The Feast of the Holy Innocents is celebrated each year on December 28. This year since the feast date falls on Saturday, the Mass for Holy Innocents will be celebrated at the Cathedral on Friday Dec 27 at 5:15 PM and will be bilingual.
The Holy Innocents are the young male children from Bethlehem and its vicinity at the time of the birth of Jesus who were put to death by King Herod. Herod ordered their death after the Magi who came from the East to pay homage to the child Jesus left without giving Herod news about “the newborn king of the Jews”. This slaughter is recounted in the second chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. The feast has been celebrated in the West since the fifth century. The Holy Innocents are the patrons of children, babies, and foundlings.
Many families struggle with infertility, miscarriage, still birth, infant death or even abortion. We welcome you to this Mass of Healing and Hope to pray with families who are currently unable to conceive, to celebrate the brief lives of these children, and to seek God's mercy and hope in our suffering. All are invited to attend this Mass, especially those families who have suffered the loss of a baby. If you would like your baby remembered during the Mass, please call the Cathedral Office at 308-384-2523.