"And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And His Mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and grace with God and men." (St Luke ii. 52.)

1st Prelude. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph going back to Nazareth.

2nd Prelude. Grace to go there too, and to study its lessons.

The lesson has been given now; Jesus has shown His parents that He is the Son of God before He is the Son of Mary; that God's will, and God's business, and God's work, are the reasons for His being on earth. Now, because He is perfect man, He will live for eighteen years in subjection to His parents, to show us that subjection is one of God's laws; that the Father's business can only be done by a perfect submission to His will and to His orders, expressed and given by those under whom His providence places us. All the direction needed for the spiritual life is contained in these two sentences: "I must be about My Father's business," and "He was subject to them." The Father's business is to be done in His way—not in mine; it will only be done by a perfect submission of my will to His, by subjection all along the line, by the crushing of self.

His Mother kept all these words in her heart. As she went home she was pondering and meditating again. She had no need to make a "Composition of Place," as she had to do a few hours ago, for her Boy was at her side once again; it was upon His words that she was meditating. They had made her realise that He was a man now, that He would have "business" to do that she must no longer expect wholly to understand. No doubt she prepared herself in her meditation to be ready from henceforth to find that His sweet, childish, obedience was over. Just as we, in our meditations, make the sacrifice beforehand about something that we dread, and then when we come up to it during the day, it is not there! But God is pleased, nevertheless, that we made our sacrifice. One of the many uses of meditation is that we may be fore-armed for the day's battles. So it was with Mary. When she got back to Nazareth, it is true that there was a change; it is true that the boyhood of her Son was fast passing into manhood; but His subjection was the same—only it was far more touching to His Mother's heart just because He was no longer a child.

And what was Mary's part? If Jesus was "subject," Mary had to command; if Jesus obeyed, it was because Mary gave her orders—and this till He was thirty years old! What an absolute repression of self and of her own ideas there must have been in Mary before she could bring herself to give an order to Him Whom she was worshipping as her God! With what reverence, and honour, and humility, and searchings of heart, and preparation, and care she would give her orders! Only the knowledge that it was His wish that she should stand in God's place to Him, could have given her courage. Her authority over Him was God's authority, and it was only by constantly referring it to God that she dared to maintain it.

What a lesson Mary gives here to parents and superiors and to all whose duty it is to command others! Whether they have to command the unruly and the unsubmissive, or those whom they know to be in every way superior to themselves, a few thoughts suggested by the contemplation of Mary commanding her Son at Nazareth may help to make easier a position which must often be irksome and difficult:—

1. God has put me into this position because He intends me to be His delegate.

2. My orders are all given in His Name, and all my authority refers back to Him.

3. My only sure weapons are—humility, that is, a real belief in my own weakness; and self-effacement, to the extent of letting those who are under me see, not me, but God, in my orders.

4. I must see Jesus in all whom I command. If they are thankless and unruly, they are nevertheless amongst His "least brethren," and He wants them trained to live with their Elder Brother in His Father's house. If they are already so like Him in their docility and humility that the very sight of them makes me adore God in them, I will remember that Mary gave her orders to Jesus because God wished it; and that thought will give me courage to be His faithful representative and to give those under my care every possible opportunity of advancing in wisdom and grace by the submission of their will.

5. I must be firmly persuaded that God never puts anyone into a position without giving the grace to fill it. Mary needed far more grace to command Jesus than ever I shall need!

Neither sacred nor profane history gives the exact date of that sad day in Mary's life when death deprived her of her beloved spouse. Joseph had shared all Mary's sacred joys and sorrows from her school-days. He it was who had trained her Son in His work as a carpenter; and to him alone could she speak freely of Him. What a wonderfully happy and blessed death must have been St Joseph's—the last people he saw, Jesus and Mary; his last messages given to Jesus and Mary; all he had to leave, left to Jesus and Mary; the last words he heard, those of Jesus and Mary! He is the Patron of a good death: that is, he will help those who invoke him, to die with Jesus and Mary.

And now from henceforth Mary will have no one to talk to about her Son, no one to share her joy in all these new lessons which she is ever learning from Him. But, on the other hand, from henceforth her Son will be her all. He, who later raised the dead man because "he was the only son of his mother and she was a widow," knew how to wipe away the tears from His Mother's eyes. He knew how to be to her more than a husband. From henceforth the Son and the Mother were all in all to each other—He her sole support, and she keeping the little home for Him alone. They were alone for their meals, and alone in the evenings when the day's work was done. It may have been during those blessed evenings that Jesus explained to Mary what His "Father's business" was, so that she might understand all about it; that He unfolded to her the wonderful plan of Redemption; that He told her about His public life, about the Church that He was going to found, and which she was to nurse during its infancy. Perhaps He told her, too, of the extension of the Incarnation—His great secret, the Blessed Sacrament. Who had a greater right to know it than Mary, through whose means the Incarnation took place? And as the time of the Hidden Life drew to a close, He would explain to her that His "Father's business" was calling Him away from Nazareth, that He would have to give up His home and His life with her, but that they would still work together for the Redemption of the world, their interests would still be one. Oh, blessed converse! The secrets of Jesus and Mary! More than ever was her heart being enlarged; more than ever would she have need to ponder these things in her heart. With the undivided attention of such a Master, what progress she must have made in virtue and in grace!

But the day came at last when her Son was to leave their little home. Mary knew that it would come; again she had made her sacrifice beforehand, and she was ready. She was saying her Fiat while Simeon's ever-active sword was piercing her heart. There was the last meal, the last kiss, the last blessing—and He was gone. She watched Him till He was out of sight and then turned to her empty house. It would never be the same again. Never again would she have Him all to herself. But Mary was a "valiant woman," and no grief of hers would spoil her Son's work. Three thoughts supported her in her trial; and the same three will support us in our trials too.

1. This separation was God's will—and that was always dearer to Mary than anything else.

2. The very sacrifice of her Son that she was called upon to make, was a proof of her union with Him and with His interests.

3. The knowledge that the separation was no real separation.

It is true that never again will He come in from His work and share the simple meal with her; true that there will be no more talking over their plans together; but such a perfect union as theirs cannot be broken by separation. Does not everything in the house speak of Him? Mary has had her time of consolation; now she is to have her time of desolation. Let me learn from her how to act under these changed conditions, which are sure to be mine at some time or other in my life. How does Mary act? Does she sit still and mourn over the days that are gone? Not at all. She acts as though they were not gone; as though there were no difference between consolation and desolation; there is no difference really, but faith and love must be very strong before this fact can be grasped. Mary does her work as usual with her Son and for her Son. Her heart is with Him all the time; everything reminds her of Him, and she is thinking of Him, talking to Him, telling Him everything just as she did before. How far am I like her?

"Sedes sapientiÆ, ora pro nobis."

Colloquy with Mary, asking her to get me grace to ponder over these wonderful mysteries.

Resolution. Never to allow myself to make any change in my spiritual life during a time of desolation.

Spiritual Bouquet. "He was subject to them."

---