er divine Son's portion
throughout His earthly career. But to have this secret of her anxious
soul thus publicly and solemnly declared by Simeon, was a sharp thrust
of that seven-edged sword which was to pierce her loving heart. In
spirit she viewed that boundless, surging sea of trials, pain, and death
on which her Son was to be tossed about, and was willing to be engulfed
in its bitter waters. Her affliction would have scarcely been greater
had the death sentence of her divine Son been pronounced then and there
and put into execution. What a sorrow, what an affliction, what a trial
for such a tender Mother! Well might she exclaim with the Royal Prophet:
"My life is wasted with grief, and my years in sighs" (_Ps._ xxx. 11).
Let us often contemplate this sorrow, and excite our hearts to a tender
compassion with the Mother of Sorrows.

Prayer of the Church (located on the first day of the novena).

Litany of Loreto (located in the final section of the book).

_Prayer_

I COMPASSIONATE thee, sorrowing Mary, in the grief thy tender heart
underwent when the holy old man Simeon prophesied to thee. Dear Mother,
by thy heart then so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and
the gift of the holy fear of God.

Hail Mary, etc.

Ejaculation (located on the first day of the novena).

THIRD DAY

Mary's Second Sorrow: The Flight into Egypt

[Illustration: The Flight into Egypt]

Preparatory Prayer (located on the first day of the novena).

MEDITATION

FOR the second time the sword of sorrow pierced Mary's heart when she
was commanded to fly into Egypt with her divine Child. Without
manifesting undue perplexity or discontent, she hastily gathered a few
necessaries for the journey, while St. Joseph saddled the beast of
burden. Then taking the infant Jesus into her arms and pressing Him to
her throbbing heart, the holy pilgrims set forth into the cold, starry
night, away to a foreign land, through the trackless desert, and into a
heathen country. Arrived in Egypt, the experience of Bethlehem was
renewed; no one gave them shelter.

PRACTICE

DURING this second great sorrow, what was Mary's behavior? She was
content to fulfil the will of God; she did not ask for reasons, or
complain of the fatigues of the journey, but preserved her peace of
heart amid all the trials of this severe probation. She is poor, but her
poverty does not render her unhappy or querulous. If God sends us
trials, we ought not murmur o