Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
After the general considerations which have occupied our previous meditations, we will meditate now on the first years of the life of the Incarnate Word on earth, and we will consider how much His holy childhood deserves: 1st, our admiration; 2nd, our love. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to do all our actions for love of the Child Jesus and with a view to pleasing Him; 2nd, to multiply as much as possible aspirations of admiration and love toward Him, and to keep His remembrance habitually in our hearts. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the word of St. Bernard: The more Jesus makes Himself small for us, the more lovable He is.
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Jesus Christ reduced, for love of us, to the form of a little child in the cradle. Let us offer Him all the homage that Mary and Joseph offer Him, as well as the angels who keep an invisible guard around Him; and let us ask Him for the grace to penetrate ourselves well, in prayer, with the sentiments of admiration and love due to Him.
FIRST POINT
Homages of Admiration Due to Jesus in the Cradle.
To the human eye, nothing is simpler and less apt to provoke admiration than the divine Child in the cradle; but to the eye of faith, how many marvels, how many subjects of ineffable astonishment! This little child who appears so poor is the eternal God, whose power created everything, whose strength moves everything, whose wisdom governs everything; this orphan who sucks the breast of a woman, who is wrapped in swaddling clothes, is the God who reigns in the highest heavens and to whom all empires are subject! He is the eternal Word; and yet His tongue, embarrassed, cannot articulate sounds and only utters cries! He is He of whom the prophet said that the mountains bow down beneath the steps of His eternity, and yet His tottering feet, poorly supported, cannot sustain Him: if you withdraw your hand, He falls to the ground! He is uncreated Wisdom, and He appears only ignorance; He is supreme Power, and we see in Him only impotence; He is the first Sovereignty, and He appears in the most extreme dependence! O God, what a heap of mysteries! Who would not prostrate himself annihilated before such high marvels! Oh! that I had a spirit humble enough to adore, as is fitting, so much littleness that conceals so much greatness, so much weakness that conceals so much strength, so much impotence that conceals so much power, so much abasement that conceals so much elevation! After having passed in this state two or three years, Jesus, having reached the age when ordinary children stammer their first words and take their first steps, begins to speak and walk; oh! how ravishing it was to hear Him utter His first words by which He named God His Father, Mary His Mother, Joseph His second father, and made His first prayers! How beautiful He was to see Him taking His first steps, rendering His first services to Mary and Joseph with all the charms of the first age; later, going and coming in the house, speaking with so much benignity, leading a life so pure, so innocent, so sweet! Let us represent to ourselves by faith what God has pleased to hide from us; and, falling on our knees at the feet of this blessed child, let us pour out in His presence all the admiration, praise, complacency, adoration of which our hearts are capable.
SECOND POINT
Homages of Love Due to Jesus in His Cradle.
If Jesus Christ had appeared suddenly as a full-grown man, in the splendor of His majesty, in the pomp of His greatness, we would have trembled before Him, even to fear approaching Him; but, since He comes on earth to be loved, and not to be feared, He takes the form of a little child, because nothing is more lovable than a little child with his candor, his simplicity, his sweetness, all his innocent qualities, which would win even the most barbarous heart. One naturally loves ordinary children; but how much more must we love the holy Child Jesus, the most beautiful, the sweetest of the children of men, reflecting in all the features of His face the love He bears us! Oh! who will give us a heart loving enough to love as is fitting the adorable littleness of this tiny child! Who will give us to melt before Him in tears of love, to repair the misfortune we have had of loving Him too little until now! Ah! divine Child, I give You my heart, I consecrate it to You forever, I wish to live only of Your holy love.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
Note on Recovery of Missing Meditation (Second Week after Epiphany: Friday)
This meditation (Friday of the Second Week after Epiphany) was lost in the original English publication by Benziger Brothers (1894 third edition), where pages 251–282 (and beyond) are missing from the available digitized copy.
The content has been recovered and translated directly from the corresponding section of the original French edition (Méditations pour tous les jours de l'année, by Rev. M. Hamon, 3rd edition equivalent, 1894), preserving the exact meaning, style, tone, and meditative structure of the 1894 English translation as closely as possible.
This recovery ensures continuity of the work while respecting the historical source material.