imprinting an image of its source. But why seek to examine with the naked eye the midday sun? Let us rather turn the eye of faith to that sublime first chapter of St. John and learn that " In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. By Him all things were made. In Him was life, and He is the light of men." In every act of the intelligence, an image of the thing comprehended is produced on the retina of the mind's eye. In us this Word is a mere shadow, as unsubstantial as a mirrored image, but in God, whatever falls within the radius of the Divinity, however distinct from God it may be, must still be substantially God Himself. Hence, the Father, gazing on His own infinitely perfect nature, produces within Himself an image thereof, a being substantially identical with Himself, but personally distinct— the Word of God; the second person of the Trinity. His existence, His essence is to reflect the perfections of the divine nature, its possibilities of imitation, and hence, in Him as in an exemplar, all things had their first ideal life; by Him as a model, all things were made; and He enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world, for He is the way and the truth unto life everlasting.
Brethren, Christ's second birth was that of Bethlehem. Looking back now on the prodigies of that time, one is led to exclaim once again: " Who shall declare His generation! " What a contrast of events, what an upset of all our preconceived ideas! Solomon asserted there was nothing new under the sun, but here, at last, is something new. Almighty God
