The Divine Childhood 

    Blessed Anne Catherine describes a worship ceremony occurring the evening before the evening the flight to 

Egypt began.

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 The evening of February 28 of 13 

B.C.

 was a Friday; the Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on 

Friday. So the worship ceremony she described was for the Sabbath. The Holy Family fled for Egypt not that 

night, but the next, after the Sabbath had ended. The descriptions of events given by Blessed Anne Catherine 

fit well with a date of February 29 of 13 

B.C.

, after dark, for the start of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt. 

The Path to Egypt 

    Blessed Anne Catherine tells us that the entire trip from Nazareth to Egypt took about 20 days.  They had 

been ten days in the Jewish country and ten days in the desert. 

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 The ten days in the desert must refer to the 

Sinai desert, which the Holy Family had to cross to enter Egypt. Since they left Nazareth late in the evening 

on Feb. 29, they entered the desert about Mar. 10, and they entered Egypt about Mar. 20, of 13 

B.C.

    The distance from Nazareth to the border between Israel and the Sinai is about 120 miles, as measured on a 

map, and perhaps as much as 140 to 150 miles when traveling by various roadways on a less than direct 

route.

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 In Israel, the Holy Family traveled from Nazareth, by an inland route, passing near Jerusalem and 

Hebron.

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 The distance from the border between Israel and the Sinai, near the Mediterranean Sea, to Egypt by 

way of the coastline is also about 120 miles on a map, and not too many miles more than that for the actual 

journey, since the way is fairly direct. The Holy Family most likely traveled along the coastline, since the rest 

of the Sinai is mountainous and rugged terrain. 

    Blessed Anne Catherine says that the journey took 10 days in Israel and 10 more days in the Sinai. The 

Holy Family left for Egypt on Saturday after sunset (which is the start of Sunday in the Jewish calendar). So, 

of the first 10 days they traveled, there was one Sabbath day of rest.

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 And on the next 10 days, there was also 

one Sabbath day of rest. If they arrived in Egypt on the 20th day, then the 21st day would be the Sabbath. So 

their journey began after a Sabbath, included two more Sabbaths, then ended just before the fourth Sabbath. 

    If the trip from Nazareth to the Sinai was about 140 miles, and the trip across the Sinai was about 130 miles, 

then the total was about 270 miles. To arrive in Egypt in 20 days time, less 2 days for rest on the Sabbath, 

means that the Holy Family traveled an average of roughly 15 miles per day (15 x 18 = 270). This distance is 

not too great for a small family to travel on foot and with a donkey. 

The Massacre of the Holy Innocents 

     Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: `A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and 

loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.'   

(Mt 2:17 18). 

    Sacred Scripture does not say how soon the Massacre of the Holy Innocents occurred after the Holy Family 

fled to Egypt. However, it probably occurred shortly after the flight to Egypt, since that was why they fled 

from Israel. The angel said to Saint Joseph:   ` flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is 

about to search for the child, to destroy him.'   (Mt 2:13). Jesus was about 15 16 months old at the time of the 

flight to Egypt, and the Massacre likely occurred within a few months of the flight. 

    Since Herod  sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years 

old or under .  (Mt 2:16), the Massacre must have occurred under two years after the Birth of Christ. Herod 

did not know the exact date of Christ's Birth, for the wise men avoided him after the Birth of Christ (Mt 2:12), 

but he had some idea of the time, based on what the wise men had told him previously (Mt 2:7,16). Herod was 

so determined to kill the Christ Child that he would not have taken any unnecessary chance of missing his 

opportunity by choosing too low an age for the children to be killed. If Herod thought that the Child Jesus had 

been born two full years earlier, he would have set the age of those to be killed higher than two years. 

Therefore, Christ was probably at least a few months younger than 2 full years at the time of the Massacre of 

the Holy Innocents. 

    According to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, the Massacre of the Holy Innocents occurred when Jesus 

was nearly 18 months old and John the Baptist was about 2 years old.  John the Baptist was two years old 

when it happened . Jesus was nearly eighteen months old and could already run about. 

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 And in another 

place she tells us:  Both Mary and Joseph were deeply grieved, and the Child Jesus, who was now able to 

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