This Monday, the Catholic faithful mark the Feast of the Holy Innocents (Niños Inocentes) in memory of the children of the neighborhood of Bethlehem who were massacred on orders of King Herod of Judea approximately two years following the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem to the Three Wise Men.

In Catholic churches all over the country, priests in red vestments will focus their reflections and homilies on the events leading to the gruesome killings beginning with the appearance of an angel to St. Joseph in a dream to warn him of Herod’s plan and for the Holy Family to flee to Egypt.

Readings will focus on the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:15 which says, “Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children and would not be comforted.”

Church officials said, “The Church considers the Holy Innocents as the first martyrs for Jesus Christ. The feast of these innocent children is kept within the octave of Christmas because the Holy Innocents died not only for Christ but in His stead. They gave their lives for the newborn Savior.”

Also called Childermas (Children’s Mass), the Holy Innocents were the children who were ordered slaughtered by King Herod in his furious attempt to eliminate the Holy Infant whom he considered a threat to his rule. When he realized that he had been deceived by the Magi whom he sent to look for the newborn King, he ordered the massacre of all boys two years old and below in Bethlehem and its vicinity.

Medieval authors estimated that 144,000 infants were killed, while the Byzantine liturgy and the Syrian list of saints placed the number at 14,000 and 64,000 infants, respectively.

In 1910, the Catholic Encyclopedia said that since Bethlehem is a small town, only about six to 12 infant boys might have been killed with a dozen or so more in the surrounding areas.

The Holy Innocents are venerated all over the world as the patron of choir boys.

In the country, the Feast of the Holy Innocents is celebrated by some like April Fools’ Day on April 1, by playing tricks, like borrowing money without the intention of paying back, on the gullible – hence, “the innocents.” (Christina I. Hermoso)