Heaven's Bright Queen - The Adoration of the Wise Men

Matthew 2:1-11

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Knelt the Magi round His bed,
Bowed low each proudest head;
Mary, Mother, pondered.
Gold and Frankincense and Myrrh,
They the wise and great confer,
Jesus mild look up to her.
    - Harriet McEwen Kimball

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When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying: "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His Star in the East, and are come to adore Him. And King Herod, hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda, for so it is written by the prophet (Micheas). And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the Captain that shall rule My people Israel. Then Herod privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them; and sending them into Bethlehem, said: Go and inquire diligently after the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him." Who having heard the King went their way; and behold! the star which they had seen in the East, went before them, and it came and stood over where the Child was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house they found the Child with Mary His mother, and falling down they adored Him; and opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their own country.

Herod, seeing the Magi did not return to him, he became very angry, and, resolving to destroy this new-born King, ordered all the children in Bethlehem and the country round to be put to death. He foolishly thought Jesus would surely be killed among the rest, little thinking how easily God could shield Him.

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Our Lord's Coming

"No sudden thing of glory and fear
Was the Lord's coming; but the dear
Slow nature's days followed each other
To form the Saviour from His Mother
One of the children of the year.

"The earth, the rain, received the trust,
The sun and dews to frame the just.
He drew His daily life from these,
According to His own decrees
Who makes man from the fertile dust.

"Sweet summer and the winter wild,
These brought Him forth, the Undented.
The happy Springs renewed again
His daily bread, the growing grain,
The food and raiment of the Child."

    - Mrs. Alice M Eynell

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Practice in Honor of Mary, by Saint Gertrude, O.S.B.

Specially honor the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, which does so much to honor Mary. Saint Gertrude having addressed herself to the Blessed Virgin, on the day of the Annunciation, in order to learn how she might best celebrate that festival, she ordered her to recite the Hail Hary 277 times every day during the octave, to honor the number of days during which she had carried in her womb the Incarnate Word; that practice pleasing her no less than if she had served her during those nine months.

- text taken from Heaven's Bright Queen, by William James Walsh