The Feast of the Holy Innocents marks a day of somber remembrance of all the baby boys in Bethlehem martyred shortly after the birth of Jesus.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Latin Church has commemorated the Dec. 28 feast day since at least 485 AD. The Gospel of Matthew relates that after the Wise Men returned to the East without telling Herod the location of the Child Jesus, Herod ordered all the infants to be killed:
“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
“‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more’” (Mt 2:16-18).
Scholars disagree on how many children were killed. Medieval scholars thought that it was 144,000, because this is the number named in Apocalypse 14:3, though modern scholars place the number around 12, according to Catholic apologist Trent Horn.
The Church venerates these babies as martyrs and saints, who entered heaven through baptism of blood: They were saved by giving their lives for Christ.
Pope Pius V introduced two hymns commemorating these infants in his 1568 Breviary, “Audit Tyrannus Anxius” and “Salvete Flores Martyrum.” The hymn describes the babies as “little martyr flowers” and as playing around the altar with palms in hand.
St. Augustine commented that the babies were justly called “infant flowers,” noting that ”they were the Church’s first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.”
The most famous English hymn commemorating the feast is the “Coventry Carol,” which also dates from the 1500s:
Despite the somber nature of the feast, many Spanish-speaking countries observe Día de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocents) in a light-hearted manner. According to the website Naatik Mexico, the day is full of harmless pranks and jokes, similar to April Fools’ Day.
The website states that both the jokers can be considered “innocents” who must be forgiven, as well as the victims of the jokes, since “innocent” in Spanish carries a connotation of naiveté.
In many Catholic parishes, the feast is often connected to the pro-life movement. Catholics can pray this novena to ask for the intercession of the Holy Innocents for an end to abortion.
This story has been updated and originally appeared on CatholicVote on Dec. 26, 2024.
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