MIAMI. – The Catholic Church celebrates the Day of Santos Innocents this December 28th. This day refers to the biblical episode of the slaughter of all children born in Bethlehem, Judea, ordered by King Herod to get rid of Jesus of Nazareth.
The order fell on infants under two years of age. According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Herod’s objective was to know where the Baby Jesus was so he could send his soldiers to kill him. For this reason, he instructed the Three Wise Men to locate the little one: “When they find him, return and inform me, so that I can also go and worship him.”
In fact, guided by stars, the wise men set out to Belén and they found the Divine Child Jesus next to the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph; They fell down before him, worshiped him and offered him gold, frankincense and myrrh.
However, the Three Wise Men received in a dream the divine announcement not to return to Jerusalem and King Herod did not obtain the information he expected. From there came the order to kill the children, for which the Army surrounded the city of Bethlehem.
The crying of children and customs
For the liturgical celebration of December 28, priests use the color purple that symbolizes sadness and the crying of the innocent. The prayer and date of the Day of the Santos Innocents have been sealed in the Gregorian Sacramentary since the end of the 8th century.
Despite the biblical meaning of Holy Innocents’ Day or April Fools’ Day, over time in many countries popular culture has led to the custom of making jokes to surprise people in their good faith.
This is how both in Latin America and in Spain they seek to make people see that they have believed the stories, that they fell as innocent. However, in USA These jokes are made on April 1, when, like in the United Kingdom, the “Fool´s Day”.
In Italy, April Fool’s Day is known as “Pesce d’Aprile”, in Canada and Brazil it is called “Lie Day”.
@snederr
Source: Aci Prensa / International Day Portal
