Today, December 28, is Childermas, or “the Feast of the Holy Innocents.” It commemorates the day the children (boys 2-years-old and younger) of Bethlehem were massacred by King Herod in an attempt to kill the baby Jesus. He was angry that the Wise Men had betrayed him, and left without telling him where Jesus was.
This event, recorded in Matthew 2:16-18 isn’t included in our usual North American Christmas stories! Bolivia was different. When I was a kid it was a normal part of the Christmas drama at church! I remember seeing the actors playing the role of Roman soldiers grabbing dolls from the women on stage and pulling the dolls heads off! It made a real big impression on me!
There is still a lot of evil in this world, but Jesus is on the throne, and this gives us our unshakable hope.
Here’s an interesting item from a Catholic web site…
The fourth day of Christmas commemorates these baby boys, who are considered martyrs — the very first martyrs (St. Stephen, whose Feast was commemorated 2 days ago, was the first martyr of the Church Age). As Bethlehem was a small town, the number of these Holy Innocents was probably no more than 25, but they are glorious martyrs who died not only for Christ, but in His place.”
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