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mother of a male child had to present herself forty days after his birth for legal j)urifioation ; according to Ex., xiii, 2, and Num., xviii, 15, the first born son had to be presented on the same occasion. Whatever reasons Mary and the Infant might have for claiming an exemption, they complied with the law. But, in.stead of offering a lamb, they presented the sacrifice of the poor, consi.sting of a pair of turtle- doves or two young pigeons. In II Cor., viii, 9, St. Paul informs the Corinthians that Jesus Christ "being rich . . . became poor, for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich". Even more acceptable to God than Mary's poverty was the readiness with which she surrendered her Divine Son to the good pleasure of His Heavenly Father. After the ceremonial rites had been compUed with, holy Simeon took the Child in his arms, and thanked God for the fulfilment of His promises; he drew atten- tion to the imiversality of the salvation that was to come through Messianic redemption "prepared before the face of all peoples: a hght to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel" (Luke, ii, 31 sq.). Mary and .Joseph now began to know their Divine Child more fully; they "were wondering at those things which were spoken con- cerning him" (Luke, ii, 33). As if to prepare Our Blessed Mother for the mystery of the cross, holy Simeon said to her: "Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed" (Luke, ii, 34-35). Mary had suffered her first great sorrow at the time when Joseph was hesitating about taking her for his wife; she experienced her second great sorrow when she heard the words of holy Simeon. Though the incident of the prophetess Anna had a more general bearing, for she "spoke of him (the Child) to all that looked for the redemption of Israel" (Luke, ii, 38), it must have added greatly to the wonder of Joseph and Mar>'. The Evangehst's concluding remark, "after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned mto Galilee, to their city Nazareth" (Luke, ii, 39), has been variously interpreted by commentators; as to the order of events, see the article Jesus Christ, B. Relative Chro- nology.

After the Presentation, the Holy Family either returned to Bethlehem directly, or went first to Naza- reth, and then moved mto the city of David. At any rate, after the "wise men from the east " had followed the Divine guidance to Bethlehem, "entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him ; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and m>Trh" (Matt., ii, 11). The Evangelist does not mention .Joseph; not that he was not present, but because Marj* occupied the principal place near the Child. How Mar>- and .Joseph disposed of the presents offered by their wealthy visitors has not been told us by the Evangelists. Soon after the departure of the wise men Joseph received the mes- sage from the angel of the Lord to fly into Egypt with the Child and His mother on account of the evil designs of Herod; the holy man's ready obedience is briefly described by the Evangelist in the words: "who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Eg>7)t" (Matt., ii, 14). Per- secuted .Jews had ever sought a refuge in EgjTit fef. Ill Kings, xi. 40; IV Kmgs, xxv, 26); about the time of Christ .Jewish colonists were especially numerous in the land of the Nile ("cf. Joseph., Bell. Jud., II, x\-iii, R): according to Philo (In Flaccum, 6, Mangey's edit., II, p. .523) they numbered at least a million. In Ix-ontopolis. in the district of Heliopolis, the Jews had a temple (KiO n. c. — a. d. 73) which rivalled in splenrlour the temple in Jerusalem (cf. XV.— 30

Schiirer, Geschiehte des jiidischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, Leipzig, 1898, III, 19-25, 99). The Holy Family might therefore expect to find in Egypt a certain amount of help and protection. On the other hand, it required a journey of at least ten days from Bethlehem to reach the nearest habitable dis- tricts of EgjTJt. We do not know by what road the Holy Familj- effected its flight; they may have followed the ordinary road through Hebron, or they may have gone by way of Eleutheropohs and Gaza, or again they may have passed west of Jerusalem towards the great military road of Joppe. There is hardly any historical docimient which will assist us in deter- mining where the Holy Family lived in Egj^pt, nor do we know how long the enforced exile lasted. The legends and traditions concerning these points may be found in Julhen's "L'Eg>-pte" (Lille, 1891), pp. 241-251, and in the same author's work entitled. "I/arbre de la Vierge k MatariSh", 4th edit. (Cairo, 1904). When Joseph received from the angel the news of Herod's death and the command to return into the land of Israel, he "arose, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel" (Matt., ii, 21). The news that Archelaus ruled in Judea prevented Joseph from settling in Bethle- hem, as had been his intention; "warned in .sleep [by the angel, he] retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth" (Matt., ii, 22-23). In all these details Mary simply followed the guidance of Joseph, who in his turn received the Divine manifestations as head of the Holy Family. There is no need to point out the in- tense sorrow which Mary suffered on account of the early persecution of her Child.

The hfe of the Holy Family in Nazareth was that of the ordinary poor tradesman. According to Matt., xiii, 55, the townsfolk asked "Is not this the carjienter's son?" the question, asex-pressed in the second Gospel (Mark, vi, 3), sliows a slight variation, "Is not this the carpenter?" While Joseph gained the hvelihood for the Holy Family by his daily work, Marj- attended to the various duties of housekeeper. St. I^uke (ii, 40) briefly saysof .Jesus: "And the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom; and the grace of God was in him". The weekly Sabbath and the annual great feasts interrupted the daily routine of life in Nazareth. According to the law of Exod., xxiii, 17, only the men were obliged to visit the Temple on the three solemn feasts of the year; but the women often joined the men to satisfy their de- votion. St. Luke (ii, 41) informs us that "his [the child's] parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch". Probably the Child Jesus was left in the home of friends or relatives during the days of Mary's ab.sence. According to the ojiinion of some writers, the Child did not give any sign of His Divinity during the years of His infancy, so as to in- crease the merit of Joseph's and Mary's faith based on what they had seen and heard at the time of the Incarnation and the birth of Jesus. Jewish Doctors of the Law maintained that a boy became a son of the law at the age of twelve years and one day; after that he was bound by the legal precepts. The evangelist supplies us here with the information that, "when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, and having ful- filled the days, when they returned, the child Jcstis remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not" (I>uke, ii, 42-43). Probably it was after the .second festal day that Joseph and Mar>' returned with the other Galilean pilgrims; the law did not require a longer sojourn in the Holy City. On the first day the caravan iistially made a four hours' journey, and rested for the night in Beroth on the northern boun- dary of the former Kingdom of Jiida. The crusaders buiit in this place a J)cautifiil Gothic church to com- memorate Our Lady's sorrow when she "sought him