The Day of the Innocentsalso called Day of the Holy InnocentsIt has several types of celebrations. On the one hand, Christianity adopted December 28 to honor the memory of infants who died during the rule of the king herodwho in his eagerness to prevent the newborn Jesus from living, sent soldiers to kill all the children under the age of two who were in Bethlehem at that time.
Herod I “the Great” He was the king of the populations of Judea, Samaria, Idumea and Galileein the actual State of Israel. In his long reign, the ruler was characterized by carrying out important infrastructure works, but also by being merciless towards his enemies, whom he mercilessly eliminated. In it gospel of matthewof New Testamentthe prophet is quoted micahwho would have announced the arrival of the “King of the Jews” who would be born in Belen.
When the three arrive Wizards of the East to his reign, Herod tried to deceive them into indicating the place where the baby would be born. Messiah in order to kill him. However, the Magi were warned by messages from the divinity and fled. Knowing that he was born Christ, the ruler felt betrayed and, seeking to prevent the future king from growing up, decided to carry out the massacre of the innocents. The newborn Jesus managed to save himself, because his parents had fled with him in time.
However, regarding the veracity of these facts, some researchers believe that dates are not accurate and that the massacre is only mentioned in one of the gospels and not in the rest. Furthermore, that the fact not named in other writings of the time and that at that time there were very few children in Bethlehem, among other hypotheses. That is why some historians and theologians consider this story to be a myth or an exaggerationwhile others see it as a misinterpretation of a different event.
A historical curiosity developed, in the middle of the Middle Ages, with the so-called “Festival of Fools”, a meeting held by young clergy some day between Christmas and Epiphany. They were carnivalesque and irreverent parties, where the participants gambled, drank, sang sarcastic songs, did funny punishments and parodied the priests. They also chose the “Pope of the crazy”, putting on the clothes backwards and other costumes.
Both in various regions of America and in Europe, it is customary to carry out jokes and ingenious tricks that are intended to deceive people and make them see that they have fallen for them as “innocent”, where the auction is the phrase “that innocence will okay”. In some countries, such as the United States and Canada, a very similar holiday is also celebrated, known as Fool’s Day. But instead of celebrating on December 28, the holiday is held every April 1st. A well-remembered anniversary in several North American comedies, including the classic episode 77, of the fourth season, of The Simpsons.
You may also like
Image gallery
