Ge 43, 23

Ge 43, 26

Ge 43, 28

HE FILLS THEM

WITH thren: I am Joseph: is my BLESSINGS. THEIR LOVE father yet living? His breAND DEVOTION TOWARDS thren could not answer him, being struck with exceeding

HIM.

Peace be with you, fear great fear. not: your God and the God And he said mildly to of your father hath given you them: Come nearer to me. treasure in your sacks. And when they were come Then Joseph came into near him, he said: I am his house; and they offered Joseph your brother, whom him the presents, holding you sold into Egypt. them in their hands, and Be not afraid, and let it they bowed down with their not seem to you a hard case faces to the ground. that you sold me into these

Bowing themselves, they countries: for God sent me made obeisance to him. before you into Egypt for

Ge 43, 29- And Joseph, lifting up his your preservation.

31

Ge 44, 14

Ge 44, 15

eyes, saw Benjamin his For it is two years since
brother. And he said: God the famine began to be upon
be gracious to thee, my son. the land, and five years more
-And he made haste because remain wherein there can be
his heart was moved upon neither ploughing nor reap-
his brother, and tears gushed ing.

out; and going into his cham- And God sent me before,
ber, he wept.-And when he that you may be preserved
had washed his face, coming upon the earth, and may have
out again, he refrained him- food to live.
self, and said: Set bread on
the table.

Not by your counsel was I
sent hither, but by the will
Juda, at the head of his of God, Who hath made me
brethren, went in to Joseph as it were a father to Pharao,
(for he was not yet gone out and lord of his whole house,
of the place); and they all and governor in all the land
together fell down before him of Egypt.
on the ground.

Make haste, and go ye up Know you not that there to my father, and say to him: is no one like me in the Thus saith thy son Joseph: science of divining? God hath made me lord of Ge 45, 1-13 Joseph could no longer the whole land of Egypt: refrain himself before many come down to me, linger not. that stood by: whereupon And thou shalt dwell in he commanded that all should the land of Gessen: and thou go out, and no stranger be shalt be near me, thou and present at their knowing one thy sons, and thy sons' sons, another. thy sheep, and thy herds, and

And he lifted up his voice all things that thou hast. with weeping, which the! And there I will feed thee Egyptians and all the house (for there are yet five years of Pharao heard. of famine remaining), lest And he said to his bre- both thou perish, and thy

22

house, and all things that And the sons of Israel did
thou hast.
as they were bid. And Joseph
Behold, your eyes and the gave them wagons according
eyes of my brother Benjamin to Pharao's commandment,
see that it is my mouth that and provisions for the way.
speaketh to you.
He ordered also to be

You shall tell my father brought out for every one of
of all my glory, and all them two robes: but to Ben-
things that you have seen in jamin he gave three hundred
Egypt: make haste and pieces of silver with five robes
bring him to me.
of the best.

28

Ge 45, 14- And falling upon the neck
of his brother Benjamin, he
embraced him and wept:
and Benjamin, in like man-
ner, wept also on his neck. And they went up out of
And Joseph kissed all his Egypt, and came into the
brethren, and wept upon land of Chanaan to their
every one of them: after father Jacob.

So he sent away his bre- Ge 45, 24-
thren, and at their departing
said to them: Be not angry
in the way.

which they were emboldened

to speak to him.

And they told him, saying: Joseph thy son is living: and And it was heard, and the he is ruler in all the land of fame was spread abroad in Egypt. Which when Jacob the king's court: The bre- heard, he awaked as it were thren of Josephare come: and out of a deep sleep, yet did Pharao with all his family not believe them.

was glad.

They, on the other side,
And he spoke to Joseph told the whole order of the
that he should give orders to thing. And when he saw
his brethren, saying: Load the wagons and all that he
your beasts and go into the had sent, his spirit revived,
land of Chanaan.
And he said: It is enough

And bring away from for me if Joseph my son be
thence your father and kin-yet living: I will go and see
dred, and come to me, and I him before I die.

will give you all the good The father said to Joseph: Ge 46, 30 things of Egypt, that you Now shall I die with joy,

may eat the marrow of the because I have seen thy

land.

:

face.

15

Give orders also that they The king therefore said to Ge 47,5take wagons out of the land Joseph: Thy father and thy of Egypt, for the carriage of brethren are come to thee. their children and their The land of Egypt is before wives and say: Take up thee: make them dwell in your father, and make haste the best place, and give them to come with all speed: the land of Gessen. And if And leave nothing of your thou knowest that there are household-stuff; for all the industrious men among them, riches of Egypt shall be make them rulers over my yours. cattle.

26

After this Joseph brought But they that held darts
in his father to the king, and provoked him, and quar-
presented him before him: relled with him, and envied
and he blessed him.
him.
And being asked by him: His bow rested upon the
How many are the days of strong, and the bands of his
the years of thy life?
arms and his hands were

He answered: The days of loosed by the hands of the
my pilgrimage are a hundred Mighty One of Jacob: thence
and thirty years, few and he came forth a Pastor, the
evil, and they are not come Stone of Israel.

up to the days of the pilgrim- The God of thy father shall
age of my fathers.
be thy Helper, and the
And blessing the king, he Almighty shall bless thee
with the blessings of Hea-

went out.

But Joseph gave a pos-ven above, with the blesssession to his father and his ings of the deep that lieth brethren in Egypt, in the beneath, with the blessings best place of the land, in of the breasts and of the Ramesses, as Pharao had womb.

commanded.

The blessings of thy father
And he nourished them, are strengthened with the
and all his father's house, blessings of his fathers: until
allowing food to every one. THE DESIRE OF THE
For in the whole world EVERLASTING HILLS
there was want of bread, and should come; may they be
a famine had oppressed the upon the head of Joseph, and
land, more especially of upon the crown of the Na-
Egypt and Chanaan.
zarite among his brethren.
Joseph was a man born:
(1) Prince of his bre-

Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which they bought, and brought it into the king's treasure.

And when the buyers wanted money, all Egypt came to Joseph, saying: Give us bread: why should we die in thy presence, having now no money?

5. THE BLESSINGS OF HEA-
VEN FALL UPON THE HEAD
OF JOSEPH.

Ge 49, 22- Joseph is a growing son,
a growing son and comely
to behold: the daughters
run to and fro upon the
wall.

thren.

(2) The Support of his
family.

(3) The Ruler of his
brethren.

(4) The Stay of the peo-
ple.

Eci 49, 17

And his bones were visited, Eci 49, 18 and after death they prophesied.

Ma 3,1

Ma 4, 5-6

is 4, 3-5

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, PRECURSOR OF

OUR LORD.

1.-ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST hill shall be made low, and
ANNOUNCED BY THE PRO- the crooked shall become
PHETS. HIS PARENTS BOTH straight, and the rough ways
JUST. AN ANGEL FORETELLS plain.

TO ST. ZACHARY HIS CON- And the glory of the Lord
CEPTION, BIRTH AND NAME, shall be revealed, and all flesh
SANCTITY, AND OFFICE. together shall see that the
SANCTIFIED BEFORE BIRTH. mouth of the Lord hath
HAD USE OF REASON YET spoken.

PRESENCE.

UNBORN. HIS LEAP OF JOY There was in the days of Lu 1, 5-6
IN THE WOMB AT CHRIST'S Herod the king of Judea a
certain Priest named Zach-
Behold, I send My Angel, ary, of the course of Abia,
and he shall prepare the way and his wife was of the
before My Face.
daughters of Aaron, and her
Behold, I will send you name Elizabeth.
Elias the Prophet before the And they were both just
coming of the great and before God, walking in all the
dreadful day of the Lord. commandments and justifica-
And he shall turn the heart tions of the Lord without
of the fathers to the children, blame.
and the heart of the children And there appeared to him Lu 1, 11-
to their fathers: lest I come, an Angel of the Lord, stand-
and strike the earth with ing on the right side of the
anathema.
Altar of incense.

The voice of one crying in And Zachary seeing him
the desert: Prepare ye the was troubled, and fear fell
way of the Lord, make upon him:
straight in the wilderness But the Angel said to him:
the paths of our God. Fear not, Zachary, for thy
Every valley shall be exalt-prayer is heard, and thy wife
ed, and every mountain and Elizabeth shall bear thee a

* They typified Mary and Joseph. According to Arias Montanus, one of these Cherubim had the form of a man, the other of a woman.

17

Lx 1, 39

44

Je 1,5

son, and thou shalt call his camest forth out of the
name John:
womb, I sanctified thee. (See
And thou shalt have joy Gradual for the Feast of his
and gladness, and many shall Nativity.)
rejoice in his nativity.

Give ear, ye Islands, and
For he shall be great before hearken, ye people from afar.
the Lord, and shall drink no The Lord hath called me
wine nor strong drink: and from the womb: from the
he shall be filled with the bowels of my mother He
Holy Ghost, even from his hath been mindful of my
mother's womb.
name (to verse 7). (See Epis-
And he shall convert many tle for the Feast of his Nativ-
of the children of Israel to ity.)
the Lord their God.

Behold, I have given thee
And he shall go before to be the light of the Gen-
Him in the spirit and power tiles, that thou mayst be my
of Elias: that he may turn salvation even to the far-
the hearts of the fathers unto thest part of the earth.
the children, and the incre-
dulous to the wisdom of the
just, to prepare unto the
Lord a perfect people.

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!

2.

BIRTH IN THE HILL-
COUNTRY OF JUDEA; FRUIT
OF PRAYER. HIS PARENTS'
JOY. HIS CIRCUMCISION.
HIS MOTHER NAMES HIM
HIS
JOHN BY REVELATION.
FATHER'S CURE.
TICLE.

HIS CAN-
JOHN'S HIDDEN

AND AUSTERE LIFE OF
PENANCE IN THE DESERT.
HIS RAIMENT, FASTS, AB-
STINENCE FROM WINE.
CALLED ELIAS BY JESUS.
NONE GREATER BORN OF
WOMAN. PERSONAL CHAR-
ACTER.

Is 49,

Is 49, 6

Now Elizabeth's full time Lu 1, 57

art thou among women, and of being delivered was come,
blessed is the Fruit of thy and she brought forth a son.
womb.
And her neighbours and

And whence is this to me kinsfolks heard that the
that the Mother of my Lord Lord had showed His great
should come to me?
mercy towards her, and they
congratulated with her.

For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in ny womb leaped for joy.

Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee and before thou

58