Feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28: Story and Prayers

The Feast of the Holy Innocents, on December 28, remembers the baby boys of Bethlehem whom King Herod killed in his attempt to destroy the newborn Christ. The Church has honored them since the fifth century as the first martyrs for Christ, the “flowers of the martyrs,” who died not only for him but in his place. In 2026 the feast falls on Monday, December 28, within the Octave of Christmas. Below are the Gospel account, the meaning of the feast, its customs, and prayers for the day, especially for children and for parents who grieve.

What happened to the Holy Innocents?

After the Wise Men had found the Child Jesus, an angel warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod, and warned Joseph to flee with Mary and the Child into Egypt. St. Matthew continues (Matthew 2:16–18):

Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying:
A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

The prophecy Matthew quotes is from Jeremiah, who heard Rachel, the mother of Israel buried near Bethlehem, weeping for her exiled people (Jeremiah 31:15):

Thus saith the Lord: A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning, and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not.

How many children did Herod kill?

The Gospel does not say. The Greek liturgy speaks of 14,000 and some medieval writers of 144,000, after the number of the redeemed in the Apocalypse. But Bethlehem was a small town. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia notes that modern scholars estimated anywhere from about six to twenty boys, which may be why the Jewish historian Josephus, who records many of Herod’s late atrocities, does not mention it. Their number does not lessen the horror: each was a child, and each mother’s grief was Rachel’s.

Why are they called martyrs?

The Holy Innocents could not yet speak or choose, yet the Church has always counted them among the martyrs. St. Augustine called them the first buds of the Church, killed by the frost of persecution, who died not only for Christ but in his stead. The old Collect of their feast puts it simply: they confessed God’s praise “not by word, but by death.”

The three feasts after Christmas form a guard of honor around the newborn King:

St. Stephen (December 26), martyr by will, by love and by blood. See the St. Stephen prayer.
St. John the Apostle (December 27), martyr by will and love, who did not die a martyr’s death. See St. John the Apostle.
The Holy Innocents (December 28), martyrs by blood alone.

The prayer of the feast

The Collect of the Holy Innocents in the traditional Roman Missal:

O God, whose praise the Martyr Innocents did on this day, not by word, but by death, confess, mortify in us all the evils of vice that our life may also by deeds declare thy faith which our tongue professes. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.

Prayers on the Feast of the Holy Innocents

Written for this page.

For children everywhere

Lord Jesus, you were a child in danger, carried by night into exile.
Protect all children today who are threatened by violence, war, hunger and abuse.
Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, pray for them,
and give us the courage to defend the weakest and the smallest among us. Amen.

For the unborn

God of life, every child is known and loved by you before birth.
Through the prayers of the Holy Innocents, protect every child in the womb,
strengthen mothers and fathers who are afraid,
and turn the hearts of all who would harm the innocent. Amen.

For parents who have lost a child

Lord, you heard the voice of Rachel weeping for her children.
Comfort every mother and father who grieves a child lost before birth, at birth or in childhood.
Hold our little ones in your peace, with the Holy Innocents,
and keep alive in us the hope of seeing them again. Amen.

For more, see the prayer after a miscarriage, the prayer for a baby in the NICU and the Catholic prayer for children.

Customs of the day

Childermas. In medieval England the day was called Childermas, “Children’s Mass,” and was one of the most solemn days of Christmastide.
The boy bishop. In many cathedrals in England, France and Germany a choirboy was chosen as “boy bishop” on St. Nicholas Day and presided over the choir, in miniature vestments, on the feast of the Holy Innocents.
Blessing children. Many families and parishes bless their children on this day, since it is the feast of the youngest saints.
Día de los Santos Inocentes. In Spain and Latin America, December 28 became a day of practical jokes and harmless tricks, much like April Fools’ Day.
Relics in Rome. The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls has long been believed to hold relics of some of the Holy Innocents.

The feast in the liturgy

The feast is found, together with those of St. Stephen and St. John, in the Leonine Sacramentary of about 485. The Latin Church keeps it on December 28, the Greek Church on December 29. In the older Roman rite the vestments were violet, and the Gloria and Alleluia were left out unless the feast fell on a Sunday, out of compassion for the weeping mothers of Bethlehem. Today the feast is celebrated in red, the color of martyrs, with the Gloria, as one of the days of the Christmas Octave.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Feast of the Holy Innocents?

December 28, three days after Christmas. In 2026 it falls on a Monday.

Who were the Holy Innocents?

The baby boys of Bethlehem and its surroundings, two years old and under, whom King Herod ordered to be killed when he learned from the Wise Men that the King of the Jews had been born there (Matthew 2:16).

Why does the Church celebrate the Holy Innocents during Christmas?

Because they died in place of the newborn Christ. The feast is placed in the Octave of Christmas with St. Stephen and St. John, as companions of the Child Jesus.

What are the Holy Innocents the patron saints of?

Babies and children, especially children in danger, foundlings and the unborn. They are often invoked in prayer for an end to abortion.

More Christmas-season pages

Texts and sources

Matthew 2:16–18 and Jeremias 31:15 (Douay-Rheims).
Collect: The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916 daily missal), December 28, public domain (archive.org). OCR errors corrected.
Frederick G. Holweck, “Holy Innocents,” Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 8 (1910), Wikisource.