He was the first recorded martyr of the Christian Church. The king knew the Gift of Christmas and eagerly shared it with the least of his subjects by trudging through the winter woods. The twenty-seventh is the Day of St. John, the Apostle. He didn't die for the Faith, but was exiled. We thank God that we are not exiled, and can take the promises recorded by John and freely share them.
More deaths follow on the twenty-eighth.
Holy Innocents' Day commemorates the slaughter of Bethlehem's children by Herod, as he attempted to destroy the Usurper to his throne. Stephen, John, and the Innocents remind us that not all receive the Gift of Christmas with joy, yet God's plan of salvation has spread in spite of hatred. Even today, much of the world is actively hostile to the Gospel, yet we continue to proclaim it because any place that acts this way proves its need of the message we bear. Of the other Days of Christmas, the Eighth has special meaning. This is the Day of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus.