Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/137

 the lily  of  chastity. The giver  and  his  gift  will  then  be acceptable  to  Him.

III. Many follow  Jesus  the  Nazarene,  but  few  Jesus the crucified. They willingly  adhere  to  Him  in  prosperity, but  when  adversity  frowns  they  immediately abandon Him. They are  willing  to  share  His  kingdom, but not  His  sufferings;  they  admire  His  crown,  but  not His cross. Remember it  is  your  duty  to  follow  Christ in all  His  characters,  and  to  shrink  from  no  difficulty.

After having  meditated  in  detail  the  mysteries  of Christ's  Incarnation  and  Nativity,  it  will  be  well  to  collect in  one  point  of  view  the  chief  virtues  which  He  exercised, and  contemplate  their  united  lustre.

1. He  displayed  a  sovereign  contempt  of  the  world. He was  born  privately  in  the  night,  without  pomp  and attendants, and  unknown  to  all. When born  He  was visited by  poor  shepherds. He afterward  lived  in  obscurity and  banishment,  contemning  the  world  and  all  its conveniences, and  unknown  to  all.

2. His  humility  was  equally  great. Though the  God of infinite  majesty,  He  assumed  the  body  of  a  helpless infant, and  was  an  outcast  in  Bethlehem. He became a companion  of  beasts  in  the  stable. He assumed  the character of  a  sinner  at  His  circumcision. Well might He say  by  His  prophet:  "lam  a  worm  and  no  man, the  reproach  of  men  and  the  outcast  of  the  people." (Ps. xxi. 7.)

3. His  poverty  corresponded  with  His  humility. " Be-