The Church glorified the Bethlehem babies as the first martyrs for Christ. And now they are in the Kingdom of Heaven next to the One for whom they suffered innocent suffering. Where there is neither sorrow nor death for them, there is only eternal joy and eternal life. May God give us the honor of these heavenly halls.
Gospel story
Baby Jesus, when he was born, there was no place among the people. And he was reclining in a manger near the livestock. Christ, the long-awaited Mission, did not come to establish an earthly state, but to elevate people to the Kingdom of Heaven.
When the Savior was born, the king of Judea was the evil and cruel King Herod. And although he was not a Jew, he illegally managed to take the throne. And then one day the news reached him that a legitimate heir to the Jewish throne had appeared in this world.
Contender for the Throne
Fear and trembling seized Herod. Anger accumulated in his heart more and more, and he began to build insidious plans. One day a truly satanic thought dawned on him. Hastily Herod gathered all the high priests, the scribes of the people, and asked them one single question:Where is Christ to be born? They answered him: “In Bethlehem of the Jews.”
So, Herod found out the place where the pretender to the throne was born. Now he began to be interested in questions about when this happened, that is, how old is He now? It was of little use to the chief priests to ask about this. Then he decided to find the Magi, who said that some kind of guiding star appeared to them and they follow it to bow to the Divine baby.
Magi
Herod immediately sent guards to bring the Magi at all costs. It didn't take much time for this. The Magi, not suspecting anything bad, came and heartily told Herod about when the star appeared in the east.
Herod began to make calculations. The star, according to the Magi, appeared a few months ago. Plus, they could make a mistake and not immediately notice it. And it is quite possible that she appeared when the baby was already born and got stronger. All this arithmetic led him to the conclusion that the Infant could be up to two years old.
Insidious calculations
So, all the information is received, what remains? The case itself is so cruel and bloodthirsty, the like of which has never been seen before in history.
Herod, hiding his true intentions, slyly told the magi to go and scout carefully about the baby, and when they find it, inform him about it, then he will go and worship Him.
But the Magi, having received a revelation in a dream, did not return to Herod, but worshiped the born Christ and, bypassing Jerusalem, went totheir countries.
Herod's Revenge
Herod never found out where the Divine child was. He became terribly angry and sent to beat all the babies in Bethlehem and all over it from two years old and under.
And a great atrocity happened - all of Bethlehem and its environs were filled with cries and lamentations, for the blood of 14,000 innocent children was shed.
But Herod couldn't find Christ. The Holy Family, having received a notice from the Angel, fled to Egypt.
The Atrocities of Herod
The wrath of Herod was terrible, he fell upon the pious righteous Simeon the God-bearer. In the temple, taking the born baby Christ in his hands, the elder publicly testified about the appearance of the long-awaited Messiah. Soon Simeon went to the Lord. But Herod did not want to be buried with dignity.
Then, at the behest of King Herod, the priest Zechariah was also brutally killed, who was stabbed to death between the altar and the altar. All this happened due to the fact that he did not indicate to the soldiers of the king the location of his son John, the future baptist of Jesus Christ.
Soon the wrath of God punished King Herod himself. He suffered a terrible disease - he died from being eaten alive by worms.
But before his death, he managed to complete a few more atrocities. He killed several Jewish high priests and scribes, his wife Mariamne and his three sons, his own brother, as well as seven dozen ancient men, members of the Sanhedrin.
Holy baby martyrs of Bethlehem. The meaning of suffering
For the first time, the episode with the beating of babies was described by the Apostle Matthew in the Gospel. When you first get acquainted with this New Testament story, you are immediately seized by some kind of fear and horror. And the question involuntarily arises about the meaning of the suffering and death of the Bethlehem babies.
Before God, no suffering remains meaningless. This is also stated in numerous testimonies described in the Holy Scriptures. This is evidenced by the lives of people who have suffered in this world for various reasons, given as an example in this book. The providence of God about man and the world is not always clear. It is impossible to realize and see immediately in one moment that everything is directed to the benefit of the entire universe.
First Martyrs
The suffering of the holy Bethlehem babies, the first martyrs, whose innocent blood was shed for the Savior of the world, also seems inexplicable. But they became martyrs absolutely unconsciously, and in this, of course, there is a certain Providence of God.
The word "martyr" in Greek is translated as "witness". After the Sacrifice of the Lord on the Cross, the testimony of faith becomes suffering for Him. Then what about the suffering righteous of the Old Testament, who suffered for the True God before His coming, or about the Bethlehem babies?
Without a doubt, they are all very important for God and no less than the New Testament ones. The only difference is that Christ sacrificed Himself on the Cross and thereby freed them from sin, curse and death after their life on earth.
There are a lot of examples of martyrdom, and conditionally they are divided into two groups: martyrdom withoutoptions (as needed) and martyrdom of choice.
In the first feat, the martyr is required to renounce Christ in order to continue his life on earth, or to recognize Him as the Messiah and suffer for the faith, giving his life. In the second, the feat of martyrdom includes those cases when a person accepts suffering due to political and religious goals, when it is necessary to remove his opponents.
Innocent victim
So it happened with King Herod. When he learned about the newborn King of the Jews, he began to fear that he would soon lose his throne. Therefore, he sent soldiers to beat babies from two years old and below in Bethlehem and its district, of which there were about 14,000.
Herod did not know exactly where Jesus was at that time, but in this way he wanted to see the newborn Christ among the innocent sufferers.
These babies had no choice: they were not yet aware of life, so they were not asked whether they chose the path of martyrdom or not. But this is exactly what their path to the Kingdom of Heaven turned out to be.
For his great atrocities, the king of the Jews suffered the punishment of God: rotting wounds appeared on his body, and there was not a single person who sympathized with his grief. But even being already mortally ill, he sowed evil and ordered to kill his relatives and his family, seeing them as rivals for the throne.
Interpretation of John Chrysostom
St. John Chrysostom about allowing the death of innocent, sinless babies says that their death was as ifthey took you a few copper coins and gave you gold instead. Such a person would never feel offended, but on the contrary, he would consider the benefactor of the one who gave the gold coins.
Copper coins mean our earthly life, which always ends in death. And gold is the eternal life that the Lord gives us.
For a few moments of martyrdom, babies received that blessed eternity that the saints achieved through the labors and deeds of their entire lives.
Cave
The Bethlehem babies through their suffering opened the mysterious door to the Kingdom of Heaven. And then they inherited eternal life in the host of Angels.
In Palestine, in the city of Bethlehem, not far from the Church of the Nativity, in a cave are the relics of the Bethlehem babies, those same holy martyrs killed by the soldiers of King Herod. This cave is part of the system of numerous underground burials located in the area of the Church of the Nativity.
At its very bottom is a small catacomb church of the 4th century. This is one of the oldest thrones preserved in this city.
Antony of Novgorod explained that half of the relics were taken to Constantinople, and half remained in Bethlehem. Hundreds of believers flock there.
Church of the Bethlehem Infants. Parnassus
In the historical district of St. Petersburg, in its northern part, a new church was built. It was named after the Bethlehem babies. It took two years to build and is designed for 200 people.
Construction began with a small chapel built in 2012. Then, according to the project of one local residentbegan building a church here, which was completed in May 2016. In the same year, parishioners celebrated Easter in it, and the Temple of the Bethlehem Infants was again closed to complete the interior decoration. In 2017, it was opened and already the Christmas holiday was celebrated in it.
Number of infant martyrs
The legend says that there were 14,000 babies, but this number is not in the Gospel. Does it matter? Of course, in a small city like Bethlehem and its surroundings, there would hardly be so many babies aged two and under.
From here it becomes clear that the number 14 is symbolic and speaks of the mass nature of the murder committed. In general, the number 14 is very common in the biblical tradition: Rachel had 14 children, in the genealogy of Jesus Christ there are 14 births from David before moving to Babylon and 14 after moving from Babylon to Christ and beyond.
Christians began to commemorate the massacre of babies in Bethlehem in the second century. It was then, most likely, that this number was indicated. But on the other hand, 14 is twice 7. And this figure expresses the idea of holiness and completeness.
Therefore, we can assume that the number 14,000 is rather conditional, metaphorical. It indicates the double exclusivity of the bloodshed that happened, the indescribable dimensions of suffering.
On January 11, the Day of Honoring Battered Babies, Orthodox Christians pray for the prevention of abortion. Women who have ever committed this sin bring repentance. Service on this daytakes place under the reading of a prayer service, an akathist, a canon and a prayer to the Bethlehem babies.
Sin of abortion
The icon of the Bethlehem babies is a kind of liturgical symbol and a sign of the movement in defense of unborn children. The Orthodox Church believes that abortion is not just some kind of immoral act. This is a murder that is considered conscious, and therefore a deadly sin that requires a long repentance, even if it is committed out of ignorance. A human being was killed before his baptism, and one cannot pray for the unbaptized, and therefore unborn babies are deprived of church commemoration and burial.
Abortion cannot but affect family well-being, the physical and mental he alth of spouses, because there is a spiritual law of family building life that cannot be built on the blood of innocently killed babies.
In front of the icon of the infant martyrs of Bethlehem, they atone for the sins of killing children. The day of remembrance from a small patronal feast has become a day of repentance for mothers who have ever committed a terrible sin against their children. On this day, actions are held to protect unborn children.
