Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs

For the days immediately following the feast of the Nativity of the Lord, the oldest liturgical calendars already list a group of feasts of saints. The Middle Ages, which saw these saints as honorary guides of the newborn King, named them “Comites Christi” – Christ’s guides. In the Roman liturgy, they are the first martyr, Stephen (December 26), the apostle and evangelist, John (December 27), and the children whom Herod had murdered in Bethlehem (December 28). According to St. Bernard, for these three days, we are presented with representatives of the threefold manner of holiness who adore the newborn King: martyrs by desire and, in fact (Stephen), martyrs only by desire (John), and martyrs only by deed (the Innocents).
The feast of St. Innocents probably originated in the West. It is first mentioned in the calendar of the North African city of Carthage in 505. Even before that, the martyrdom of these children was mentioned by many Church Fathers. The date of this feast was influenced by its connection with Christmas. The feast had a mournful character due to Gallic influence, reflected in the liturgical vestments’ purple color and the celebratory hymn’s omission. It is only since 1960 that the day has had features typical of the feast of the martyrs. Nowadays, on this day, in many places, a devotion is held for the modern-day Innocents, the unborn children.
In today’s Gospel, we find the angel’s command: “Arise, take the child and his mother with you, and go into Egypt, and stay there until I let you know, for Herod will seek the child to destroy him.” Indeed, you have noticed that even though we all know this is the little Jesus, the Gospel is somewhat general: “…he will seek the child to destroy him!” As if it’s not just about this child and just about Herod. Behind this effort of Herod is Satan, who has been a murderer of men from the beginning. Above all, every father and mother must protect his child from this threat. Every child can develop into the perfection of the God-man. And so become the image of God. That is why the devil hates man.
Perhaps it is in this context that it is appropriate to reflect on what a terrible crime against God’s love abortion is. God wants life and never consents to death. Death is a consequence of our sinful existence, but it is not something God would want. God weeps over Adam’s fall. Jesus wept over the death of Lazarus. God did not create death, nor did He ever consent to it. Theologians say that even in the death of the Son of God, the Father only conceded because He already had the Resurrection before His eyes. Jesus conquered death. God wants man, but man does not wish to man. And that is painful.
The people of the biblical era were fully aware of one truth that is somehow obscured to modern man: the truth of a Creator God who forms a child in the womb of the mother. In many places in the Holy Scripture, we find this truth expressed. In calling the prophet Jeremiah, God says: “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you.” (Jer. 1:5). The implication is that we are the object of God’s concern even before we are conceived in our mother’s womb. Even before our conception, God thinks of us with love and has a plan of Salvation prepared for us.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks to this theme:
“God created man to be his image; he created him to be the image of God, as male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). Man occupies a unique place in creation: he is “the image of God”: in his nature, he unites the spiritual and material worlds: he is created as man and woman: God made him his friend. Of all visible creatures, man alone is “capable of knowing and loving his Creator,” “he is the only creature whom God willed for his own sake,” man alone is called to share in the knowledge and love of the life of God for which he was created and which is the main reason for his dignity.”
Human life is to be respected and protected from the moment of conception. From the very first moment of its existence, the human being must be accorded the rights of a person, among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. Since the first century, the Church has taught that every induced abortion is a moral evil. This teaching has not changed. Direct abortion, that is, wanted as an end or as a means, seriously contradicts the moral law: “Thou shalt not kill a fetus by abortion, nor put to death a newborn child” (Didache)
Knowingly and willingly, and not merely materially, cooperating in abortion is a grave sin. The Church punishes this crime against human life with the canonical penalty of excommunication (excommunication from the Church). “Whoever causes an abortion that occurs falls into ex-communication, imposed by a prior judgment, ‘by the very act of committing the tort’ and under the conditions laid down by law. The Church does not intend thereby to narrow the sphere of mercy. It stresses the gravity of the crime committed and the irreparable harm caused to the innocent person killed, to his parents, and society as a whole.
Since the embryo is to be treated as a person from conception, it must be protected in its integrity, treated, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being. “Prenatal diagnosis is morally permissible if it ‘respects the life and integrity of the human embryo and fetus and is directed toward its preservation or healing. However, it is in serious conflict with the moral law if it anticipates, depending on the results, the possibility of inducing an abortion. A diagnosis must not amount to a death sentence.
We can understand this crime’s seriousness even from reading these parts of the RC. The fact that it is happening around us and carried out in large numbers does not prove the legitimacy of the practice but rather the wickedness of the society in which we live.
In conclusion, the statement of St. John Chrysostom:
“What kind of being is this, then, that has been created with such solemnity? It is man, a great, admirable, and living figure, who is of greater worth in God’s sight than all the rest of creation: he is man, and for his sake, the heavens and the earth and the sea and the whole creation exist: to his salvation God attached such importance that for his sake he did not spare even his only-begotten Son. God has untiringly used every means to cause man to ascend to Himself and sit down at His right hand.”