The Holy Innocents

Today we will be learning about The Holy Innocents.

The king of Judea who was Herod “the Great,” was disliked by many of his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Due to all of this, King Herod was extremely insecure of any threat to his throne. He had actually become a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. King Herod was so wicked that he had killed his wife, his brother, and his sister’s two husbands, and this is only to name only a few.

Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers who had travelled from the east had visited asking for the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures had named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod had decided to tell them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They had later found Jesus, they offered him their beautiful gifts, and they were later warned by an angel, and they avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus had escaped to Egypt.

Herod had become extremely furious at all that was occurring and he had “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The horror of this very terrible massacre and the devastation of the mothers and

fathers had led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children…” (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob (Israel).

The Holy Innocents are the patron saints of babies. Their feast day is celebrated on December 28.

Prayer to the Holy Innocents:

Holy Innocents we pray that you may all be with all the pregnant mothers, help their baby to be safe, protected and healthy. Help their baby to be able to live a life of faith, love, mercy and charity. We pray that you may please guide the souls of all the babies who have died to heaven.

Amen

Holy Innocents pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

---

Works cited

Information (read from, not taken):

Franciscan Media. "Holy Innocents."https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/holy-innocents. Accessed: September 17, 2021.

Images:

Holy Innocents. September 17, 2021. Holy Innocents.