The Feast of Holy Innocents

Collect of the Day: The Holy Innocents (Anglican)

“We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

 

Today in the Orthodox Church (the 28^th in the Catholic/Anglican, and the 27^th in the Syrian Church) is the celebration (or should I say commemoration) of the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The feast is centered around King Herod’s wicked act of the murdering of the children in Bethlehem:

 

Matthew 2:16-18 (King James Version)

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. [17] Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

“In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

 

This Feast is a commemoration of what many call the “first martyrs” for Christ, the innocent children who were slew by Herod’s men in attempt to kill the Jewish Messiah, that the Magi had concerned the King with. In the west, the Liturgical vestments are red to indicate that this was martyrdom. Another interesting thing is that this Feast is also a time in many churches to reflect and mourn the death of the millions of children disposed of in the abortion clinics. God help us!