The Holy Innocents
Martyrs at the time of the Nativity of Our Lord (†1 A.D.)
Momorial – December 28
The wily king Herod, who was reigning in Judea at the time
of the birth of Our Saviour, learned from three Wise Men from the East that
they had come to Jerusalem, advised by a star in the heavens, in search of the
newborn King of the Jews. Herod’s superstitious fear of losing his throne was
awakened, and he grew troubled. He called together the chief priests,
questioned them, and learned from them that the awaited Messiah was to be born
in Bethlehem, the city of David. He said to the strangers: “When you have found
Him, bring me word, that I too may go and adore Him.”
The star which had guided the Magi re-appeared over
Bethlehem, and they found the Infant and adored Him, and offered Him their
royal gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, recognizing by these His perfect
Divinity, His royalty, and His prophesied sufferings. God warned them in a
dream afterwards not to go back to Herod, and they returned to their lands,
rejoicing, by a different route. Saint Joseph, too, was warned during his sleep
by an Angel to take the Child and His Mother and flee into Egypt, for Herod
will seek the life of the Infant.
When Herod realized that the Wise Men would not return, he
was furious, and in his rage ordered that every male child in Bethlehem and its
vicinity, of the age of two years or less, be slain. These innocent victims
were the flowers and first-fruits of the Saviour’s legions of martyrs; they
triumphed over the world without having ever known it or experienced its
dangers.
Reflection: That the Holy Innocents
may be invoked to be preserved from illusion is the Church’s belief. Herod’s
illusion of threat from the newborn King cost their lives... How few, perhaps,
of these innocent little ones, if they had lived, would have escaped the
dangers of the world! From what snares, what sins, what miseries were they
preserved! Surely they rejoice now in their fate. We often lament, as
misfortunes, many accidents which in the designs of Heaven are the greatest
mercies.
Sources for this article were taken from: http://magnificat.ca
Prayer
We remember this day, O God, the slaughter of the holy
Innocents of Bethlehem by the order of King Herod. Receive, we beseech thee,
into the arms of thy mercy all innocent victims; and by thy great might
frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish thy rule of justice, love,
and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
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