Feast of the Holy Innocents

Often called Childermas, the Feast of the Holy Innocents solemnizes the slaughter of the children of Judea by Herod the Great following the birth of Christ. It has always been the focus of the Christian’s commitment to protect and preserve the sanctity of human life--thus serving as a prophetic warning against the practicioners of abandonment and infanticide in the age of antiquity, oblacy and pessiary in the medieval epoch, and abortion and euthanasia in these modern times. Generally set aside as a day of prayer, it culminates with a declaration of the covenant community’s unflinching commitment to the innocents who are unable to protect themselves.