As they were pursuing their journey towards Nazareth, not as yet knowing the Divine counsels, and that Herod was planning the death of the Child Jesus, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and bade him flee into Egypt with the Child and His mother, because Herod sought to take away the Child’s life. And Joseph arose from sleep and awoke the Blessed Mother, and told her of the dream. She arose with haste, and proposed starting off at once, for her inmost soul was stirred by the Angel’s warning and she would neglect nothing that might contribute to the safety of her Son. Accordingly that very night they set out towards Egypt. Observe them, and follow them in meditation; picture them taking up the Child Jesus, still asleep; feel for them, and watch intently all that passes, for there is much that is worthy of deep consideration.
And first, reflect on the vicissitudes of prosperity and adversity which our Lord experienced in His own person. And when the like changes happen to you, be patient ; for every mountain has a valley near it. For behold at His Birth Christ was glorified by the shepherds as God ; and then a very little while after His Birth, He was circumcised, as if a sinner. Then came the wise men and honoured Him greatly — He all the while remaining in a stable amongst cattle, and crying like the child of any poor man. Next we find Him presented in the Temple and extolled by Simeon and Anna, and then He is bidden by the angel to flee into Egypt. You may discover in His Life many instances of a similar alternation, which, with a little adaptation, may provide us with instruction. When, therefore, you are receiving comfort, look out for affliction ; and when afflicted, expect comfort We ought not, then, to be elated by the one, nor depressed by the other. For the Lord sprinkles our sorrows with consolations, to sustain hope, lest we should be overborne ; and He sends afflictions to keep us humble, that, being reminded of our misery, we might always stand in fear. Let us consider how all these things were done by our Lord for our instruction, and that Satan might not recognize Him.
In the second place, with regard to Divine benefits and consolations, observe, that he who experiences them ought not to set himself up against him who does not experience them ; and he who does not experience them, ought not to yield to dejection, nor yet to envy. I ask you to notice, that the angel held converse with Joseph, and not with the Blessed Mother, although she was so much the greater of the two. Further, when we see that Joseph, so great in the sight of God, was vouchsafed an angelic visit, not openly, but in a dream, ought we to be ungrateful and murmur when we are favoured with the gifts of God, although it may be they are not bestowed in the way we would have them ?
Thirdly, consider how the Lord permits His people to be troubled by persecutions and tribulations. For great, indeed, must have been the trial to the Blessed Mother and to Joseph, to find that they sought to take away the Child’s life. What news could be more painful ? It was, I repeat, a great trial to them ; for although they knew that He was the Son of God, yet their natural feelings could not but be disturbed, and prompt them to cry out, O Lord God Almighty, why is it necessary that Thy Son should thus flee into Egypt ? Art Thou not able to defend Him here ?” Moreover, there was additional trial in this, that they were obliged to take refuge in a distant and unknown country, to travel on rough roads, when unfit to bear fatigue; the Blessed Virgin, because of her youth, and Joseph, on account of his age. The Child also Himself whom they carried was hardly two months old ; and they had to dwell in a strange land in a state of extreme poverty. All these things form a very real trial. You, then, when you are tried, have patience, and do not expect to be exempt from trials, from which neither Christ Himself nor His mother were dispensed.
Fourthly, consider His benignity. See how soon and how patiently He suffers persecution, and banishment from His native country, and so meekly yields to the fury of the oppressor rather than destroy him in a moment. Profound indeed is this humility, and great this patience ! He will not retaliate, or attempt to injure His enemy, but avoids his snares by withdrawing from him. We should act in the same way towards such as abuse us, despitefully use us and persecute us. Instead of seeking to revenge ourselves upon them, let us assume the attitude of patience, avoid their fury, and what is more, pray for them, as our Lord teaches elsewhere in the Gospel1 The Lord, then, fled from the face of His slave, or, to speak more truly, the Devil’s slave. His mother, so tender and young, and S. Joseph, so advanced in years, carried the Divine Child through a wild, dark, woody, uneven, lonely, tedious road ; a journey which would be twelve or fifteen days’ post for a courier to accomplish, but which they would require two months or more to perform. For they travelled, tradition says, through that desert through which the children of Israel passed, and in which they wandered forty years. But how could they carry provisions with them ? Where, too, and in what way, could they find rest at night and shelter? For there are very few houses to be found in that desert. Feel pity for them, then, for this journey must have been painful, toilsome, and long, both to themselves and to the Child Jesus; go in spirit with them, and help them to carry the Child, and desire to minister to them in whatever way may be in your power. It ought not to seem a hardship to bear some affliction for ourselves, when so much has been borne for us by others — and by what others ! — and so often. But concerning what happened in the desert and on the way, I will not dwell, because few of those details are well authenticated. When they entered into Egypt, all the idols of that country are said to have fallen in pieces, as Isaiah had prophesied.2 They journeyed, it is said, as far as Heliopolis, and there renting a little house, they dwelt for seven years, as strangers and foreigners, in a poor and needy condition.
And here there is scope for many beautiful, pious, and tender reflections. Consider attentively what follows. Whence, and in what manner, did they gain their livelihood for so long a time ? Did they do nothing but beg ? It is said that the Virgin gained what was necessary for herself and Son by her distaff and needle, by sewing and weaving ; and thus this queenly mother and lover of poverty passed her time. Much indeed in every way did they love poverty, and preserved their affection for it unimpaired even to the end of their lives. Perhaps she went from house to house asking for work ; for how should it become known in the neighbourhood that she wanted employment, unless she herself made it known, for the women who had work to be done could not have divined her wish to undertake it ? And when Jesus began to be about five years of age, might He not have carried messages for His mother, and gone about in quest of work for her, for she could have had no one else to go on errands ? And again, might He not have taken back the work when done, and waited for part of the money to be paid? How would they both blush, the Child Jesus, the Son of the most High God, in being sent, and the mother in sending Him ! But what if, sometimes when He had given up the work, and asked for payment, some proud, contentious, and abusive woman insulted Him, taking from His hands His mother’s labours, and then driving Him without payment from the doors, so that He arrived home emptyhanded ? How many and how great insults are offered to poor strangers, all of which the Lord came on earth, not to avoid, but to undergo ! What if sometimes He returned home hungry, as children become, and asked for bread which His mother was unable to give Him ? What must have been the anguish of her soul on these and similar occasions 1 She would comfort her Son with tender words, and labour to gain food for Him, and perchance sometimes secretly withdraw a little from her own share, to reserve it for Him. These and similar incidents in the infancy of Jesus you may meditate upon, as I have suggested. The thoughts which I have given, you should extend and work out, becoming little with the Little One, and not contemning little matters which some may think too puerile for meditation. These little things seem to me capable of helping devotion, increasing love, inflaming fervour, exciting compassion, strengthening purity and simplicity, nourishing solid lowliness and poverty, preserving familiarity with virtues, leading us to imitate them, and of stimulating hope. For we cannot lift ourselves up to the high things of God, but “the foolishness of God is wiser than men ; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”3 Such subjects of meditation do away with pride, weaken covetousness, and confound curiosity. Do you see, then, how much good may be derived from these considerations ? Become, as I have already said, little with the Little One, and grow with His growth, but always without prejudice to humility ; go after Him whithersoever He goes, and live ever in His Presence.
But have you yet realized how laborious their poverty must have been, how great their bashfulness ? And if they were obliged to seek food by manual labour, what shall we say of clothing ? What, too, about furniture— for instance, beds, and other household conveniences ? Think you that they had two of anything, or anything superfluous, or anything only for ornament ? No ; such things are contrary to poverty, and although the Blessed Virgin might have had them, as a lover of poverty, she would not. Or again, do you imagine, that with her needle, or in other ways, she employed her time in making embroidery which might minister to the love of dress ? Far be it from her. Such employments suit those who have time to waste. She was, indeed, in too great necessity to spend time in vanities ; neither would she have done so, if her circumstances had been different. For this is a pernicious form of idleness, and especially in these our times. And would you know why ? Hear, then. First, because by this the time which was given to be used for the glory of God, is spent upon trifles contrary to that end. For this curious kind of work takes up more time than it is worth, which is itself a considerable evil. Secondly, because it is apt to minister to vanity in those who do it Oh, how often do they look at it, turn it over in their mind, and reflect how this or that should be, even when their fingers are not at work upon it ! And even when they should be occupied with divine things, their mind is running on the beauty of their workmanship, on the satisfaction they feel, and on the renown they will get from it. Thirdly, because these things are an occasion of pride to those for whom they are made, for with such oil the flame of pride is fed. Plain and simple garments foster a spirit of lowliness, the opposite feed pride. Fourthly, because they are the means of withdrawing the soul from God ; for, according to S. Gregory, “the more a soul delights in earthly things, the more is it weaned from the love of heavenly.”4 Fifthly, because of the lust of the eyes, one of the three sources of sin, to which all sins concerning the world are reduced, for such vanities can be of no other use but for the eyes vainly to feed upon. For as often as any one feasts his eyes with such vanities — whether worker, bearer, or wearer — so often does that person offend God. Sixthly, because in many other ways, such things are a snare and cause of falling; for the sight of them may lead to many faults, such as giving a bad example, causing covetousness, envy, criticisms, murmuring, or detraction. Think, therefore, how often God is offended, before this curious piece of workmanship has an end, and that for all these disastrous results, the worker of it is the cause. Were I, then, to ask you to do such things for me, and were you to know that I should certainly be willing to make use of them, you ought not comply, since for no cause should you consent to sin, and in every way you ought to avoid what may offend God. But how much greater is your offence, if your very motive in this work is mere complacency, a wish rather to please the creature than the Creator? For they do this who wish to be distinguished, but such works are the trappings of the world, and but abominations to God. But I wonder how any one who in purity of conscience wishes to live above the world, should venture to be occupied with these trifles, and should contaminate himself with them. You see what evils flow from these curiosities. There remains, however, one more, and that a worse one, which is that, curiosity is the very opposite of poverty ; and besides this, is the mark of a light, trifling, and inconstant mind. I have dilated upon this subject, that you may be put upon your guard. From these vanities, then, flee as from a venomous serpent, neither make them nor wear them. This, however, must not be taken as a condemnation of all beautiful workmanship, and especially does not apply to work which is to be used in Divine worship ; but even in that care must be taken, lest there should be some defect either as to the affection, intention, or delight, with which it is done, or as to the eagerness with which it is pursued. Of such ingenious works, S. Bernard thus speaks : “Tell me what good such vanities are to the body, or what benefit are they to the soul. For certainly you will find that such things do not profit men at all. They are but a frivolous, empty, puerile satisfaction ; and I know no severer wish for those, who, leaving the peace of a sweet repose, take delight in the restlessness of such vanities, than that they should be condemned to the possession of the things after which they hankered.”
But let us return to the Blessed Mother in Egypt, for we have been tempted to make a long digression about this abominable vice of curiosity. Behold her again, occupied with her labours, sewing, knitting, and spinning; and see how humbly, faithfully, and perseveringly she toils, all the while taking the most diligent care of her Son, and of household matters, and also finding opportunities, when possible, for prayer and watching. You, then, with all affection, compassionate her, and consider, that not even did the mother of our Lord obtain the kingdom of Heaven without working for it. Perhaps, it sometimes happened, that some charitable matrons in the neighbourhood, noticing her poverty, sent her a little relief, which she received humbly and with thankfulness. And Joseph, notwithstanding his age, worked a little at his trade as a carpenter. Look, then, which way you will, there is ample material for compassion ; pause a little to exercise it ; then, on bended knees, ask for a blessing from the Child Jesus, and in spirit bidding Him, His mother, and S. Joseph adieu with all reverence and tears of pity, depart ; not forgetting that they have to remain there as exiles from their country without a cause for seven years, and to earn their bread in a foreign land in the sweat of their brow.
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