His Name was chosen by His Heavenly Father, and revealed both to Mary and Joseph before His birth--to Mary by the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation, and to Joseph by the Angel who was sent to allay his suspicions about his wife. JESUS--the "name which is above every name"! GOD gave it Him because "He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death--even the death of the cross." (Phil. ii. 8.) He earned His Name by the Cross, and it was given Him at the moment when He shed the first drops of His Precious Blood. He could have allowed this first shedding of His Blood to redeem the world, had He so willed. He could have made it the _redeeming_ Blood, but it was not yet His Will; His time had not yet come; He wished to live and to suffer long years on earth before He shed the Blood which He intended to be efficacious for the Redemption of the world. "Thou shalt call His Name JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins." (St Matt. i. 21.) And when at length He did shed His redeeming Blood on Calvary, there was a title nailed to the Cross, proclaiming His Name to all: "This is JESUS," the Saviour. He is saving His people from their sins. It cost Him much to be the Saviour, and it cost Mary much to be the Mother of the Saviour; but both cheerfully made the sacrifice in advance--both entered into GOD'S plan for my salvation. JESUS had come to do His Father's will--He was content to do it--and His Mother was content to be identified in everything with her Son, and to say her _Fiat_. If my salvation cost JESUS and Mary so much, ought it not to cost me something too? Would it be fair if all were easy and smooth for me? Surely not. Surely, if I have a part in the Saviour, I ought to have a part in His Cross. Let the thought of the Holy Babe shedding His first drops of Blood on His Mother's knee brace me up to meet suffering, of whatever kind GOD chooses for me; let it hush my murmurs and my discontent; let it make me not only willing but anxious to suffer, and thus to have an opportunity of being like Him, Who was in such a hurry to shed His Blood, that it seemed as though it were too long for Him to wait till Calvary. He must make the sacrifice in advance, and offer at any rate the firstfruits of His Blood to His Father. _Colloquy_ with Mary, who is identifying herself with the sufferings, intentions, and desires of her Son. Teach me, my Mother, not only to expect but to appreciate suffering. How can I be like JESUS, and a child of thine without it? I want to look upon it always as a sign of love, as a sign that I am recognised as one of the Holy Family. _Resolution._ To understand that my very existence on earth means suffering, and that my identification with JESUS and Mary means suffering willingly and cheerfully. _Spiritual Bouquet._ "I come to do Thy Will, O my GOD." Her Purification "_They carried Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord._"