Orthodox believers pay their respects on January 11 in memory of the Bethlehem babieswho are considered martyrs, despite the fact that they did not even know Jesus, they could not understand the events of those times due to their age.

There is a mention of infant martyrs only in the Gospel of Matthew. It tells about the Eastern Magi, who, seeing a star in the sky, understood the birth of a new “King” in Judea. The Magi went to Jerusalem to the ruler Herod with a request to point them to this king, because they thought that the baby was Herod’s heir. But such news did not comfort Herod, he saw in the baby a competitor and someone who would encroach on his throne, because he himself received it by right.

In a rage, Herod ordered to kill all boys under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. According to research and data of historians, the number of killed babies reached 14,000. But Jesus escaped death, because Joseph and Mary took their son to Egypt on the instructions of an angel.