The Feast of the Holy Innocents

[edward_george1]

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.

 

[edward_george1]

Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullay.

O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.

Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting, nor say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

 

[Dan_Defender]

One thing we don’t know is how many Holy Innocents were killed by Herod. Some scholars estimate the population of Bethlehem at the time at less than a 1,000. How many male children under the age of two? But Herod was not stupid, he must have calculated the child of the promise could have moved out so he widened the net to cover the entire region he controlled. I would think even St John the Baptist had to be hidden by his parents. In any case regardless of whether it was a few or several hundred children, they are martyrs.

 

[edward_george1]

There’s a tradition that Elizabeth cried out to God for a place to hide John, and a rock opened up and she placed him inside it. It then enclosed him and kept him safe. You can see the rock in the crypt of the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem.