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 sun, so  that  the  people  could  not  bear  to  gaze  on  him, what shall  we  say  of  Mary  who,  for  thirty  long  years, basked in  the  smiles  of  the  Saviour? Again, it  means a "  sea  of  bitterness,"  but,  though  such  was  her  life on earth,  she  has  since  risen  above  the  horizon  and become the  fair  Star  of  the  Ocean. Fair and  pure and lovely  is  Mary — our  tainted  Nature's  solitary boast.

Brethren, the  names  of  Mary  and  Joseph,  like  their personalities, have  no  terrors  for  us,  but  we  approach with equal  awe  the  person  and  the  name  of  Jesus. " Without  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  says  St. Paul,  "it  cannot  be  even  worthily  pronounced." When God  confers  a  name  it  always  expresses  the mission of  the  person  named. Thus, Adam  means the father  of  the  living;  Abram  was  changed  to Abraham  because  his  destiny  was  to  be  the  father  of many  nations;  and  Simon  became  Peter,  or  the  rock whereon Christ  built  His  Church. How full  of  meaning, then,  must  the  name  Jesus  be,  since  it  sums  up the  mission  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world! Three men, before Our  Lord,  had  borne  that  name. The son  of Sirach  and  the  son  of  Jasedech;  the  one  a  seer, a priest  the  other,  prefigured  each  the  wisdom  of the  father  and  the  priest  forever  according  to  the order of  Melchisadech. A more  striking  figure  still, is Jesus  or  Josue  Nave — the  immortal,  as  his  name implies, but  still  a  figure  only  of  the  Christ,  the  true immortal. Christ's it  was,  not  merely  to  guide  the people to  a  promised  land  on  earth,  but  to  lead  the way to  the  kingdom  of  heaven. Not merely  the