Holy innocents feast

[aservant]

During the collect at Mass today and in the antiphons in the LOTH it implies that all of these young martyrs are in heaven.

How could they die for Christ without ever hearing of him etc.

Any thoughts ?

Or links to the Church’s teaching on this.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The reasoning is that they were innocent children who died on account of Jesus Christ, so they are martyrs and automatically go to heaven with him.

In fact, the liturgy contains a feast of the Holy Innocents, who are venerated as martyrs, even though they were not baptised, because they were killed “on account of Christ”.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...oc_20070419_un-baptised-infants_en.html#_ftn3

 

[aservant]

Thank you, I thought that was the reason.

It seems they are quite a powerful little army of saints.

“The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.”
From the intercessions in the LOTH.

 

[Edward_H]

I had a thought this morning at Mass whether a small part of the “male-only priesthood” is buttressed by this example of the holy innocents?

It was only males who were killed, who suffered in Jesus’s place.

 

[Medawlinno]

From an interesting article on the historicity of this event…

Though this deed certainly is in line with something Herod would do, the actual number is most likely not anywhere near what some traditions report (Martyrdom of Matthew reports 3,000, the Syrian tradition as high as 64,000!)

As the article states, “Professor William F. Albright, the dean of American archaeology in the Holy Land, estimates that the population of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth to be about 300 people (Albright and Mann 1971:19). The number of male children, two years old or younger, would be about six or seven (Maier 1998:178, footnote 25). This would hardly be a newsworthy event in light of what else was going on at the time.”

Please do not get me wrong, one innocent child being killed is a horrific tragedy, but I’m inclined to agree; we’re talking about a very small village here, not a major city - the reality just does not support the supposed numbers reported in many traditions.

 

[Edward_H]

Some thoughts by Frank Sheed on this feast day, also called Childermas.

There is anguish for us, twenty centuries later, in thinking of the slain babies and their parents. For the babies the agony was soon over; in the next world they would come to know whom they had died to save and for all eternity would have that glory. For the parents, the pain would have lasted longer; but at death they too must have found that there was a special sense in which God was in their debt, as he had never been indebted to any. They and their children were the only ones who ever agonized in order to save God’s life …(F.J. Sheed. To Know Christ Jesus, p45-6)