The Day of the Innocent Saints falls on the 28th of December. It is a festivity of religious origin. It is celebrated today as a fun and lighthearted day in which jokes are played on family and friends .It is the Spanish equivalent of April fools' day!
The Day of the Innocents is a commemoration of Christianity: the killing of all children under two years born in Bethlehem (Judea), ordered by King Herod to get rid of the newborn Jesus of Nazareth .
Massacre of the Innocents is the biblical narrative of infanticide and gendercide by Herod the Great, the Roman appointed King of the Jews. The historicity of the incident is "an open question that probably can never be definitively decided", but according to the Gospel of Matthew. Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi.
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| Massacre of the Innocents - by Pieter Pauwel RUBENS |
The number of infants killed is not stated, however the Holy Innocents have been claimed as the first Christian martyrs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Innocents
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