Under the power of these reflections, methinks I see the Blessed Mother, bending disconsolate over her shivering infant! Her countenance speaks a thousand tender emotions of her heart! It is a look, composed of deep anxiety, maternal fondness, compassion and love inexpressible! In her varying features one may read too the varying sensibilities of her soul.
Sweet heavenly babe! How mild, how serenely soft thy aspect! How seemingly satisfied with thy hard allotment! Surely the bleak winds will pierce thy tender frame! Surely the rugged winter means not to relent for thee! And yet the Messenger of Heaven hath assured me, that thou shouldst be a Jesus, a Saviour; that thou shouldst be called the Son of the Highest; that thou shouldst sit upon the throne of David, and that of thy kingdom there should be no end. But where are the ensigns of royalty? where are the tokens of thy illustrious birth? Instead of a sumptuous palace, thou art lodged in a loathsome stable. No bed of down receives thy precious limbs! No warm and comfortable apartments shield thee from the rude inclemencies of the air! A manger is thy cradle! And thy poor indigent mother seems, under Providence, to be thine only support! No courtiers attend to bow the knee, to pay the customary homage due to royalty, and bid thee welcome to the throne of Israel. A few simple shepherds have indeed been here, and tendered thee their honest obeisance! They told too a wondrous tale, from the several circumstances of which, I am now more and more persuaded, that the finger of God is here; that his Veracity spoke in the salutation of the Angel; that his Power and Goodness will be exalted by thy present Humiliation; and that I must henceforth feel more than a mother's fondness, and look upon thee, sweet Babe! as my Lord, my Life, and my Redeemer.
Such were the astonishing circumstances that employed the attention of Mary; and thus it was, that "she kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." She did not publish her sentiments to the world. She did not court the honour and respect of men, by displaying the dignity of her babe, or telling abroad what she knew concerning him; but satisfied with her own conviction, humbly waited, till Providence should make use of some other means to acquaint the world with these "tidings of great joy."
If now, like Mary, we seriously attend to, and ponder in our hearts all the amazing circumstances of this great event, we cannot fail, I think, of learning from thence a lesson of Humility. This amiable and peculiarly Christian grace, is the foundation and ground-work of every other excellence and perfection. Without it, we can have no pretensions to Christianity; we are strangers to the Truth and Spirit of the Gospel: "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye cannot be my disciples!" As long as pride, vanity, arrogance, and inordinate self-love, keep possession of thy soul, be assured, O man, that the Babe of Bethlehem will not take up his residence with thee! In order to invite this Heavenly Guest to thine heart, it must be as empty and free from worldly ornaments, as was the stable in which he was born. "Be ye then cloathed with humility." This plain and modest garb best becomes the disciples of so meek a Master. Thou must feel thyself very poor, before thou canst be rich in Christ. Thou must part with all that thou hast, for this Pearl of great Price; and must come to him as naked and helpless as a new-born babe, in a true child-like simplicity of faith. It is this alone can give thee sweet tranquillity of soul, even that "peace of God, which passeth all understanding;" that "white stone and new name, which no man knoweth, save him that receiveth it." Thy soul will then "magnify the Lord, and thy spirit will rejoice in God thy Saviour."
This inward spiritual change, is not the consequence of a bare meditation upon the circumstances of our Lord's nativity, a simple assent to, or belief of, the historical account given by the Evangelist. No, it arises from an experience of the whole process in our own souls. In vain was this Divine Infant born into the world, unless he is likewise born in our hearts, not figuratively born, which is no birth at all, but manifesting himself by a vital and essential union with our spirits. This is regeneration, our new-birth, our birth to light, and life, and glory. Those who have experienced this, must taste and feel, in some degree, the raptures of those exalted spirits, who dwell continually in the Beatifying Presence of their Master. They are raised above flesh and blood: "It is not they that live, but Christ that liveth in them." They are sensible of the daily growth of that Heavenly Nature, which they receive from him, and which diffuseth a light through their souls, that "shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Like the shepherds returning from Bethlehem, they are continually "glorifying and praising God for all the things that they have heard and seen."
The End of Vol. I.
Transcriber's Notes:
Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
Typographical errors were silently corrected.
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book.