THE HOLY INNOCENTS
28 December
Collect
Heavenly Father,
whose children suffered
at the hands of Herod,
though they had done no wrong:
by the suffering of your Son
and by the innocence of our lives
frustrate all evil designs and
establish your reign of justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Simple Collect
God of the dispossessed,
defender of the helpless,
you grieve with all the women who weep
because their children are no more;
may we also refuse to be comforted
until the violence of the string
has been confounded,
and the broken victims have been set free
in the name of Jesus Christ.
First Reading
Jeremiah 31.15-17
15Thus says the LORD: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. 16Thus says the LORD: Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for there is a reward for your work, says the LORD: they shall come back from the land of the enemy; 17there is hope for your future, says the LORD: your children shall come back to their own country.
Psalm or Canticle
Psalm 124
R Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Lord who made heaven and earth.
1 If the Lord himself had not been on our side, now may Israel say;
2 If the Lord had not been on our side, when enemies rose up against us;
3 Then would they have swallowed us alive *
when their anger burned against us; R
4 Then would the waters have overwhelmed us and the torrent gone over our soul; *
over our soul would have swept the raging waters.
5 But blessed be the Lord *
who has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth. R
6 Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowler; *
the snare is broken and we are delivered.
7 Our help is in the name of the Lord, *
who has made heaven and earth. R
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 1.26-29
26Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
Gospel
Matthew 2.13-18
13After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ 16When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’
Post Communion
Lord Jesus Christ,
in your humility you have stooped to share our human life
with the most defenceless of your children:
may we who have received these gifts of your passion
rejoice in celebrating the witness of the Holy Innocents
to the purity of your sacrifice
made once for all upon the cross;
for you are alive and reign, now and for ever.
Blessing
God, who gives life to the dead and comfort to the desolate,
sustain you, keep you and console you,
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Copyright acknowledgement
Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA
Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops' Council 2000
Additional Collect for The Holy Innocents is copyright © Janet Morley
Go to top
