their children, their innocent children. (Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to Bishops on the Feast of the Holy Innocents)

What is the meaning of the “Holy Innocents”?

The young boys killed by Herod were innocent of any crime, except the imagined crime of being potential usurpers of Herod’s throne. They are acknowledged as “holy” by the Church because of the holy circumstances of their death. They died in hatred of Christ, as martyrs do, and thus the liturgical color of the day is red.

“A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not.” – Jeremiah 31:15

Who was king when Jesus was born?

King Herod the Great was the Roman client king of Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth. Although he was raised as a Jew he was an Idumean, of a family whose friendship with Julius Caesar and his successors brought them roles in the Roman governance of the region, Herod in Judea, his brother Philip in Syria.

Why is Herod called “the Great”?
King Herod was titled “the Great” due in part to his many building projects throughout Judea, such as the Great Temple in Jerusalem, and his establishment of the Herodian dynasty. This doesn’t indicate anything about his personal greatness. In fact, he was a divisive and cruel ruler.

Was Herod the Great a pagan?
No, he was not a member of a pagan religion. In fact, he was raised a Jew from childhood. Despite his patronage of the Jewish religion, he was held in contempt for his service of the Romans. Thus, he sought to punish those who opposed him, using divisive tactics to keep his mostly Jewish subjects in line.

How many babies were killed in the massacre of the Innocents?
Sacred Scripture does not tell us how many children died, nor do we have other historical data to give us an accurate number or even a range.

When was the massacre of the Holy Innocents?
We do not know exactly when the massacre took place, but based on Herod’s command to kill the boys under 2 years of age it probably occurred within 2 years of Christ’s birth. Most attempts at reconstructing the actual year of the Lord’s birth place it between 6 and 4 B.C.. Therefore, the massacre presumably took place between 4 and 2 B.C.

Why did the Holy Family have to flee to Egypt?

Saint Joseph was ordered by an angel in a dream to take the Infant Jesus and His mother and flee to Egypt. They immediately did so, in obedience to God through His angel. We see this account in Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew 2: Now when [the Magi] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” …

[W]hen Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

How long did it take Mary and Joseph to travel to Egypt?

We’re unsure of how many days the Holy Family traveled to Egypt. There were several routes, along the sea or through the desert. Any route would have been arduous. However, in Egypt they hoped to find rest and safety among the extensive Jewish community, in the land where the earlier biblical Joseph had found refuge 1900 years earlier.

How long was the Holy Family in Egypt?

While it is unclear the actual length of time the Holy Family was in Egypt, tradition tells us that they stayed in Egypt for several years. After Herod the Great had died, they returned to their home in Nazareth.

Reference: EWTN