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Childermas
Childmas is celebrated on the fourth day of Christmas and remembers the first martyrs of Christ Jesus.
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Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male
children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from
the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud
lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more."
Matthew 2:16-18 |
Herod the Great, who was governor of Galilee when Jesus was born, was an evil man who felt threatened when he heard that the King
of the Jews had been born in Bethlehem. He sent the wise men who had seen the star the night Jesus was born to find the baby and
to bring him back to him. The wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod after they found the baby Jesus. When Herod
figured out that he had been tricked, he decreed that all male children in Bethlehem under two years were to be killed.
Traditionally, the youngest child in the family gets to decide what to do during the day. Some food the color of red is served to
remember the blood that was shed by these little babies. In the Hispanic countries like Spain and Mexico, it is a day like April
Fool's Day where the children play tricks on their parents, like the wise men played on Herod.
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Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom
of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little
child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them,
and blessed them.
Mark 10:14-16 |
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