I ASK it by that weariness, solicitude and suffering which thou didst endure when thou soughtest in vain at the inns of Bethlehem a shelter for the Sacred Virgin and birthplace for the Infant God, and, when being everywhere refused, thou wert obliged to consent that the Queen of Heaven should give birth to the world' s Redeemer in a wretched stable. I ask it by that most sad, painful duty imposed on thee, when the Divine Child being eight days old, thou wert obliged to inflict a deep wound on His tender body, and thus be the first to make flow that sacred blood which was to wash away the sins of the world. I ask it by the sweetness and power of that sacred name, Jesus, thou didst confer on the adorable Infant. I ask it by that mortal anguish inflicted on thee by the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the child
