Let Us Never Forget

Though today is the feast of the Holy Family (and let us pray for all families, that they may imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth and find in the intercession of Jesus, Mary and Joseph every grace and help they need) if today were not Sunday it would be the feast of the Holy Innocents. 

These little boys, about a dozen all under two years of age, were killed by King Herod as he sought to kill the Christ.  Apart from the horror of their death and their veneration in the Church as martyrs, they have also become patrons for the pro-life movement representing in many ways those other innocents who are killed in their infancy: the victims of abortion.

These little boys and girls, denied their right to life, now number millions, are also denied a voice and even denied their very humanity so their killers can cover over their crimes. But their murder is a crime, and though the world and its governments and its powerful women and men choose to ignore, to forget, let us never forget. Let us commemorate these little ones sacrificed in the name of so-called "choice". May their blood shed in the clinics, hospitals and abortion facilities of the world, intercede with God for justice and an end to this holocaust.

May the Holy Innocents stand at the gates of heaven and welcome the victims of the culture of death, and may God give them what has been denied them here: life, respect, love and a recognition of their existence and their humanity.

In memory of these little ones, we might listen to the Coventry Carol, usually sung at Christmas it is in reality a hymn about the massacre of the Innocents, a lament in the form of a lullaby.