You are going to appear before Jesus and Mary during these days with the incense of the Magi, which they presented to Him as a tribute of praise; they acknowledged Jesus as their God. Incense is offered to God alone; it is a prayer in itself, and ascends with a pleasant odor. You are going to stand before Jesus offering your incense of prayer and adoration. You have your daily prayers to say; in fact the whole day should be a prayer, which should insert itself into all your actions. How noble will not such a day appear to you when you look back on it! Oh, that all your days were like this one, full of holy joy, peace and happiness; such a happiness as you cannot find in earthly pleasure and enjoyment. Mary will receive this gift of prayer for her divine Son, and point out to Him the pious Christian that has brought the same sacrifice as did the kings of the East—the incense of prayer. How pleased will be our sweet Jesus to receive this gift from our hands, and in exchange He will give us the gift of piety, thus enabling us to love God alone and to despise all else. Prayer. Hail, most sweet Jesus, Son of God and of Mary, I love Thee with my whole soul, and above all things, because Thou art infinitely worthy of all love. I firmly resolve by Thy grace to sin no more, and henceforth to avoid all occasions of sin. Amen. Sixteenth Day. Mary is found with Jesus, too, in order to accept another gift, which you must not forget and which the Magi brought also, i.e., the bitter myrrh of mortification. We have seen that we should offer a pure heart to the Lord and a life full of prayer—but we must also add to these gifts the virtues of self‐denial, self‐abnegation and mortification. Mary offered this great gift of generosity in its fulness. She is the Queen of martyrs, the sorrowful Mother. Mourn with her over your own ingratitude and the sins of the world; follow her in the way of the cross of her life; condole with her. It is a precious gift to God to mortify one’s self, and one can find daily opportunities of doing so. As a Christian you are not to look backward. Give the same gifts as the Magi did; put some little privation on yourself, no matter what it may be, or how insignificant it may appear. God will look upon it with eyes of love, and in return will enrich you with the spirit of mortification and of sacrifice, which will make you apostles and martyrs. Prayer. O most sweet Infant Jesus! grant me, as Thou didst to the Magi, the spirit of wisdom, of prayer, and of sacrifice; so that following their example of steadfast faith, I may one day receive the reward of eternal happiness. Amen. Seventeenth Day.