14.000 Infants by Herod, the “pascha” of the innocent children

14.000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) slain by Herod at Bethlehem

Commemorated on December 29

Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko

On December 29, we remember the horrific slaying of 14,000 infants by Herod, performed due to his fear and jealousy of the coming Messiah.A life in Christ is a life of both martyrdom (as shown by Stephen) and submission (as shown by Mary); in other words, it is a life of humility. By fearing this humility, Herod “lamented that his power would soon be destroyed” (Kontakia of the day) and sought to destroy Christ instead.

From His very first days Jesus was rejected on earth. He was hunted down by Herod, only to be finally caught by Pilate who, together with the leaders of His own people, put the Messiah to death. The reason for such hostility to the point of murder is given by Christ Himself, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (Jn 3:19). Jesus’ flight into Egypt is seen by the evangelist as fulfilling the prophetic words, ‘Out of Egypt have I called My Son” (Mt 2:15; Hos 11:1)…