The Feast of the Holy Innocents | Thursday 28 December 2023

Today is Thursday the 28th of December, the feast of the Holy Innocents.

Today we hear, ‘Versa Est In Luctum’: ‘My harp is turned to grieving and my flute into the voice of those who weep.’

Versa est in luctum cithara mea,
et organum meum in vocem flentium.
Parce mihi Domine,
nihil enim sunt dies mei.
My harp is turned to grieving
and my flute to the voice of those who weep.
Spare me, O Lord,
for my days are as nothing.




Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 2:13-18


Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’


We are confronted with another difficult scene today; a scene of violence and death. The incarnate Son of God flees as a refugee. It’s a scene familiar to our own times. As you watch the tragic drama unfold, how do you find yourself reacting?

Rachel weeps for her lost children together with so many mothers across history and in our own time. God enters into the depths of this worst of human heartbreaks. Again, this is a painful scene. Can you bear to stay with it and get in touch with what it says to you? If not, where do you want to go with it?

As you listen to the reading again, the words about Rachel seem filled with despair, but the verses that follow show the prophecy to be one overflowing with resolute hope. There is light shining even in this terrible darkness. Can you find a glimmer of light as you let the words speak to you?

This is a difficult scene to stay with. However it strikes you, take time to speak to God, sharing whatever is in your mind and heart.


Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.