Vigils Reading – Holy Innocents

CHILDREN OF GOD

From the letters of St Cyprian of Carthage

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The martyrdom of children marked the very beginning of Christ’s life: for

his name’s sake, all those of two years old and under were put to death. Too

young to fight, they were yet able to win a martyr’s crown, and by their

innocence bear witness to the innocence of all who shed their blood for Christ.

When even such as these make martyrs, clearly no one is immune from the peril

of persecution.

What a shameful thing it would be for Christ’s servants to recoil from

suffering when their Master suffered first; for us to be unwilling to endure

something for our sins, when he, though sinless, endured so much for us! The

Son of God suffered in order to make us children of God; will the children of

this world refuse to persevere in that sonship through suffering? If we have to

bear with the world’s hatred, we must remember that Christ bore it before we

did. We may have to endure insults, exile, torture in this world, but the Creator

and Lord of the world knew them first in harsher form, and warned us of them,

saying, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you. If you

belonged to the world, the world would love its own. But you are not of the

world; I chose you out of it, and therefore it hates you. Remember the saying I

gave you, ‘The servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecute me, they

will persecute you also.” Our Lord and God practiced all he taught, so there can

be no excuse for a disciple who hears his teaching but does not act on it…

Let these be the sentiments, dearly beloved brethren, that ever abide in

your hearts. And may we thus make ready our arms by fixing our thoughts, day

and night, on this reflection, by holding before our eyes and turning over

constantly in our minds and our hearts what tortures are inflicted upon the

wicked, what rewards are merited by the just, what the Lord threatens by way

of punishment to those who deny, what, by contrast, He promises by way of

glory to those who confess. If the day of persecution should come upon us whilst

we meditate upon and contemplate these thoughts, then the soldier of Christ,

being thus instructed by His precepts and counsels, shows no fear in the face of

battle but is now ready for his crown.

5 St. Cyprian of Carthage. The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage – Vol. 3 (Letter 58). Trans. G.W. Clarke. New York:

Newman Press, 1986. 64-65, 68.11