December 28 THE HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS Feast The innocents were slaughtered as infants for Christ; spotless, they follow the Lamb and sing for ever: Glory to you, O Lord. O God, whom the Holy Innocents confessed and proclaimed on this day, not by speaking but by dying, grant, we pray, that the faith in you which we confess with our lips may also speak through our manner of life. Receive, O Lord, we pray, the offerings of your devoted servants and purify us as we faithfully serve these, your mysteries, by which you grant justification even to those who lack understanding. Behold those redeemed as the first fruits of the human race for God and the Lamb, and who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Grant, O Lord, abundant salvation to your faithful as they receive your holy gifts on the feast day of these, your Saints, who, though still unable to profess your Son in speech, were crowned with heavenly grace on account of his birth.