Christendom celebrates Holy Innocents Day December 28
By Ben Cal
MANILA, Dec. 27 (PNA) -- Filipinos will join the whole Christendom in the observance of Holy Innocents Day on Wednesday to recall the massacre of thousands of innocent male children under two years old ordered by King Herod more than 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem in a bid to kill the newborn King, Jesus Christ, the Son of God whom he considered a threat to his throne.
By tradition aside from attending Mass, Filipinos celebrate Niños Inocentes or Holy Innocent Day with some add-on Niños Inocentes similar to April Fools' Day wherein pranksters play tricks to friends or neighbors by borrowing money without the intention of paying back.
So before lending money on Wednesday, Holy Innocents, be aware.
According to biblical account, Herod the Great was disturbed upon learning that a Child Jesus was born in Bethlehem to save mankind from sin.
Herod was afraid he would be unseated as king so he ordered the massacre of children in Bethlehem two years and below.
He was clueless where the Child Jesus was born despite his power as a king.
Herod tried to trick the three Magi or three kings telling them he would like to accompany them when they visit the Infant Jesus.
But an Angel appeared to the Magi telling them to ignore Herod because of his insincerity and told them to take another route going to Bethlehem guided by a comet.They offered gifts to the new born King, Jesus.
Matthew 2:16-18 says: Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 1 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: A cry was heard in Ramah—weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.â€
The thousands of children who were massacred are the first martyrs of the Church who died for Jesus Christ. Also called Childermas (Children’s Mass), the feast is kept within the season of Christmas because the holy innocents gave their lives for the newborn Savior. (PNA)
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