'Holy Innocents Day different from Feast of Sto. Niño'

MANILA, Philippines - Novaliches Emeritus Bishop Teodoro Bacani has asked the public not to confuse the Feast of the Holy Innocents today with the Feast of Sto. Niño on Jan. 15.

Some people interchange the two feasts, he added. 

One common mistake is that some people pull pranks during Holy Innocents Day, he said.

Bacani said that today is not the day to pull pranks on other people since they are remembering the toddlers who were killed on this day.

“People pull practical jokes on that day when in fact this is not the day for practical jokes,” he said. “The Feast of Sto. Niño is the feast when Jesus Christ was still a boy. While the Holy Innocents is the feast of children who, according to St. Matthew, was the day when King Herod ordered the killing of young (male) children, age two years old and below.” 

Bacani said today’s feast commemorates “the children who were murdered because of Christ... (They are) the first martyrs for Christ.”

Bacani said some people are confused by the word “innocents,” which they associate with the gullible.

The innocents actually refer to those who have not committed a sin, he added.