Wednesday December 28, 2022 | 10:13 a.m.
April Fool’s Day is celebrated every December 28 and is part of the general Roman calendar of the Catholic Church. Currently, during this day, jokes are usually played on family, friends and acquaintances, but originally, it is a day that commemorates a tragic event.
What is April Fool’s Day?
April Fools’ Day refers to the moment when King Herod I the Great ordered the slaughter of all children under 2 years of age born in Bethlehem. The directive had the objective of eliminating the Messiah and future king of Israel.
According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, some kings, known today as the Magi, traveled to Jerusalem to receive the future Messiah. They knew that this moment had arrived due to the prophecy announced in the Old Testament, which said: “When a new star appears in Israel, a new king has been born who will reign over all nations.”
Faced with this, King Herod, involved in his desire for power and ambition, gave them the order to provide him with information when they knew where he was. At the same time, he ordered the elimination of all the children born in Bethlehem.
But the Magi, guided by the star, arrived before, and they found the baby Jesus next to the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, they adored him and offered him their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. And they did not tell Herod where the child was.
The king, for his part, surrounded the city of Bethlehem with his army, but an angel warned Saint Joseph to flee to Egypt. Thus, when Herod’s soldiers arrived, the baby Jesus had already left Bethlehem. However, the army murdered all the little “Holy Innocents” children who inhabited the city. As a consequence, the monarch was involved in a deep anger not knowing where the Messiah was.
Although this event occurred after the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus, the Catholic Church celebrates it every December 28.
Why are jokes made on April Fool’s Day?
The Day of the Innocents is celebrated in Spain and in Latin America and, due to the change in tradition over the years, on this date jokes, pranks or deceptions are usually made to the naive, in reference to the deception of the Magi to King Herod.
Usually, the jokes are accompanied by the phrases “that innocence is worth it” or “innocent dove that you let yourself be fooled, because on this April Fool’s Day nothing should be borrowed”, since, according to tradition, what is taken borrowed on this day is not returned.
