The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
Double of the 2nd Class · Red
Kept on December 28
The next eight years
Each date opens that day, with its hours.
Proper of the feast
Proper to the feast. As said on Monday, December 28, 2026.
At I Vespers · Antiphon
These are they * which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins: and they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
Versicle at Vespers
℣.Beneath the altar all the Saints do cry aloud.
℟.Shall not our blood be avenged, O our God.
At Lauds · Benedictus
These are they * which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins: and they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
Versicle at Lauds
℣.Herod was exceeding wroth, and slew many children.
℟.In Bethlehem Judah, the city of David.
At II Vespers · Magnificat
Then were innocent children * slain instead of Christ by a wicked ruler; the very sucklings were put to death: spotless, they follow the Lamb himself, and say for ever: Glory be to thee, O Lord.
Collect
O God, whose praise the Martyr Innocents confessed this day, not by speaking but by dying: mortify in us all the evils of vice, that our life may shew forth in deeds that faith in thee which our lips profess. Through thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth God, world without end.
℟.Amen.
The whole office: the hours of Monday, December 28, 2026