On December 29, the Orthodox Church celebrates "St. 14 thousand infant martyrs", who were killed by Herod in Bethlehem.
These innocent Jewish infants suffered because of the Infant Jesus by order of the Jewish King Herod.
He was very angry and feared that the newborn would take away his kingdom.
Thus Herod sacrificed thousands of infants to his unbridled lust for power, not knowing that Jesus Christ was born to establish a kingdom not of earthly rule, but of eternal salvation.
Herod was struck by terrible diseases that ended his life.
"These innocent Jewish infants suffered because of the beginningless Infant Christ - the Son of God by order of the Jewish King Herod. When he saw himself mocked by the wise men who worshipped the Christ Child, but did not return to him, but went to their own country by another route, Herod was very angry and, fearing that the newborn King of Judah would take away his kingdom, he ordered the killing of all the boys in Bethlehem and all its borders from two years old and under. Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not" (Matt. 2:17-18).
Thus the cruel Herod sacrificed thousands of babies to his unbridled lust for power, not knowing that Jesus Christ was born to establish a kingdom not of earthly dominion, but of eternal salvation; that all human cunning is powerless and futile before the almighty providence of God, which powerfully and unhinderedly arranges the salvation of the world; that the life of Herod himself, who presumptuously took care of himself, would last no more than a year and that his fate depended on God! God's judgment - according to the words of church writers - reached Herod through terrible diseases that ended his life for the unlawful slaughter of the innocent.
The young martyrs entered the Kingdom of Heaven not through the door of St. Baptism, but through the martyr's death for Jesus Christ, which He Himself called "baptism" (Mark 10:10). And with this baptism, in case of need, the very sacrament of baptism by water is replaced.