Massacre of the Innocents, by Léon Cogniet
I was going to post some quick quotes from columns I read this morning, one of them quite frivolous, but then I remembered what today is. The Fourth Day of Christmas, when we remember the slaughter of the innocents.
And yes, it’s still Christmas. We’re only a third of the way through. You can’t tell from the secular signs. There’s not a carol to be found on the radio. They played them all back during Advent, the heathens.
Speaking of heathens — lest I seem to be putting on righteous airs, I would have forgotten myself except for a silly show I saw on PBS the other night, telling how the 12 days were marked during the reign of Henry VIII. And then the NYT reminded me, too.
And it’s the most sobering day of the season:
Gospel Mt 2:13-18
When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.
Related Posts
“The tale is not history but myth or folk-lore.It appears to be modeled on Pharaoh’s attempt to kill the Israelite children (Exodus 1:22), and more specifically on various elaborations of the original story that had become current in the 1st century.”
Michael Grant
Also see:
https://stream.org/did-herod-really-order-the-massacre-of-the-innocents-or-did-matthew-just-make-up-a-story/
Nice try at reminding everyone that the Christmas season continues.
But it’s largely in vain, because most folks serve the Lord of commerce, not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
By the way, I referred to “Lucy Worsley’s 12 Days of Tudor Christmas” as a “silly show,” which was perhaps unfair. I didn’t really mean to disparage. I generally enjoy her goofball takes on history. They’re fun.
Still, there is a silliness in all of them. The best way I can explain what I mean is the picture above. That is her usual expression on camera… which cracks me up…