The Divine Childhood 

    According to Sacred Scripture, the Holy Family returned to Nazareth after the Presentation in the Temple 

of Jerusalem. Blessed Anne Catherine also describes the return to Nazareth as occurring after the 

Presentation.

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 And so, it is clear that the Holy Family did not flee into Egypt immediately. Herod was likely 

still searching for and worrying over the new born king of the Jews (cf. Mt 2:2 3), but had not yet devised his 

plan to kill all the young children in the Bethlehem area. 

The Flight to Egypt 

     Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, `Rise, 

take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search 

for the child, to destroy him.' And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, 

and remained there until the death of Herod.  (Mt 2:13 15). 

    The Gospel of Matthew does not mention the Holy Family's stay in Nazareth between the departure of the 

wise men and the flight to Egypt. However, the Gospel of Luke does plainly say that the Holy Family returned 

to Nazareth after the Presentation (Lk 2:39 40). The Holy Family left Jerusalem for Nazareth, after the 

Presentation in the Temple (Jan. 3), which took place on the 40th day after Christ's Birth (Nov. 25). Then, 

sometime after their return to Nazareth, the Holy Family fled to Egypt. 

     Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and 

killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to 

the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.  (Mt 2:16).   

    There are several indications that the flight to Egypt occurred well over a year after the Birth of Jesus Christ. 

The Holy Family's flight to Egypt occurred because Herod was about to try to destroy the Christ Child (Mt 

2:13). Before the wise men realized that Herod had evil intentions, they had given him knowledge of when the 

Christmas Star first appeared (Mt 2:7). So Herod had some idea of when Christ was born. But Sacred Scripture 

tells us that Herod ordered the death of all the male children in Bethlehem and the surrounding area who were 

two years old or younger. Herod's soldiers could have easily distinguished between a one year old and a two 

year old, since two year olds can walk and run about fairly well, whereas one year olds can barely walk. Yet 

Herod chose to have children 2 years old or younger killed, rather than children one year old or younger. 

    If the flight to Egypt had taken place just a few months after Christ's Birth, Herod would have ordered the 

death of male children one year old and younger. Herod was a cruel and evil man, but he would not have 

ordered the death of these children if it did not accomplish his purpose. For example, he ordered the death 

only of the male children, since he knew that the Child King of the Jews would be male; ordering the death of 

female children would not have fit his purpose. In the same way, Herod would not have ordered the death of 

male children as old as two years, unless he thought the Christ Child could have been as old as two years. 

Therefore, the flight to Egypt took place over a year after the Birth of Jesus Christ. 

    In addition, according to Blessed Anne Catherine, the flight to Egypt began on February 29th. The writer of 

her visions, Clemens Brentano, asked her, on February 10, if that was the day when Joseph fled to Egypt. 

  `Was it to day that Joseph started for Egypt?' to which she answered clearly and decisively: `No, the day he 

started on the flight was what is now February 29th.'  

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    Of course, February 29 only occurs on a leap year. In the years  beginning with 

A.D.

 4, leap years in the 

Julian calendar occur in every year which is evenly divisible by 4. So the leap years were 

A.D.

 4, 8, 12, 16, etc. 

But if we count backwards four years from 

A.D.

 4, we arrive at 1 

B.C.

 as the leap year immediately prior to 

A.D.

 4 (because there is no year zero). Thus, in the years 

B.C.

, the leap years would be 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 

29 and 33 

B.C.

, etc. Whether or not the Romans kept the leap years every fourth year from the very earliest 

years of the Julian calendar is debatable, which is perhaps why Blessed Anne Catherine says  what is now 

February 29th.  In any case, the flight to Egypt began in a year which we now consider a leap year. 

    Jesus was born in late 15 

B.C.

; the next leap year in the Julian calendar was 13 

B.C.

 The date of February 29 

of 13 

B.C.

 falls more than one year and less than two years after the Birth of Christ. This date fits the  time 

frame indicated by the Gospel of Matthew because Herod ordered the deaths of the male children 2 years or 

younger, not one year or younger. On February 29 of 13 

B.C.

, Jesus was just over 15 months old counting 

from birth. 

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