The Feast of the Holy Innocents

Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler's snare.

Today is the special feast day of our Home School group.  We remember all the little boys two years of age and younger, who were massacred by King Herod. The Church considers them martyrs because although they did not profess Christ with their lips, they professed Christ with their lives.  We pray for the unborn who are part of an ongoing massacre and that each individual will be valued and their lives protected.




Holy Innocents

Sleep, little Baby, sleep,
The holy Angels love thee,
And guard thy bed, and keep
A blessed watch above thee.
No spirit can come near
Nor evil beast to harm thee:
Sleep, Sweet, devoid of fear
Where nothing need alarm thee.

The Love which doth not sleep,
The eternal arms around thee:
The shepherd of the sheep
In perfect love has found thee.
Sleep through the holy night,
Christ-kept from snare and sorrow,
Until thou wake to light
And love and warmth to-morrow.

by Christina Georgina Rossetti

Father, the Holy Innocents offered you praise by the death they suffered for Christ. May our lives bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips.

from the Directory of Popular Piety and the Liturgy: The Feast of the Holy Innocents

Giotto di Bondone
No. 21 Scenes from the Life of Christ
Massacre of the Innocents
1304-06 -- Fresco