crib in the stable of Bethlehem. Again we hear the " Nunc Dintittis " of holy Simeon, and again we gaze in mingled joy and wonder on the fair boy in the midst of the holy doctors in the Temple. But, as for Christ, so for His true disciples, there is no joy without its latent woe, hence, we meditate next on the sorrowful mysteries. We go in spirit to the garden of Gethsemani, and kneel by the side of the agonized Christ. We listen to the horrible echo of the leaded thong, as each brawny savage rains blow after blow on the quivering shoulders of our poor Saviour, and we stand by while the huge thorns are being pressed down and in till they grate on His sacred skull. Then we take up our cross and follow Him on and up the heights of Calvary and there immolate ourselves in spirit by the side of our crucified Lord. Finally, as if to carry out the idea that after the cross of tribulation — and only after the cross — comes the crown of glory, we rise with Him from the sepulchre in which our sins have entombed us, and soaring above and beyond the reach of human joy and human sorrow we enter with Him, glorified, into the kingdom of His Father. When we have thus ascended to God in thought, the Holy Spirit of God descends on us in reality, calling up for our meditations the picture of His first descent on the twelve Apostles. In the midst of that group we see Mary — Mary, who, now that her earthly mission is accomplished, presently closes her eyes in the sweet sleep of death, and is taken up body and soul into heaven, whither we accompany her, to assist with the angels
