The Holy Innocents, Martyrs

The Gospel of Matthew tells that the magi came to Jerusalem asking where the newborn king of the Jews was, and that when they did not return to him, King Herod the Great ordered all the boys aged two and under in Bethlehem and its district to be killed. Joseph, warned in a dream, had already fled with Mary and the child to Egypt. Matthew sees in the mourning of the mothers the words of Jeremiah about Rachel weeping for her children. No other ancient source mentions the massacre; historians note that it fits Herod's known brutality and that Bethlehem was a small town. The Church has honoured these children as martyrs since at least the 5th century, three days after Christmas.