The Holy Innocents
the children of Bethlehem killed by order of Herod
Feast: 28 December (current Roman calendar, feast) · 28 December (1962 Missal, II class)
Who they were
St Matthew tells that when the Magi came asking where the newborn King of the Jews was, King Herod, afraid for his throne, asked them to report back. Warned in a dream, they went home by another road, and Herod in his fury sent men to kill every boy in Bethlehem and its district aged two and under.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: the Church has venerated these children as martyrs since the first centuries, and keeps their feast on 28 December, close to Christmas. Pope St Pius V raised it to a feast.
Why that counted as sanctity
The Holy Innocents did not yet speak, yet died in Christ's place. The fifth-century bishop St Quodvultdeus wrote that Christ made witnesses of those who could not yet talk. They are the first flowers of the Church's martyrs, and the Church remembers in them every innocent victim of violence.
- Vatican News - Saint of the day (Italian): The Holy Innocents
- Wikidata Q643474 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Massacre of the Innocents (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.