28 December 2018

Word of the Day: Holy Innocents

HOLY INNOCENTS. Martyred boys under two years of age, whom King Herod ordered to be massacred. It was an attempt by Herod to kill the Babe of Bethlehem, who he feared would usurp his kingship (Matthew 2:16-18). Legends carry the numbers slain in the thousands, but it is now conceded to have been less than a hundred. The Western Church keeps their feast day on December 28. In Bethlehem it is celebrated with great solemnity.
✠✠JMJ✠✠
The First Martyrs of the New Testament. For once I agree with 'modern scholarship'! Bethlehem would have not had 'thousands' of male children under the age of two.

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