earth by the lips of the Archangel Gabriel. O Mary may we love and recite daily and piously the holy Rosary, that sweet Canticle in honour of Jesus and Mary.

St. John the Baptist, while yet unborn, recognised the presence of Jesus, and of Mary His Mother, and was sanctified in his mother's womb. The Gospel thus narrates it: "And Mary, rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me. For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.... And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold, from henceforth all generations hall call me blessed." (Luke, i. 39, &c.)

In this sublime Gospel we find that St.

Elizabeth, "filled with the Holy Ghost," proclaimed the Blessed Virgin to be the mother of her Lord, and pronounced her "blessed;" and the unborn babe "leaped for joy" in his mother's womb. And the Blessed Virgin, inspired by the Holy Ghost, prophesied "behold all generations shall call me blessed."

Thus, the Old Testament, as applied by the Fathers, styles the Blessed Virgin, "the glory of Jerusalem, the joy of Israel;" "the enclosed garden;""the sealed up fountain," "all fair," "without spot," "beautiful, sweet, and comely;" the "only one," the "perfect one;" the New Testament pronounces her "full of grace," and having "found grace with God;" and in no fewer than four places styles her "blessed," and proclaims that "all generations shall call her blessed."

From the authority, therefore, of the inspired Volume, we conclude, as we have before stated, after the sacred and holy names of the Blessed Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; after the sweet name of Jesus, and all the holy titles given to our Blessed Lord, as God, and God Incarnate; that the next dearest, sweetest, and holiest name in heaven above, as well as on earth below, is MARY, THE BLESSED VIRGIN, THE MOTHER OF GOD. "When we speak of Mary, we speak of Jesus; speaking of her grandeur,

we speak of God's own grandeur. After God nothing in heaven or on earth is greater than Mary," writes the devout Cardinal de Berulle.

O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God! pray for us, watch over us, obtain for us from Jesus thy Divine Son, the grace to serve and to love Jesus all the days of our life.

SECTION III.

St. Joseph.

After the most sacred, and most adorable name of Jesus; after the sweet and holy name of Mary, the Mother of Jesus; the next dearest and most loving name, on the lips of the pious Christian, is that of St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, and the chaste spouse of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

If the Prophet Jeremias was sanctified, as he was in his mother's womb, because he was destined to announce to the world the mysteries and revelations of the Almighty; if St. John the Baptist, whose eminent sanctity we have from the Divine lips of Jesus Himself, when He announced that none greater was born of woman, was sanctified, as St. John was, before he was born, because his mission was to baptise the Saviour, to point out the Redeemer in person, to say, "Behold, the Lamb of God;" surely, it is just

and reasonable to believe, that signal favours, special privileges, and unique graces must have been showered, in the plenitude of their abundance by the Almighty upon St. Joseph, whose mission was of a far higher order than that of the Prophet Jeremias, or of St. John the Baptist; and whose privilege it was to approach nearer to Jesus than any other person, except the Blessed Virgin.

The heavenly appointed mission of St. Joseph was twofold. First, he was chosen by the Almighty from among the sons of men to be the spouse and guardian of the purest of virgins, the Immaculate Mother of God. "O sublime elevation," exclaims a pious author, "O admirable dignity of Joseph whom the Mother of God, the Queen of heaven, deemed worthy to call her spouse." "The Evangelists," writes St. Leonard of Port-Maurice, say but very little of the life and virtues of St. Joseph; but when they call him the spouse of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, they give him the most glorious title possible; for he was nearest to Mary, the purest creature ever made by God Almighty." Secondly, St. Joseph was chosen by God to be the guardian and protector of Jesus, as well as of Mary; by the labour of his hands to minister to

66

their wants and comforts, and to be the Head of the Holy Family.

St. Joseph-first after Mary-heard from an Angel sent from heaven by the Almighty the secret of the mystery of the Incarnation. St. Joseph-by God's special order-was the Protector of Mary, and of Jesus before He was born; St. Joseph-first after Maryadored and reverentially kissed the Infant Saviour in the crib at Bethlehem; St. Joseph watched over and protected the Divine Infancy of the Redeemer, and, at the bidding of an Angel, fled with Jesus and Mary into Egypt, to escape the hands of the cruel Herod. By the labour of the hands of St. Joseph, our Blessed Saviour received for years His daily bread; and, finally, St. Joseph died in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

Enter a cathedral, a church, or a little country chapel by the mountain side, or shut in the bog-the high Altar is dedicated to God Almighty, or the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the Altar or statue at the Gospel side is sure to be under the invocation of Mary the Mother of God; the next in dignity and order is an altar or statue at the Epistle side in honour of St. Joseph, the spouse of Mary, and the reputed father and guardian of Jesus, our Blessed Saviour. Here we see the in