Category:Holy Innocents

The Holy Innocents, refers to the children massacred in an episode of infanticide by the King of Judea, Herod the Great. In the Church, they have been claimed as the first Christian martyrs.

The Biblical account is found in Matthew 2:16-18

2:16. Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and gave orders to kill all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders of Bethlehem, from two years old and under, according to the time he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

Herod accomplished this by giving notice to all mothers in the selected region that he wanted to reward them for their fertility and to bring their children to certain government-chosen locations to receive their reward. When the festively clad families came to these locations, the husbands were told to return home, the mothers and children were warmly received into the building, and the children were separated from their mothers and slain (see The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich).

2:17. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying:

2:18. A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet: “A voice in Ramah was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and she will not be comforted, because they are no more.”

The full quotation from Jeremiah 31:15-17 is a promise that Israel shall return from the captivity in Babylon: "A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning, and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not. Thus says the Lord: Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes tears: for there is a reward for your work, says the Lord: and they shall return out of the land of the enemy. And there is hope for your last end, says the Lord: and the children shall return to their own borders."