Happy April Fools Day?????

Well okay it's a few-maybe 4 months until April but I'm telling you today in many Latin American counties is "April Fools Day". December 28th in the Catholic Church calender is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The day commemorates the deaths of all the baby boys King Herod ordered killed in his search for the Christ Child.

Here our resident research historian LW put together a little piece on the tradition:

December 28th is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. It is the day that commemorates the death of the little boys who were slain by King Herod in an attempt to assassinate the Christ Child. This event is described in the Gospel of Matthew in Mathew 2:13-16. It talks about King Herod ordering the execution of all young male children under the age of two in the village of Bethlehem, after the Magi or “Three Kings” announced to him the impending birth of the "King of the Jews." The Magi were supposed to return to Herod and tell him where they found this newborn king so that supposedly he could go and worship Him also. However , God warned the Magi in a dream and they tricked Herod and did not return home through Jerusalem. That is when an Angel also warned Joseph and he took Mary and the little baby an fled to Egypt to avoid Herod's clutches.On this day in Mexico and many other Spanish speaking countries people pull practical jokes on each other. It is equivalent to the U.S. version of April Fools Day. You must not believe anything that other people say, nor let them borrow any amount of money. The tradition is that money borrowed on this day doesn't have to be repaid. If you fall victim of the joke, the person pulling the joke will say, “Inocente palomita que te dejaste engañar” or “Innocent little dove how you've let yourself be fooled”. This is the short version of a little verse that goes:“Inocente PalomitaQue te dejaste engañarSabiendo que en este díaNada se debe prestar.”Innocent little dove How you've let yourself be fooled Knowing that on this day You should lend nothing.

Here's another little bit of trivia. The countries that celebrate Christmas in a more western European tradition-Germany, UK, Scandinavia, France and the like. These countries' traditions grew from the "Protestant" denominations. Many of the traditions celebrate advent and the birth of the Christ child. After Christmas day the celebrations tend to settle down and return to normal. But in many counties' that the roman Catholic church remained as the main influence, the days after Christmas are as important as Christmas day. In fact on the 6th of January "The Epiphany" gifts are exchanged and a special pastry is made. Loosely translated in my made up language it's "Baby Jesus" cake. But you will have to wait until then to find out why ;) And my last little piece of trivia tonight is that in Latin American Catholicism EVERY day of the year is dedicated to a saint or religious figure.

So my Bloglandian buddies just remember not to lend anyone money until after midnight and to have an Audacious day or evening depending on what part of bloglandia you are in :)