4th Day of Christmas: Holy Innocents

Today it was Matins & Mass again, this time for the Holy Innocents (the slain children of Bethlehem). The combination of the Morning Prayer Old Testament lesson and the Communion Gospel reading was a little eerie, with the latter echoing the former.

OT (Jer. 31:15): "... Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not."

Gospel (Matt: 2:17-18) "... Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."

I don't know if it would necessarily be different back then when infant mortality rates were likely many times higher than they are now in the US, when it's pretty much expected you'll raise your newborn to adulthood, but there are few things more terrible today than losing your children.