What a communion of thought, and of hope, must there have been between those two human beings, in the years when, as mother and son, they dwelt together! With what inconceivable interest must the narratives of Mary respecting the Redeemer’s early life, have fallen upon the ear of John, when, after his fatiguing labors were for a brief time suspended, he would return to his home, and to her! How must his heart have thrilled, as he listened to the mournful words, and witnessed the regretful tears with which she called to mind His days of helplessness—when he lay beautiful in his weakness in her arms, and she knew that he was the Son of God! Fraught with intense interest, as she related it, must have been the story of that visit of the wise men from the East, of whose fame she had often times heard, but whom she had always regarded as a superior race of beings! How eagerly must he have listened to that tale which had so many times been repeated in his hearing, of the shepherds who came in the night time to worship Jesus. Of how, while they looked with so much wonder and awe on the infant, so like in all respects to their own children, their faith grew strong to recognize in Him, even while He lay helpless in the manger, a mighty ruler—a lord over them all—a king greater than any that had ever reigned on the throne of Israel. And how must John have rejoiced as he beheld anew the proof of the all-protecting power of God, when many spoke of that most opportune gift of the wise men, which enabled the distressed parents to escape with their child to the land of Egypt, where in safety they might dwell, far removed from the cruelty of Herod. As she told the faith that upheld both Joseph and herself when they set out on that long, tedious journey toward the strange land, which had proved a land of such dread bondage to their fathers, how greatly must his courage have revived, how strengthened must have become his confidence in God! And then, how must the desire, and the ability which almost invariably accompanies strong desire to labor, have increased, when John heard from Mary’s lips the story of the perseverance, humility and diligence, with which her child had applied himself to learn his father’s craft, how he had so faithfully labored to better the temporal condition of his poor parents, giving thus to the whole world an example of patient and uncomplaining perseverance, beneath the strong test, poverty—and proving that when he adopted the nature of humanity, he did not exempt himself from that dread curse pronounced on Adam, “by the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread.”