Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents.
You know the story… Herod hears about the birth of the King of the Jews from the Magi and gets paranoid that he’ll lose his throne. Solution? Ask the Magi to tell him where Jesus is so that he can worship him too all the while plotting to kill him. Sneaky. When the Magi don’t come back, he sends out his henchmen to kill all the male babies that are about the same age as Jesus.
There are a lot of different customs out there for celebrating what is also known as Childermas.
My favorite has to be to be the custom of beating children on this day, in order to remind them of the sad and unjust end of those poor innocent children. I’ve mentioned this to Violet several times (followed by evil cackling). She’s not too keen on the idea but I’m really leaning toward it [evil cackle].
Another custom, long ago in the days when Christmas was less child-centered, was to indulge children with treats and parties. There’s been plenty of that - no sense overindulging!
A more recent custom is allowing the children to have the lead role in the family for the day, leading the family prayers, making decisions about family activities for the day, having the place of honor at meals, and so forth. I’m good with this one as long as it also includes all of the not-so-fun stuff that goes with “being in charge” like cleaning up dinner and sending me to bed early.
It’s definitely a great time to give thanks for all the children in our lives, whether in our immediate family or our extended families. And it is a good day to tell them how much they are loved and to revive the ancient custom of parents blessing their children at the end of the day.
An easy blessing:
Hold you child’s head in both your hands. Sign a cross on the child’s forehead with your right thumb and say “May God bless you, and may He be the Guardian of your heart and mind—the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.”
JSYK, December 28th is widely regarded as the unluckiest day of the year, so today is probably also a good day for staying home in bed and certainly you don’t want to start any new ventures today!