The Holy Innocents

Herod's murder of the male infants in Bethlehem is one of the saddest parts of Matthew's Infancy Narrative. Matthew spares is a description of the slaughter and simply uses a text from the prophet Jeremiah to recall the sobbing that surely took place.
"A voice was heard in Ramsh, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more."
Bethlehem was a small town and the estimated number of boys two years old and under would have been about 20. Herod's massacre is not recorded in historical documents, but the relatively small number makes the story all the more plausible.
Mary and Joseph would have known the families of these children. One can only guess at their feelings when they later heard about this.
The feast of the Holy Innocents is celebrated today.
Excerpt from The Little Blue Book
www.saginaw.org
H/T: A Nawty Mouser Thots


It is impossible for Herod's henchmen to recognize with absolute certainty, among all the babies of Bethlehem and its vicinity, just which infant boy is Jesus Christ. Thus, seething with diabolical fury, Herod orders the massacre of all who resemble Jesus in gender and approximate age. This barbaric case of "mistaken identify" becomes the source of incomparable exaltation for the Holy Innocents. For there is no greater glory than for a person to be mistaken for Christ himself. Perhaps the Lord had this in mind later in life when he declares that only those who change and become like little children can enter the kingdom of God. In our childlikeness, we are most like Jesus Christ. The blood of the Son Jesus that cleanses us from all sin beings to reach us and transforms us today in a powerful way through the blood of the martyred Holy Innocents.
From the Magnificat: Christmas Issue 07
H/T: Catholic Mom in Hawaii