I adore Thee, O Child Jesus, in Thy poverty, which afflicted Thee in Thy stay in Egypt. Give me the grace also to be poor in spirit, and endure actual poverty with resignation.
I adore Thee, O Child Jesus, in Thy joyful and triumphal return from Thy exile in Egypt to Nazareth; give me the grace to overcome the enemies of my salvation.
I adore Thee, O obedient Child Jesus, in Thy exact compliance with the commands of Mary and Joseph; give me the grace joyfully to obey my superiors.
I adore Thee, O Child Jesus, in the midst of the doctors in the Temple of Jerusalem, when Thou didst enlighten their minds on the sacred prophecies of the Old Testament. Give me a Christian simplicity, that I may believe all that Thou teachest me through the holy Catholic Church.
February. The Holy Family.
What a beautiful sight is the Holy Family dwelling on earth! God could not create anything more beautiful than this Holy Family; He reached the limit of possibilities in creation when He had accomplished this. It is indeed a great example to us, and a model which we ought to hold before our eyes during this month, in order that we may study the foundations of what a holy family ought to be; what a life that should be, where the holiest are bound together in ties of most affectionate friendship and relationship.
Our Holy Father Leo XIII. has seen the great importance of the Christian family: the family established by the laws of the Church and the country, where marriages are legalized and solemnized; where continence and modesty reign; where children, under kind and parental subjection, are brought up to be good men and women, good for religion and for society. When poverty strikes such a family there is patience and forbearance shown; when sickness and death come, there is resignation to the will of God. In the Christian home there is surpassing peace, and not that crazy restlessness that looks for satisfaction in grasping at possessions, never satisfied day nor night.