Childermas, or HOLY INNOCENTS' DAY (28th December), is observed by the Church of Rome with masses in commemoration of the children killed by Herod. It was long considered unlucky to marry or to begin any work on this day, and from Fenn's Letters we learn that the coronation of King Edward IV. was put off till the Monday, because the preceding Sunday was Childermas Day. Innocents' Day is also a red-letter festival of the Church of England.
Childermas, or HOLY INNOCENTS' DAY
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 3: Catarrh to Dion, p. 177
Source scan(s): p. 0186