Now, for a time--_perhaps_ only for a few months, for Herod died soon after the slaughter of the Innocents--Egypt was the centre of the world; nobody guessed it, but the Angels were there worshipping, adoring, wondering. It is a true picture of the Blessed Sacrament, hidden away in so many Tabernacles, surrounded by people who do not suspect Its presence. It is nothing to thousands who pass by. But what is It to those who know? What was JESUS to Mary in the land of her exile? He was her all--_with Him_ exile was no exile; _with Him_ GOD'S Will was easy, GOD'S arrangements the best; _with Him_ it was impossible to complain, impossible to have any regrets about the past, or impatient wonderings about the future. She was absorbed in the present, because she had JESUS with her. He had to be taken care of, fed, taught, thought about, worked for, lived for. What a lesson for those who are inclined to look upon their surroundings as _Egypt_, who say too readily: "How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?" (Ps. cxxxvi. 4.) How can I do this or that _here_? It was in Egypt that the Child grew, and it was there that Mary heard His first words, watched His first tottering steps, and taught Him His first (vocal) prayers. And while her Child grew in wisdom and age, Mary was growing too--growing in grace and virtue; imbibing more and more of the spirit of her Son from the services she rendered to Him; making great progress in her new school, the school of the Cross; getting daily more food for meditation and prayer; enlarging her heart and preparing herself to be a second Eve--the Mother of all living. It _is_ possible, then, to grow in Egypt! And not only is it _possible_, but if GOD sends me there, it is the soil most suitable for my growth at that particular epoch of my life. How many of GOD'S children have had to live in uncongenial surroundings, and with those who have no sympathy with their faith, from the earliest confessors and martyrs to the present-day converts to the Faith! If JESUS had spent all His lifetime in the Holy Land, such might have been tempted to say: "He is my Model, but He was never in my circumstances!" But no, JESUS spent some time with His Mother in Egypt, and He _grew_ there. Let me learn the lesson that GOD is with me wherever I am and in whatever circumstances; and let me try to copy Mary in being so absorbed by Him, and by all that I have to do for Him, in the person of His "least brethren," that my surroundings matter little. _Point III._--THE RETURN FROM EGYPT