During the Holy Mass, the reading of the Scriptures will recount the children’s martyrdom that came about when Herod, wary of the foretold birth of the Messiah, failed to find the newborn child despite his attempt to guile the three magi who came to Jerusalem inquiring about the baby born in Bethlehem.
By the way, Herod "the Great," king of Judea, was quite unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference so he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant, however, capable of extreme brutality including the murder of his wife, his brother and his sister’s two husbands, to name only a few.
The three magi must have known Herod’s nature and kind so that when they found the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, and after praising Him and giving Him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they returned to their land, skipping Jerusalem along the way.
Then, Joseph, warned by an angel in a dream, brought Mary and the baby Jesus safely to Egypt.
Troubled, and chagrined by the fact that the magi made a fool of him, Herod ordered that all newborn babies and first-born children in and around Bethlehem be killed so that his throne could be secured.
While the faithful continue to observe religious rites like that for the Holy Innocents, it only takes Pinoys to add a "twist of humor" even to the solemn commemoration of their martyrdom — they have turned the day into something akin to the American "April Fools Day," or an opportunity to play pranks on unsuspecting folk.
In the spirit of fun, practical jokes and some harmless trickery like "borrowing" money or other things will likely be sprung on "innocent" victims who, in the spirit of fun as well, are expected to accept the fact they could no longer recover the "borrowed" things.
Source:
Beware, Today is Niños Innocentes!
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