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we might be rich in grace here, and richer still some day in heaven. Let us thank Him as we kneel before His crib, and renounce all pride, all avarice, and fleshly desires!

Application. Jesus, your Saviour, is so humble, poor and patient, and yet how proud, covetous and impatient you are!

Chapter VI.

THE SHEPHERDS AT THE MANGER.

[Luke 2, 8 — 20.]

THERE were in the same country^[1], i. e. in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, shepherds watching, and keeping the nightwatches over their flock. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared before them, and the brightness of God ^[2] shone round about them, and they were seized with a great fear. But the angel said: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people; for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ ^[3] the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.”^[4]

Then there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and singing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will!”

↑ In the same country. In the valley below the town. It was in these parts that, once upon a time, David, the forefather of the Redeemer, kept his father’s sheep.
↑ The brightness of God. Changing the dark night into brightest day. The light was not only the glory of the angels, but a glimpse of that supernatural, never-dying light by which God, who cannot be gazed upon by mortal eye, revealed Himself. The Son of God, who hid His divine glory under the form of a poor child, desired to reveal His Divinity through the angels, who are clothed with His glory.
↑ Christ, i. e. the Anointed, the promised Messias.
↑ Laid in a manger. How marvellous a sign I Christ the Lord a little Infant, lying in a manger, poorer than the poorest child! The shepherds might, perchance, have doubted such a sign; but immediately another was given to them. A multitude of the heavenly host, i. e. an innumerable throng of angels, appeared, singing: “Glory to God in the highest!” The pious shepherds believed themselves to be translated to heaven. The heavenly splendour, the host of angels, the enchanting, inspiring song filled them with a holy awe, as well as with unspeakable joy.

[1] In the same country. In the valley below the town. It was in these parts that, once upon a time, David, the forefather of the Redeemer, kept his father’s sheep.

[2] The brightness of God. Changing the dark night into brightest day. The light was not only the glory of the angels, but a glimpse of that supernatural, never-dying light by which God, who cannot be gazed upon by mortal eye, revealed Himself. The Son of God, who hid His divine glory under the form of a poor child, desired to reveal His Divinity through the angels, who are clothed with His glory.

[3] Christ, i. e. the Anointed, the promised Messias.

[4] Laid in a manger. How marvellous a sign I Christ the Lord a little Infant, lying in a manger, poorer than the poorest child! The shepherds might, perchance, have doubted such a sign; but immediately another was given to them. A multitude of the heavenly host, i. e. an innumerable throng of angels, appeared, singing: “Glory to God in the highest!” The pious shepherds believed themselves to be translated to heaven. The heavenly splendour, the host of angels, the enchanting, inspiring song filled them with a holy awe, as well as with unspeakable joy.

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