from Nazareth to Jerusalem. O great thy dignity, St. Joseph, whom the Immaculate Mother of God regards and looks up to as her master and superior; but unspeakably greater thy dignity, St. Joseph, whom Jesus, the Eternal Son Himself, obeys and pays homage.

Joseph was no doubt pure and holy at the time of the Nativity of the Redeemer; but conceive and express if you can, his sanctity, when for thirty years the eyes of Eternal Justice, sanctity, and love shone and beamed upon him. One word from Jesus converted sinners into saints. St. Joseph heard and drank in divine wisdom from the lips of Jesus for some thirty years. The title Head of the Holy Family speaks volumes on the glory, sanctity, and power of St. Joseph.

PRACTICAL RESOLUTION.

The Eternal Father has honoured St. Joseph and recognised him as Head of the Holy Family; and to St. Joseph He sent His commands by His heavenly ambassadors. Jesus the Incarnate Son of God, and Mary His Immaculate Mother rendered homage and obedience to St. Joseph as Head of the household. Since Heaven has elevated St.

Joseph to such a high pinnacle of glory, I resolve to regard St. Joseph all the days of my life as the greatest saint in heaven after Our Blessed Lady, next to her in dignity, sanctity, and power. St. Joseph, Head of the Holy Family, pray for me.

PRAYER.

Memorare to St. Joseph.

"Remember, O most amiable, most benevolent, most kind, and most merciful father, St. Joseph, that the great St. Teresa assures us that she never had recourse to thy protection without obtaining relief. Animated with the same confidence, O dear St. Joseph, I come to thee, and groaning under the heavy burden of my many sins, I prostrate myself at thy feet. O most compassionate father, do not, I beseech thee, reject my poor and miserable prayers, but graciously hear and answer my petition. Amen.

St. Joseph, obtain for me the grace to love and serve my God faithfully all the days of my life.

PRACTICE.

To-day give an alms to some pious old man in honour of St. Joseph

ASPIRATION.

St. Joseph obtain for me a sweet and tender love for Jesus and Mary.

MARCH 5TH.

FIFTH MEDITATION.

St. Joseph's Love for the Child Jesus. Invocation of the Holy Ghost, as at page 278, "Come, O Holy Ghost," &c.

"Joseph, son of David," said the angel, "fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. She shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for He shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. i. 20).

The Almighty thus sent an Angel to give solemn, authentic information to St. Joseph of the Incarnation of the Son of God. We are of opinion that long before, St. Joseph heard this secret from the lips of the Blessed Virgin herself; for it is hard to believe that Mary would have kept concealed the knowledge of this sublime mystery and honour from Joseph, her chaste, loving, and tender

spouse.

After the Blessed Virgin St. Joseph was the first to adore and love the Incarnate Son of God. This love for Jesus became intensified day after day, hour after hour. The nearer we approach the fire the greater the heat, but what thermometer could measure the intensity of the heat of divine love that burned in the soul of St. Joseph, who for so many years lived in the presence of the burning furnace of Uncreated Love, Jesus Christ Himself.

PRACTICAL RESOLUTION.

The presence of God is Paradise. Jesus is God. And hence the presence of Jesus converted the "Holy House" at Nazareth into a Paradise. In the Blessed Sacrament Jesus is really and truly present; the light of His love shines from the altar; the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the tabernacle, a glowing furnace of burning love, sheds heat and light and lustre upon the Christian world. Before Jesus in the tabernacle the holy soul finds her Paradise on dull earth! 66 How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord."

A holy soul when asked how she could spend so many hours before the Blessed Sacrament, replied that she could stay there for all eter

nity! because before the Blessed Sacrament she was kneeling in the presence of her God, her Saviour, her Jesus, her love, her all. Í resolve to pay every day of my life a reverent visit of love to Jesus in the tabernacle. If I cannot go to the church or oratory, where the Most Adorable Sacrament is preserved and adored, I resolve to kneel down in my room and turn to the nearest tabernacle where Jesus is, and there pay the very same visit, and say the very same prayers as if I were really present before the Most Adorable Sacrament. O Blessed Saviour, help me to keep my resolution. Holy Virgin and St. Joseph, pray for me.

PRAYER.

O my loving Jesus! grant me burning love for the Holy Mass, for Holy Communion, and for Thyself, living and reigning in the Most Adorable Sacrament of the altar. May the purest delights of my life be to adore and pay Thee supreme homage, coming down from heaven at the consecration; to receive Thee at the Communion rails with a heart on fire with divine love, and to visit Thee in the tabernacle where Thy Sacred Heart is ever shedding rays of burning love upon the cold, ungrateful hearts of men.