Rosary for the Feast of the Holy Innocents

Rosary in Honor of the Holy Innocents

The First Mystery

“Today, dearest brethren, we celebrate the birthday of those children who were slaughtered, as the Gospel tells us, by that exceedingly cruel king, Herod. Let the earth, therefore, rejoice and the Church exult — she, the fruitful mother of so many heavenly champions and of such glorious virtues. Never, in fact, would that impious tyrant have been able to benefit these children by the sweetest kindness as much as he has done by his hatred. For as today's feast reveals, in the measure with which malice in all its fury was poured out upon the holy children, did heaven's blessing stream down upon them.” –St. Augustine

Let us pray for all children, especially the unborn. We also remember children who are abused, poor, and those in foster care, correction centers, and shelters. We pray that they may experience the healing power of God’s love and the loving outreach of the members of the Body of Christ.

The Second Mystery

“Blessed are you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah! You suffered the inhumanity of King Herod in the murder of your babes and thereby have become worthy to offer to the Lord a pure host of infants. In full right do we celebrate the heavenly birthday of these children whom the world caused to be born unto an eternally blessed life rather than that from their mothers' womb, for they attained the grace of everlasting life before the enjoyment of the present. The precious death of any martyr deserves high praise because of his heroic confession; the death of these children is precious in the sight of God because of the beatitude they gained so quickly. For already at the beginning of their lives they pass on. The end of the present life is for them the beginning of glory. These then, whom Herod's cruelty tore as sucklings from their mothers’ bosom, are justly hailed as ‘infant martyr flowers’; they were the Church's first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.” –St. Augustine

Let us pray for all mothers, especially those who have lost their children because of a miscarriage, sickness, accident, or tragedy. We pray for the healing of mothers who have had an abortion.

Third Mystery

“Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out, but to conquer the devil. But because you do not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage. To destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children. You are not restrained by the love of weeping mothers and fathers mourning the deaths of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish your desire you can prolong you own life, though you are seeking to kill Life himself.” –St. Quodvultdeus
Let us pray for the conversion and healing of all abortionists, nurses, and those who assist in any way. We pray that their eyes may be opened to the truth and their hearts to the grace of God.

Fourth Mystery

“The children die for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourn for the death of martyrs. The Christ child makes of those as yet unable to speak fit witnesses to himself. But you, Herod, do not know this and are disturbed and furious. While you vent your fury against the child, you are already paying him homage, and do not know it. To what merits of their own do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory.” –St. Quodvultdeus

Let us pray for those who are persecuted for defending the truth. We pray for all legislators and those in positions of authority, that they may defend human life and fight against all that is contrary to the truth.

Fifth Mystery

“It is impossible for Herod's henchmen to recognize with absolute certainty, among all the babies of Bethlehem and its vicinity, just which infant boy is Jesus Christ. Thus, seething with diabolical fury, Herod orders the massacre of all who resemble Jesus in gender and approximate age. This barbaric case of ‘mistaken identity’ becomes the source of incomparable exaltation for the Holy Innocents. For there is no greater glory than for a person to be mistaken for Christ himself. Perhaps the Lord had this in mind later in life when he declares that only those who change and become like little children can enter the kingdom of God. In our childlikeness, we are most like Jesus Christ. The blood of the Son Jesus that cleanses us from all sin beings to reach us and transforms us today in a powerful way through the blood of the martyred Holy Innocents.” -Magnificat: Christmas Issue 07

Let us pray for the conversion of our own hearts, that we may have the courage to be like little children in a world that is not “child-proof”. Let us pray to be transformed into Christ and be willing to participate in the sufferings and joys of the Mystical Body of Christ.

Let us Pray: O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life: Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy. Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life. -John Paul II Evangelium Vitae

Rosary for the Feast of the Holy Innocents