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I. Accomplishing the days of her child-bearing.
II. Bringing forth the Son of God.
III. Showing Him her love and her reverence.

"Her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn Son; and wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger. "St. Luke ii. 6, 7.

1. Her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. Mary completed the period of her pregnancy, during which Jesus Christ, as perfect Man as well as God, had dwelt in a frightful prison: "Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb." Of His own choice had He remained full nine months as it were dead, without opening an eye, without moving a hand or a foot: "I am made free among the dead" (Ps. Ixxxvii. 6); and yet, by David His father, He shows us that He did not leave this prison without regret, nor save by the express command of His Father who drew Him thence : "Thou art He that hast drawn Me out of the womb" (Ps. xxi. 10). And why was this? He was content with this abode because Mary entertained Him so well: " while the King was at His repose, my spikenard sent forth the odor thereof" (Cant. i. n). The virtues of the Blessed Virgin perfumed the Child with a most sweet odor, but it was her humility which especially pleased Him; humility, which, as St. Bernard says, exhaled its odor—that is, its accustomed odor—because God is accustomed to be pleased with humility. The Virgin declares that the Word made flesh made her womb His tabernacle: "He rested in my tabernacle" (Eccles. xxiv. 12).

We Priests receive within us daily the same Son of God, the same Son of Mary; how do we entertain Him? Is He well pleased with our reception of Him? Does He go away satisfied when the sacred species are consumed? Humble thyself, beholding the condescension of a God, and, as says St. Athanasius, "acknowledge thyself a sinner; pour forth prayer to God with a contrite heart." If men expect gratitude and love on account of some slight benefit rendered them, how much greater right has Jesus Christ to expect it when He communicates Himself to us. Hence, concludes St. Chrysostom, "it is but just for men to offer thanksgiving."

2. And she brought forth her first-born Son. Mary brought forth her Divine Son as her first-born; that is, her only Son; for, as St. Jerome says, the only child must be the first-born; and she brought Him forth without detriment to her virginity: "behold a Virgin . . . shall bear a son" (Isa. vii. 14). As a word is conceived without corruption of the mind, so it issues from the heart without corruption; hence it was fitting that the Body of the Word should come forth without corruption from His Mother's womb. Besides, it was not fitting that He who came to heal what was corrupt, should corrupt what was sound; nor, says St. Thomas, was it fitting that He who commanded men to honor their parents, should, in His birth, diminish the honor of His Mother.

We Priests bring forth Jesus Christ in the hearts of the Faithful, but do we remain uncorrupted when discharging this office of our Ministry? How many defects, how many grievous faults, it may be, are committed in administering the Sacrament of Penance! What ruin to him who enters on it rashly, who exercises it imprudently! St. Basil requires a confessor to be "an upright man," and goes on to point out all the virtues with which he should be adorned, in order that he may not stain his own heart, nor himself lose the purity which he is restoring to others. St. Bonaventure demands knowledge in a confessor, that he may not render himself guilty of other men's perdition; and the Supreme Pontiff, Innocent III., would have him prudent, discreet. cautious, in order that he may question and direct his penitents well, without injuring himself or them. How can we attain this without the special protection of the Blessed Virgin? Let us ask the Mother to pray to her Divine Child for us; for, as St. Bernard says, the Son cannot reject His Mother, but will certainly grant her requests.

3. And laid Him in a manger. Mary profoundly adored the Child, embraced Him in her arms, pressed Him to her bosom, carried Him to the crib, and wrapped Him in poor but clean swaddling clothes. So did she show her affection, so did she second His great desire to be born in the extreme of poverty, humiliation, and suffering. The joy of the mother, as St. Bonaventure says, was immense, but immense also was her sorrow that she could not better entertain her Son. We also, when we bring forth Christ in the hearts of the Faithful, ought to have joy, like the Apostle, who said: "In this I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice" (Phil. i. 18); but at the same time we should be sad, with a sorrow which is "according to God" (2 Cor. vii. 10), when we see sin have dominion in the world; when we see those who have been converted returning to their vomit; when we see venial sins abounding in ourselves and in others. Mary attentively considered the mystery of the manger, of the swaddling clothes, and of the animals which lay beside the Child; as Cornelius a Lapide says, she recognized in these objects an emblem of the world and an image of sins and of sinners. She made herself a Mediatrix with the Mediator in order to obtain for all sinners reconciliation with God. Let us also have recourse to this Mediatrix, that she may obtain for us freedom from the bonds of sins, and that from the condition of beasts we may pass to the condition of the sons of God; for, as St. Bernard says: "There is need of a mediator with that Mediator; and there is no mediator better than Mary."

"For the glory of Thy Name deliver us."—Ps. lxxviii. 9. "Rule Thou over us and Thy Son."—Judg. viii. aa.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy, for every day in the year ..., Volume 1 (By Msgr. Angelo Agostino Scotti, abp. of Thessalonica.)