all? "He has set me up for a blessing to all, and behold from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed." A prince from the heavenly court intoned the chant of praise, Elizabeth took up the strain, and the distinctive mark of all those who shall serve my Son during future time, will be to call me blessed; not on my own account, but for His sake who hath filled me with grace and benediction.

"Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy is His name. He hath sanctified me from the beginning of time, and with the beauty of virginity joined the dignity of motherhood. He hath raised me above angels and archangels, above cherubim and seraphim, by giving Him to be my own true child, before whom heaven and earth fall prostrate in adoration. He hath wrought greater things in me than in any other creature, but yet not for my sake alone, for His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. I see in spirit how the children of men shall come from the north and the south, from the rising and from the setting of the sun, to worship Him who dwelleth near my heart. I perceive the light of truth going forth from Him; that light illuminating their darkness of spirit, that comfort which cheers their hearts, that vigor which strengthens them to justice, and that life which vitalizes them for immortality. I see the dawning of the new and grace-abounding day; I perceive the miracles of mercy which shall be effected in myriads of bleeding hearts; and yet, too, I see the just chastisements that are to fall upon those who in pride of heart shall dare to oppose the kingdom of the Son of Man.

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"He hath showed might in his arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away. He will cast down the idols from their thrones, He will break the force of the sword, He will humble the proud and the worldly-wise, and those who pride in their riches He will put to shame. He will call the poor and the simple to preach His word, He will raise up oppressed woman from her degradation, He will break the chains of the slave. I see the tree of life raising its lofty head and spreading its fair branches in the midst of His kingdom; and on its fruit, the mystic bread, all those who labor and are weary shall feast and be refreshed.

"He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of

His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever." He will wash away the stains from Israel, and segregate the innocent and believing of His people. To these He will give power to found a new and glorious Israel which shall reach to the ends of the earth; a kingdom of grace. and truth, so that from Israel shall come the salvation of all nations, and the old promise shall be triumphantly fulfilled. Thus sang the bride of heaven, and with rapture and reverence did Elizabeth listen to the words of her canticle. How happy, too, she must have been during the three months' visit of our blessed Lady! For exactly the same length of time did the ark of the covenant repose in the house of Obededom the Gethite, and Obededom and his family were blessed through the presence of the ark. What multiplied blessings must the real ark of the covenant have shed within the walls of Zachary's house, upon the devout family, and especially upon the future forerunner of our blessed Lord! For, if at the first salutation of Mary, the unborn Baptist leaped for joy and was sanctified, and His mother filled with the Holy Ghost, what marvels of grace must have taken place during the three months which Mary passed with this thrice-privileged family!

3. THE BIRTH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

When Mary had, for the space of three months, discharged to her cousin, St. Elizabeth, her duty of love and respect, the time arrived for her to return home to her devout spouse, St. Joseph. For Elizabeth, the time described by St. Luke had come. "Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and kinsmen heard that the Lord had showed His great mercy toward her, and they congratulated with her. And it came to pass on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by His father's name Zachary. And his mother, answering, said: Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father how he would have him called. And demanding a writing-tablet he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their neighbors and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill-country of Judea: And all they that had heard them

laid them up in their heart, saying: What a one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

"And Zachary, his father, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and he prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because He hath visited and wrought the redemption of His people. And He hath raised up a horn of salvation to us, in the house of David His servant. As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who are from the beginning: Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us: To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember His holy testament. The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, that He would grant to us: That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve Him without fear. In holiness and justice before him, all our days. And thou child shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. To give knowledge of salvation to His people, unto the remission of their sins. Through the bowels of the mercy of our God; in which the Orient from on high hath visited us. To enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the ways of peace."

By such wonderful events and admirable prophecies, was our heavenly Father pleased to signalize the birth of Him whom He had marked out as His divine Son's precursor, St. John the Baptist.

VISIONS of the past must inevitably arise before the mind of the pilgrim when, leaving Jerusalem and traveling toward the south a distance of six or seven miles, he sees before him the remains of a renowned and holy city-that chosen city of grace where the great mystery of the Incarnation was made manifest in the birth of Christ-the ancient and royal mountain-city of Bethlehem.

This favored town sat upon a hill, whose gentle slopes were mantled with stately groves of olive and fig trees, while rich. and fertile meadow-lands stretched far away into the lovely valley below. To the pilgrim coming from Jerusalem its appearance was very impressive; while the prospect, as seen from its own battlements, was indescribably beautiful and varied. Looking toward the north, the spectator saw beneath him the valley of Terebinth where David slew Goliath; toward the east might be descried the waters of the Dead Sea solemnly suggestive of God's punishments; away to the south lay the famous town and country of Hebron, the home of Zachary and Elizabeth and birth-place of St. John the Baptist; and toward the west the eye swept over the fountains and gardens of Solomon, till it rested on a chain of mountains whose base was washed by the waters of the Mediter

ranean.

This charmingly situated city of the ancient kings was sacred in the eyes of the Jews by reason both of its grand historical associations and of the glorious prophecy which had been foretold concerning it. It was on the plains of Bethlehem that Rachel, the wife of the Patriarch Jacob, had

brought forth her second son, whom she called Benoni, or child of sorrows, but whom his father named Benjamin, or son of his right hand-a figure of Christ, who, in His humiliations, was a veritable Benoni, a man of sorrow, but in His triumph became the true Benjamin, enthroned forever at the right hand of the eternal Father.

It was on the plains of Bethlehem that this same Rachel, Mary's beauteous prototype, died in the pangs of childbirth and was buried.1 And here, even at this day, is her grave still visited by Christians, Jews, and Turks.

It was on the plains of Bethlehem that Ruth, the gentle gleaner, exercised her filial love toward her mother-in-law, Noemi, and thus deserved to be one of those from whom Christ sprang in the flesh.

On Bethlehem's plains, David, in his youth, tended his father's flocks. Bethlehem being his birth-place, was called the city of David. Its original name, however, was Ephrata, or fruitful, and it was subsequently known as Bethlehem, or city of bread.

It was concerning this renowned city that, more than 700 years before Christ, the following prophecy was pronounced: "And thou, Bethlehem-Ephrata, art a little one among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel; and His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity" (Micheas v. 2; Matt. ii. 6). In Bethlehem, therefore, the birth-place of the David of the old law, was the David of the new law, the King of kings, Christ Jesus, to be born: for it had been so ordained by divine Wisdom from all eternity.

2. OCCASION OF THE JOURNEY

But how was this decree of God to be accomplished? For the virgin chosen to be the mother of the world's Redeemer dwelt with her spouse at a distance of at least four days' journey from Bethlehem. But God so ordered things that the

1A pious pilgrim of our own time thus describes this grave: "This spot is certainly one of the most remarkable in the world. A woman, dying on her journey, is buried in this spot more than three thousand five hundred years ago, and her grave is still preserved, revered, and visited by the followers of three religions. This cannot be the result of chance or accident. There must be some better or symbolical reason why God has thus ordained. Probably because Rachel, by having been the mother of the Egyptian Joseph, was the type or figure of Mary the mother of Jesus."-Besuch bei Sem, Cham, und Japhet, von Alban Stolz.