"Wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger" is Jesus on the night of His birth. The world had forgotten the richness of being poor. It was needful that Jesus should enter into the world in poverty to teach the lesson of detachment from earthly things. In the Crib of Bethlehem, as from the Mount, Christ teaches the self-same lesson: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

If we possess worldly goods, let us act as God's faithful stewards, giving liberally to the poor of Christ; if poverty be our lot, let us not murmur against God's Holy will, but rather thank God we are saved from the many temptations of riches.

Mary, lover of poverty, teach us to seek first the Kingdom of God.

Fourth Joyful Mystery:

The Purification