Catholics celebrate December 28 the memory of the holy innocent infants of Bethlehem. In the Gospel of Matthew, it is said that King Herod, having received the news of the birth of the Savior from the Magi, in order to protect his throne, gave the order to take the lives of all the baby boys who were born around the time of Christ’s birth. Herod considered Jesus a contender for the same throne, but Christ managed to escape thanks to his parents, who went to Egypt at the command of an angel in a vision.

The murdered babies are remembered and honored as martyrs. They were reduced to the rank of saints, because the king’s hatred of Jesus Christ knew no bounds. Even innocent children, who did not have time to learn about life and understand the meaning of events, were brutally killed. The memory of infant martyrs began to be honored in the 5th century, first by the Church of Constantinople, and later by other Christian churches. The relics of the Bethlehem babies were honored and worshiped in the main Christian centers – Alexandria, Constantinople, Antioch. Since 770, the immortal relics of one child have been in France in a monastery in the city of Brantome.