Feast of the Holy Innocents

 

"Holy Innocents Sacro Speco" by Edith OSB is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

"Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting nor say nor sing,
By-bye lully, lullay." 

-The Coventry Carol

I don't think about the suffering of the babies on the Feast of the Holy Innocents as much as I do the suffering of the parents. 

I see the shadow of this day on so many of my friends or people I've "met" online. People who have little ones they lost to miscarriage, to an abortion, to stillbirth, to SIDS, to an accidental drowning. 

I see their grief and pain. Their children's suffering is over; those babies witness eternity. But the parents bear a martyrdom of their own. And this one, unlike the one their children experienced, is one they have to carry for awhile. 

Like all great suffering, it either forms a wall between them and God, or a bridge to God. Either way, the sheer weight and immovability of it can hardly be overstated. 

My the souls of the dead rest in peace. And may the hearts of their parents be at peace as well. 

All you Holy Innocents, pray for us who are left behind.