There are only two standards in the world--that of JESUS Christ and that of the devil. Both leaders want me to enlist; both are trying to win me; but by what different means! The devil strives to entrap me with the silken threads of sin which seem so insignificant and harmless, but which if I allow myself to be trapped by them, he will twine into a thick rope and hold me fast; while JESUS draws me to Himself with the cords of love. Both are infinitely more powerful than I am, and yet all depends on _me_, that is, on my will. The cords of love are far stronger than the cords of hate, so I need not be afraid of the devil's capturing me against my will; but on the other hand JESUS will not draw me with the cords of love against my will. "_If thou wilt_, ... come,"

is His method. There _are_ chains, there _is_ a cross, but all is love.

A little Child holds the Standard, a little Child leads, and all He asks is that we should follow Him and do as He does.

Come, then, little JESUS, set up Thy Royal Standard, come, tarry no longer. I am longing to show Thee that I am not going to be a soldier in name only; longing to show Thee that I understand that a soldier who has pledged himself to fight under Thy Standard must adopt Thy methods, that if I would be a soldier on whom Thou canst count, I must be really mortified, really poor, really ready to give up my own will and my own methods, really anxious to have humiliations because I know that there is no other way of attaining the beautiful virtue of humility. I am longing to show Thee that I understand that those who march under Thy Standard must be marked by the Cross. Oh! come, and set me free from all that keeps me from offering myself whole-heartedly for Thy service. Come and cut all the many little cords that still bind me to the service of self. Thy Mother wants Thee, the Angels are longing to look upon Thy Face, the world wants Thee though it knows it not, and I am longing to want Thee too. Oh! teach me to want Thee more.

_Colloquy_ with the Branch and the Flower.

_Resolution._ To examine myself to-day as to my attachments.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Come and set us free, tarry now no longer."

O CLAVIS DAVID!

December 20th.

"O Key of David and Sceptre of the House of Israel! Who openest and no man shutteth; Who shuttest and no man openeth; come and bring forth from his prison-house the captive sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death."

(Isaias XXII. 22, Apoc. III. 7, Gen. XLIX. 10, Heb. I. 8).

_1st. Prelude._ The little King with the Key and the Sceptre.

_2nd. Prelude._ Grace to respond to the Key and the Sceptre.

POINT I. THE KEY OF DAVID.

"I will lay the Key of the House of David upon His shoulder" (Is. XXII.

22). "To the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia write: These things saith the Holy One and the True One, He that hath the Key of David, He that openeth and no man shutteth, shutteth and no man openeth: I know thy works. Behold I have given before thee a door opened which no man can shut, because thou hast a little strength." (Apoc. III. 7-8).

The Babe unborn has already had the Key laid upon His Shoulder. He already has authority. Soon, very soon now, He will come to use it. How will He use this Key and what is it? It is the Key of authority but it is also the Key of love. (1) He is coming to unlock the gates which hold the human race fast in ignorance and sin, to be its Redeemer, to give it "a door opened which no man can shut," to give it a chance if it will of walking out of its prison-house into the liberty wherewith Christ alone can make it free (Gal. IV. 31). (2) He is coming to put His golden Key of love into the hearts of men, to open those doors which are shut against Him and which none but He can open, for none but He can give grace. Each little child whose heart is filled with grace at its Baptism is only able to receive it because the little Child with the golden Key has opened its heart. "Thou hast opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers." Come, then, O Key of David, come and begin Thy blessed work on earth. Thou hast already put Thy magic Key into the heart of St. John the Baptist and doubtless of many another; come and tarry not, come and found Thy Church and pa.s.s on the wondrous power of the keys to those with whom Thou wilt leave Thy authority. (3) He is coming to open with His Key of love His own most Sacred Heart. None but He can open that vast treasure-house of love, and none but He can shut it. It will be there for a refuge for all His children in all time--a standing memorial of His love. What does He ask in return? Only that when we hear Him put His golden Key into our hearts, there may be a response: "My Beloved put His Hand through the key-hole and my heart was moved at His touch. I arose up to open to my Beloved" (Cant. V. 4-5). The rising up to let Him in is our part, He puts in His Key and unlocks, that is, He removes all obstacles by His grace, but we must respond to that grace for though He has unlocked the door He will not force an entrance. "Behold I stand at the door and knock," and then He waits, waits for our correspondence and for our love. "My son, give Me thy heart," He wants it, He has used His Key of love to obtain it, but He will not take it, it must be a free gift of love.

At the last great Advent the door of His mercy will be shut against all those who have refused Him an entrance into their hearts, and when He shuts, no man can open. "Lord, Lord, open to us," and the answer will come through the eternally locked door: "I never knew you, depart from Me."

Oh! come, Divine little One, come with Thy Key while yet there is time and unlock the many hearts which still find no place for Thee, no time to attend to Thee waiting so patiently, no desire to give Thee an invitation this Christmas; and give them grace to respond.

POINT II. THE SCEPTRE OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.

The little One Who is to come not only has a Key on His Shoulder, but a Sceptre in His Hand. The word used for Sceptre (_shebet_) in the Hebrew has four distinct meanings and we can apply them all to our Lord and Saviour, JESUS Christ. It is:

(1) a rod of _command_, a sign of _royalty_ (Esther IV. 11, Ps. XLIV.

7);

(2) a rod of iron, a rod of _correction_ (Ps. II. 9, Prov. XXII. 15);

(3) the _shepherd's_ rod or wand (Lev. XXVII. 32);

(4) the _flail_ which separates the grain from the chaff (Is. XXVIII.

27).

(1) _A sign of royalty._ He is my King--how much that says to me! He has authority over me and a right to command me, a right to my service from every point of view; but He will not exact it from me. He stretches out His Sceptre of mercy in token of clemency. He wants my service, but He wants it to be the outcome of my love and so He uses His Sceptre to attract me. He brings Himself down to my level, He calls Himself my Brother, my Friend. He tells me that if I will throw in my lot with Him and do as He does, one day I shall share His Kingdom and reign with Him.

Such is my King and such is the meaning of His Sceptre. "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" Thou art as yet hidden, O my little King, but Thou wilt be _born_ a king for "Thy throne, O G.o.d, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of justice is the sceptre of Thy Kingdom" (Heb. I.

8). What is my response going to be to that Sceptre stretched out once again? That of a loyal, whole-hearted, loving subject or that of one who is still hesitating between the service of self and the service of the King?

(2) _A rod of correction._ For His enemies it is a "rod of iron," but for His children a rod of love, for what son is there whom the father doth not correct? "Whom the Lord loveth He chastiseth; and He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. Persevere under discipline. G.o.d dealeth with you as with His sons." (Heb. XII. 6-7). We are not to "faint" nor "be weary" nor "neglect the discipline," not to be inclined to give all up and choose an easier path; no, but to regard the discipline as a "consolation," (verse 5) a proof of love, a sign that we are really the children with whom He does what He likes, instructing us according to His own pleasure (verse 10).

Oh! my little King, come with Thy rod of correction, come and make me a saint and do not spare me in the making. He that spareth the rod spoileth the child. I do not want to be a spoilt child, but a child on whom Thou canst count, that is, a child to whom Thou canst say what Thou wilt and whom Thou canst criticize as thou wilt, by the mouth of whom Thou wilt, a child whom Thou dost not _consider_ because Thou art sure of its love, sure, that is, that it loves Thee and Thy ways better than self and its ways.

(3) _A shepherd's staff or crook._ As it had been prophesied of Him that He should be a king, so it had also been prophesied that He should be a shepherd: "I will save My flock ... and I will set up one Shepherd over them and He shall feed them and He shall be their Shepherd" (Ezech.

x.x.xIV. 22, 23, and x.x.xVII. 24). "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, He shall gather together the lambs with His arms, and shall take them up in His bosom, and He Himself shall carry them that are with young" (Is. XL. 11). "I am the Good Shepherd;" even now while He is yet in the womb of His Mother He is counting His sheep, calling them out, knowing each one by name, thinking of the great fold which He is going to make, of the one shepherd to whom He will entrust the great work of feeding His sheep, of the "other sheep" whom He "must bring" into the fold sooner or later. Even now He is planning to lay down His life for His sheep "that they may have life and have it more abundantly."

(4) _The flail_ which separates the chaff from the good grain, the _tribulum_ which causes "great _tribulation_" on earth's threshing floor, but which is used only for the good of the grain and ensures its being gathered into the heavenly garners. Oh! my little King, Who art coming to bring peace make me understand that I shall never have peace till I am fully persuaded that all my _tribulation_, all my troubles, trials and afflictions are directly caused by Thee, that it is Thou Thyself and no other Who dost use the threshing instruments to separate me from all that is not pleasing to Thee.

Come then, and with Thy Key of love unlock the prison-house and bring forth the captive sitting in darkness and then with Thy Sceptre rule him, correct him, guide him and afflict him.

_Colloquy_ with Him Who has the Key and the Sceptre.

_Resolution._ To rise up and open to my Beloved.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ O Clavis David!

O ORIENS!

December 21st. Feast of St. Thomas.

"O Orient! (Dawn of the East, Rising Sun. Dayspring) Splendour of the Light Eternal and Sun of Justice, come and enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."

(Is. IX. 2, Zach. III. 8, VI. 12, Mal. IV 2, St. Luke I. 78).

_1st. Prelude._ "The light of the morning when the sun riseth" (2 Kings XXIII. 4).

_2nd. Prelude._ Grace to tread always the "Way of Peace."

POINT I. THE ORIENT.

"Behold I will bring my Servant the Orient." (Zach. III. 8). Now G.o.d has kept His promise for Zachary has already sung: "The Orient from on high has visited us." But where is He, this Servant of G.o.d Who has come to do His Will, this Man Who is also G.o.d, this Splendour of the Light Eternal and Sun of Justice? As yet He is hiding His light, but "fear not for on the fifth day Our Lord will come unto you" (Antiphon of the _Benedictus_ for to-day). He will come and He will not tarry; but when He comes He will still hide His light under the swaddling clothes and the helplessness and dependence of a little babe. Why is this, O Orient?

Thou art the Light Eternal and the Sun of Justice and yet Thy rising seems to make so little difference in the world. Hardly any know that Thou hast risen. My child, it is true that I am the Light of the world, true that I am the bright and morning Star, but the light can only reach the world by faith. Those who have faith like Zachary and his wife and infant son know that I have visited them, not because they have _seen_ me, but by faith. It is the same with my own sweet Mother: "Blessed art thou that hast _believed_" (St. Luke I. 45). It will be the same when I am born in a few days' time. Most will see nothing beyond a babe in swaddling clothes, but to a chosen few who have the gift of faith the Sun of Justice will have risen, the Star will have appeared, their cry will be: "Behold a Man," even the Man-G.o.d, "the Orient is His name." It will be the same all through My life on earth, only the few will recognize the Light of the world; most will not come to Me, but will prefer darkness rather than light. It will be the same with My sacramental life in the Church. I shall be there, but only the eye of faith will detect Me. The Sun of Justice has risen with health in His Wings, but only very gradually will He make Himself felt in a world that is sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.

And why, O Orient, Splendour of the Light Eternal, why dost Thou not cast Thy bright beams over the whole world at once that all may know and recognize Thee as the Dayspring which has risen?