This Divine generation may indeed be made the foundation of our meditations on the mystery of Our Lord's Nativity; but it does not admit of a curious inspection, nor should we weary our mind by endeavouring to examine into that which is too sublime for our weak understanding: _Generationem ejus quis enarrabit?_--'Who shall declare His generation?' says the Prophet Isaiah. But now, after having considered the virginal purity of the Most Holy Virgin in giving birth to her Divine Son, let us turn our eyes to this Divine Infant, and see how He allows Himself to be cared for by His Holy Mother, as if He could not do otherwise. Why is this? It is to teach us how to act, Religious especially, who are bound by the sweet chains of the holy vow of Obedience. Our Lord certainly could not make bad use of His Will, or of His liberty, being the Eternal Wisdom; nevertheless He concealed His knowledge, and all His perfections as God and those of His perfect human intellect, under the swathing bands of infancy. He keeps hidden under the veil of holy obedience to the Eternal Father, Who had willed that He should be, as St. Paul says, in all things like to His brethren, excepting sin. Behold our Model! Let us often visit this Child, lying in a manger; and let us learn from Him how to act in all things according to His Most Holy Will. But shall we visit Him empty-handed? The shepherds took with them some of their little lambs to present to Him. What can we offer more acceptable to this Divine Pastor of our souls than our hearts as a little offering of our love and the choicest part of our spiritual flock? How dear will this offering be to Him! He will look upon us with mercy in return for our gift; and we shall gladden the Most Holy Virgin, who so much desires our welfare. Let us take with us from her Divine Infant one of His precious tears, the sweet dew of Heaven, and place it on our heart, that it may henceforth feel no other sorrow than that which rejoices this Blessed Infant--that is, sorrow for sin! We should all be like so many simple shepherds watching over the flocks of our affections, ready to adore this our Infant Saviour, as soon as the Angels call us. We should offer Him, as a pledge of our eternal service, the finest lamb we possess; that is, all our love, without any reserve or exception. Oh, how happy shall we be, and what great consolation shall we receive, if we thus visit the Saviour of our souls! As the manna had the taste of every kind of food, so this Divine Infant contains in Himself every kind of consolation. Each one can find in Him what he desires, and proportionate to his capacity, provided that he possess the requisite dispositions. SPIRITUAL FLOWERS. No flower could be a better emblem of the resplendent virtue of Mary and her singular privilege than the lily; whose three petals may signify that she was a Virgin in her conception of Jesus, a Virgin at His birth, and a Virgin ever afterwards._--Nouet._