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The saints

The Holy Innocents

The baby boys of Bethlehem killed by Herod, the first to die for Christ.

Feast: 28 December · about 4 BC · The early Church · Bethlehem

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Painting of the Massacre of the Innocents: soldiers attacking mothers and babies beneath stone arches.

Didier Descouens, 2016. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / The Holy Innocents

Bethlehem, after the first Christmas

When the Magi did not return to tell him where the child was, Herod was furious.1

He ordered every boy two years old and under in and around Bethlehem killed.1

Matthew remembers Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted.

Patron of babies2

01The Holy Innocents

Martyrs who could not speak

The Church honors them as martyrs, who died not by speaking for Christ but in His place.2

Live it this week

Pray with parents who lost a child

The Holy Innocents are the patrons of babies. This week, pray for a couple who have lost a child (in pregnancy or after), and send them a note telling them you remember.

Notes

How we know · 2 sources for this page
  1. Matthew 2:16, World English Bible. read the chapter
  2. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Holy Innocents”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.