Canisius | 28 December, 2005 16:45
Gueranger comments (Vol. 2, Bk. 1, pg. 280) that the Holy Innocents received a Baptism of Blood. This is certainly possible. However, they were all Jewish males, and the common opinion among the Fathers and Doctors of the Church was that circumcision obtained the forgiveness of original sin before the preaching of Christ. (See St. Thomas's article on the effect of circumcision.) If that is correct, then the Holy Innocents were already cleansed from original sin, and would certainly have obtained salvation no matter how they died.
While the tradition does say that the Innocents recieved a Baptism of Blood, the circumstance of their death did not obtain salvation for them, but added a certain splendor to their heavenly crowns because they were made like Christ (the intended victim) in their deaths.
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