introduced so much evil into the world, and imitate the example of humility which Christ has given in His incarnation.
II. Consider His ineffable charity; " For God so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son." (John iii, 16.) The Son Himself had such an affection for it that He willingly surrendered Himself. Who, and for whom? The God of majesty, for a vile and ungrateful slave. Love, therefore, so loving a God with your whole heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength; and feeling convinced that you cannot love Him sufficiently, endeavor according to your state and calling to draw as. many as you can into the love and service of so good a God.
III. Consider His infinite goodness in communicating Himself to man in the highest possible degree; His mercy, in taking upon Himself our miseries and their relief; His justice, which induced Him to satisfy His Father to the utmost, by making the whole of our debt His own; lastly, His power, in uniting two extremes of infinite distance from one another, God and man, the Creator and His creature. " Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle, because He hath done wonderful things. The Lord hath made known His salvation: He hath revealed His justice in the sight of the Gentiles." (Ps. xcvii. 1 and 2.)
FRIDAY.
Choice of a Mother for the Word Incarnate. I.
I. After the Incarnation had been decreed, the eternal Word might have assumed the perfect body of a man, such as was formed for Adam, without infringing the rigor of God's justice, which He desired to satisfy. He chose, however, to be born of a mother: first, in order to
