Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/105

 asks Shakespeare,  "  that  which  we  call  a  rose,  by any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet." For once, at least,  his  philosophy  is  at  fault. For, as  on  second thought, he  adds:  "  A  good  name  in  man  or  woman is  the  immediate  jewel  of  their  souls.  Who  steals  my purse  steals  trash,  but  he  that  filches  from  me  my good  name,  robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him, and  makes  me  poor  indeed." Take away  from  the Christian world  the  saving  names  of  Jesus  and  Mary and Joseph,  and  you  dash  the  sun  from  the  firmament, you  snatch  the  moon  from  her  nightly  vigils, and deprive  the  storm-tossed  mariner  of  his  guiding star. So true  is  it,  as  Longfellow  remarks,  that these sacred  names  forever  stand  a  landmark  and  a symbol  of  the  power  that  lies  concentrated  in  a  single word.

Joseph — the name  speaks  to  us  of  old  and  new. Of Joseph,  patriarch,  erstwhile  the  lowliest  of  his brethren but  soon  become  by  virtue  and  by  wisdom next to  Pharao  the  mightiest  in  the  kingdom;  the guardian of  the  king  and  his  treasures,  whose chaste intent,  abhorring  carnal  pleasure,  applied itself solely  to  garner  in  the  fruits  of  seven  years  of plenty  that  he  might  become,  ere  long,  the  saviour of his  famished  people. Of Joseph,  saint,  humble, yet of  men  second  only  to  the  Man-God,  model  of chastity  and  protector  of  the  Virgin  of  virgins  and Virginity Incarnate,  and  ruler,  withal,  of  that  treasury— the  Holy  Family — from  whose  accumulated merits the  Christian  world  has  been  enriched. Though but  a  word,  it  vividly  portrays  an  ideal