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.
318
 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.'  
319
    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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