St. Elizabeth is warned to hide her infant, St. John the Baptist.
The Feast of the beloved Disciple is followed by that of the Holy Innocents. The Crib of Jesus, where we have already met and venerated the Prince of Martyrs, St. Stephen, and the Eagle of Patmos, St. John, has today standing around it a lovely choir of little Children, clad in snow-white robes, and holding green branches in their hands. The Divine Babe smiles upon them: He is their King; and these Innocents are smiling upon the Church of God. Courage and Fidelity first led us to the Crib; Innocence now comes, and bids us tarry there.
Herod intended to include the Son of God amongst the murdered Babes of Bethlehem. The Daughters of Rachel wept over their little ones, and the land streamed with blood; but the Tyrant's policy can do no more: it cannot reach Jesus, and its whole plot ends in recruiting an immense army of Martyrs for Heaven. These Children were not capable of knowing what an honor it was for them to be made victims for the sake of the Savior of the world; but the very first instant after their immolation, all was revealed to them: they had gone through this world without knowing it, and now that they know it, they possess a world infinitely better. God showed here the riches of His mercy: He asks of them but a momentary suffering, and that over, they wake up in Abraham’s Bosom: no further trials await them, they are in spotless innocence, and the glory due to a soldier who died to save the life of his Prince belongs eternally to them.
They died for Jesus' sake; therefore their death was a real Martyrdom, and the Church calls them by the beautiful name of the Flowers of the Martyrs, because of their tender age and their innocence. Justly then does the ecclesiastical Cycle bring them before us today, immediately after the two valiant Champions of Christ, Ss. Stephen and John. The connection of these three Feasts is thus admirably explained by St. Bernard: "In St. Stephen, we have both the act and the desire of Martyrdom; in St. John, we have but the desire; in the Holy Innocents, we have but the act... Will anyone doubt whether a crown was given to these Innocents? ...If you ask me what merit could they have that God should crown them, let me ask you what was the fault for which Herod slew them? What! is the mercy of Jesus less than the cruelty of Herod? And whilst Herod could put these Babes to death, who had done him no injury, Jesus may not crown them for dying for Him?
"St. Stephen is a Martyr by a Martyrdom of which men can judge, for he gave this evident proof of
his sufferings being felt and accepted, that, at the very moment of his death, his solicitude both for his own soul
and for those of his persecutors increased; the affection of his soul's compassion, making him weep more for
their sins than for his own wounds. St. John was a Martyr, by a Martyrdom only the Angels could see,
for the proofs of his sacrifice being spiritual, only spiritual creatures could know them.
But the Holy Innocents were Martyrs, to no other eye save Thine, O God! Man could find no merit;
Angel could find no merit; the extraordinary prerogative of Thy grace is the more boldly brought out.
Out of the mouth of Infants and of sucklings Thou hast perfected praise (Ps. 8: 3).
The praise the Angels give Thee is: Glory be to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will (Luke 2: 14):
it is a magnificent praise, but I make bold to say that it is not perfect till He cometh Who will say:
'Suffer the Little Children to come unto Me, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 19: 14);
and in the mystery of My mercy, there shall be peace to men
that cannot even use their will'." (Sermon for this Feast.)
Yes, God did for these Innocents, who were immolated on His Son's account, what He is doing every moment now by the Sacrament of regeneration (Baptism), in the case of children who die before coming to the use of reason. We, who have been baptized by water, should be all the more ready to honor these Little Ones, who were baptized in their own blood, and thereby associated to all the mysteries of the Divine Infancy. We ought, together with the Church, to congratulate them, for that a glorious and premature death secured them their innocence. They have lived upon our earth, and yet it defiled them not! Truly, these tender Lambs deserve to be forever with the Lamb of God! May this same earth of ours, grown old in wickedness, draw down the divine mercy on itself, by the love and honor it gives each year to these sweet Children of Bethlehem, who, like the Dove of Noah's Ark, could not find whereon to rest their feet.
In the midst of the joy which, at this holy time, fills both Heaven and earth, the Holy Church of Rome forgets not the lamentations of the Mothers who beheld their Children cruelly butchered by Herod's soldiers. She hears the wailing of Rachel, and condoles with her; and unless it be a Sunday, She suspends on this Feast some of the manifestations of the joy which inundates Her soul during the Octave of Her Jesus' Birth. The Red vestments of a Martyr's Day would be too expressive of that stream of infant blood which forbids the Mothers to be comforted,, and the joyous White would ill suit their poignant grief; She therefore vests in Purple, the symbol of mournfulness (unless it be a Sunday; in which case the color used is Red). The Gloria in excelsis, the Hymn She loves so passionately during these days, when Angels come down from Heaven to sing it—even that must be hushed today; and in the Holy Sacrifice She sings no Alleluia. In this, as in everything She does, the Church acts with an exquisite delicacy of feeling. Her Liturgy is a school of refined Christian considerateness.
This expression of sympathy gives today’s Office a pathetic sadness, which, however, in no way interferes with the joy which the Church feels in celebrating the Feast of the Holy Innocents. She formerly kept it with a simple Octave, as She did the two preceding Feasts of St. Stephen and St. John. She sanctions the practice, observed in Cathedrals and Collegiate Churches, of allowing young boys to share in the duties of the Choir, and blend their innocent chanting with that of the Ministers of God. She grants them several privileges, and takes pleasure in seeing the delight wherewith these children perform the several functions entrusted to them. This joy, this simplicity, this innocence, all add a charm to the divine Service; and through these youthful Choristers the Church pays honor to the Infant Jesus, and to the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem.
In Rome, the Station for the Feast of St. Stephen is in the Church dedicated to the holy Protomartyr on Monte Coelio; that for St. John is in the Basilica of St. Mary Major; today the Station is made at St. Pauls outside the Walls, which possesses several of the bodies of the Holy Innocents. In the sixteenth century, Pope Xystus V caused a portion of these Relics to be translated to St. Mary Major, and put near the holy Relic of Our Lord's Crib.
In the Introit, the Church proclaims the wisdom of God in disconcerting the impious plans of Herod, and turning the murder of the Innocents into His own glory, by raising them to the dignity of Martyrs of Christ, Whose praises they gratefully sing forever:
(Ps. 8: 3): Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings, O God, Thou hast perfected praise, because of (to confound) Thy enemies. (Ps. 8: 2): O Lord our God: how admirable is Thy Name in the whole earth! Glory be to the Father...
The Collect petitions for the grace to imitate the Holy Innocents:
O God, Whose praise the martyred Innocents on this day confessed, not by speaking, but by dying, destroy all the evils of sin in us, that our life also may proclaim in deeds Thy Faith which our tongues profess...
The Lesson is taken from the Apocalypse of St. John (14: 1-5):
In those days, I saw the Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand having His Name and the Name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from Heaven like a voice of many waters, and like a voice of loud thunder, and the voice that I heard was as of harpers playing on their harps. And they were singing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except those hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been purchased from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were purchased from among men, first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb, and in their mouth there was found no lie; they are without blemish before the throne of God.
The Church shows us, by Her choice of this mysterious passage of the Apocalypse, how great a value She sets on innocence, and what our own esteem of it ought to be. The Holy Innocents follow the Lamb, because they are pure. Personal merits on earth they could not have; but they went rapidly through this world, and its defilements never reached them. Their purity was not tried, as was St. John's; but it is beautified by the blood they shed for the Divine Lamb, and He is pleased with it, and makes them His companions. Let the Christian, therefore, be ambitious for this innocence, which is thus singularly honored. If he has preserved it, let him keep and guard it as his most precious treasure; if he has lost it, let him repair the loss by repentance, and having done so, let him say with the Spouse in the Canticle (5: 3): I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
In the Gradual, we have the Innocents blessing their God for having broken the snare, wherewith the world would have made them captive. They have fled as a bird set free; there was nothing to clog their flight:
(Ps. 123: 7-8): Our soul hath been delivered, as a sparrow, out of the snare of the fowlers. V. The snare is broken, and we are delivered. Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made Heaven and earth.
The Tract expresses the lamentation of Rachel over the cruelty of Herod and his minions.
It invokes the divine vengeance which swept away the whole family of this vile tyrant:
(Ps. 78: 3, 10): They have poured out the blood of the Saints as water, round about Jerusalem. V. And there was none to bury them. Avenge, O Lord, the blood of Thy Saints, which has been shed upon the earth.
When this Feast falls on a Sunday, the Alleluia verse is sung instead:
Alleluia, alleluia. V. (Ps. 112: 1) Praise the Lord, ye children, praise ye the Name of the Lord. Alleluia.
The Gospel is taken from the second Chapter of St. Matthew (13-18):
At that time, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, "Arise, and take the Child and His Mother, and flee into Egypt, and remain there until I tell thee. For Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him." So he arose, and took the Child and His Mother by night, and withdrew into Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod; that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: "Out of Egypt, I called My Son." Then Herod, seeing that he had been tricked by the Magi, was exceedingly angry; and he sent and slew all the boys in Bethlehem and all its neighborhood who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had carefully ascertained from the Magi. Then was fulfilled what was spoken through Jeremias the prophet, "A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are no more."
Thus does the Gospel, in its sublime simplicity, relate the Martyrdom of the Innocents. Herod... sent and slew all the boys... ! The earth paid no attention to the fell tyranny, which made so rich a harvest for Heaven: there was heard a voice in Rama, Rachel bewailing her little ones; it went up to Heaven, and Bethlehem was still again, as though nothing had happened. But these favored Victims had been accepted by God, and they were to be the companions of His Son. Jesus looked at them from His crib, and blessed them; Mary compassionated with them and their mothers; the Church, which Jesus had come to form, would, for all future ages, glorify these youthful Martyrs, and place the greatest confidence in the patronage of these Children, for She knows how powerful their intercession is with Her heavenly Spouse.
At the Communion antiphon we again hear the voice of Rachel's lamentation. Now that the Church has been nourished by the mystery of divine Charity, She could not forget the affliction of the mothers of Her dear Innocents. She compassionates them all through Her Office, and turns to Him Who alone can comfort them that are in sorrow:
A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are no more.
We too, blessed Babes, celebrate your triumph, and we congratulate you on your having been chosen as the companions of Jesus when in His Crib. What a glad waking was yours, from the darkness of unconscious infancy to the precious light of Abraham's bosom, where were congregated all the elect! How dear to you the sword that thus transformed you! What gratitude had you not to God, Who thus chose you, out of millions of other children, to do honor to the birth of His Son by this sacrifice of your blood and lives! Too young to fight the battle, yet did you win the crown. The Martyr's Palm waved in those tiny hands which had not strength to pluck it. God would give proof of His munificence: He would teach us that He is Master of His gifts. And was it not fitting that the birth of the Son of this great King should be commemorated by largesse such as this? Sweet Infant Martyrs! we give praise to our God for having thus favored you, and with the whole Church we rejoice in the privileges you have received.
Flowers of the Martyrs! we confide in your intercession, and beseech you,
by the reward so gratuitously conferred on you, to be mindful of us your brethren,
who are struggling amidst the dangers of this sinful world. We too desire to receive
those same Palms and Crowns which you have won, but with such innocence and simplicity
that the Church says you played with them (Palma et coronis luditis—Hymn for Vespers);
whereas we have to fight hard and long for them, and are so often on the point of losing them forever!
The God that has glorified you is our last end as truly as He is yours; in Him alone can our hearts find their rest.
Pray for us, that we may possess Him for all eternity.
Pray for us also, that we may obtain childlike simplicity of heart, whence comes that unreserved confidence in God which leads man to the perfect accomplishment of His holy will. May we bear the cross with patience when He sends it, and desire nothing but His holy will. You gazed upon the murderers who broke your gentle sleep, and you found nothing to make you fear; the bright sword they held over your cradle had but the look of a toy with which you asked to play; death stared you in the face, and you smiled on him. May we imitate you, and be meek and graceful in the trials that come upon us; making them our martyrdom by the quiet endurance of our courage, and the conformity of our will with that of our Sovereign Lord and Master, Who only gives the cross that He may give the crown. May we never object to or hate the instruments He uses wherewith to try us; may no harshness nor injustice nor pain ever quench the fire of our charity, nor any event ever deprive us of that peace without which our souls live not to God.
And lastly, O Innocent Lambs, slain for Jesus, and following Him whithersoever He goeth, because you are pure, pray for us to the Lamb of God, that He permit us to come to Him in Bethlehem, and, like you, fix our dwelling there, for it is the abode of love and innocence. Speak for us to Mary, a Mother more compassionate than Rachel; tell Her that we are Her children, and your brethren. She that compassionated your momentary sufferings will pity us and help us in our long years of temptation, pain, and sorrow.
Three days have passed since the Birth of Jesus: let us visit Him in the Stable, and humbly adore Emmanuel. Let us think on the mercy which led Him to become a Little Child in order to bring us near to Himself; let us be filled with astonishment at seeing our God thus close to His creatures. "He," says the holy Abbot Guerric, "that in Heaven, surpasses the sublime intellects of the Angels, is here on earth palpable to the dull sense of men. For whereas God could not speak to us as spiritual beings, for we are carnal, His Word was made Flesh, that all flesh might not only hear, but might even see Him, Whom the mouth of the Lord had spoken (Isa. 40: 5). And whereas the world knew not the Wisdom of God in His wisdom, that same Wisdom, by an ineffable condescension, made Himself Foolishness (1 Cor. 1: 25)... I give Thee praise, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, for that Thou hast hid this Wisdom from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed it to little ones (Matt. 11: 25)... The haughtiness of the proud is exceedingly adverse to the humility of this Little One; and that which is high to men is an abomination before God (Luke 16: 15)... This Little One finds sympathy with none save with them that are humble and peaceful. As, therefore, these Little Children sing, glorying in Him: A Little Child is born unto us (Isa. 9: 6); so does He say of them: Behold Me and My Children, whom the Lord hath given unto Me! (Isa. 8: 18) Thus it was that the glory of Martyrdom began with innocent Babes; for the Father would give to His Son, the Infant Jesus, Companions of His own tender age; and hereby the Holy Ghost taught us that of such is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 19: 14)."
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