CHAPTER XV
☙ Of the finding of Jesus in the Temple
BLESS Thee, and give thanks to Thee,
O Lord Jesus Christ, Pattern of humility and mighty Teacher of eternal
truth, for the example of Thy stupendous humility, and for the light of Thy hidden
wisdom, shown forth to men, at Thy going up to
Jerusalem with Thy parents for the Feast; what
time Thou didst offer for us to God the Father
sacrifices of holy prayer and praise, and didst sit
humbly, as a boy of twelve, in the midst of the
Doctors, hearing them and discreetly asking them
questions, fixing upon Thyself the attention of all
who beheld Thee.
I praise Thee, and I magnify with the deepest devotion Thy Holy Name, for the reverent obedience which Thou didst show to Thy parents who long time sought Thee, and at length found Thee; in that Thou, the King of Heaven, renouncing straightway Thine own Will, didst humbly submit Thyself to their authority; and, although they did not understand the saying which Thou spakest unto them, yet didst go down with them from Jerusalem to Nazareth, and didst there show Thyself the most obedient of sons to the best of Mothers.
O most sweet Jesus, most loving of sons, mirror of holiness and of every virtue, teach me, I pray Thee, to subdue the perverseness of my will; cheerfully to bow to the advice of my elders; devoutly to visit the Temple of God; diligently to hear and declare Thy Word; to venerate the Doctors of the Church; to obey my superiors
