fant Jesus from Herod's jealousy and malice,
manifested in the slaughter of the Innocents. An angel appearing to him
in his sleep, bade him arise, take the child Jesus, and fly with him
into Egypt, and remain there till he should again have notice from him
to return. This sudden and unexpected flight must have exposed Joseph to
many inconveniences and sufferings in so long a journey, with a little
babe and a tender virgin, the greater part of the way being through
deserts, and among strangers; yet he alleges no excuses, nor inquires at
what time they were to return. St. Chrysostom observes that God treats
thus all his servants, sending them frequent trials, to clear their
hearts from the rust of self-love, but intermixing seasons of
consolation.[5] "Joseph," says he, "is anxious on seeing the Virgin with
child; an angel removes that fear; he rejoices at the child's birth, but
a great fear succeeds; the furious king seeks to destroy the child, and
the whole city is in an uproar to take away his life. This is followed
by another joy, the adoration of the Magi; a new sorrow then arises; he
is ordered to fly into a foreign unknown country, without help or
acquaintance." It is the opinion of the fathers, that upon their
entering Egypt, at the presence of the child Jesus, all the oracles of
that superstitions country were struck dumb, and the statues of their
gods trembled, and in many places fell to the ground, according to that
of Isaiah xix. _And the statues of the Egyptians shall be shaken in his
presence._[6] The fathers also attribute to this holy visit the
spiritual benediction poured on that country, which made it for many
ages most fruitful in saints.[7]

After the death of king Herod, which was notified to St. Joseph by a
vision, God ordered him to return with the child and his mother into the
land of Israel, which our saint readily obeyed. But when he arrived in
Judaea, {622} hearing that Archelaus succeeded Herod in that part of the
country, apprehensive he might be infected with his father's
vices--cruelty and ambition--he feared on that account to settle there,
as he would otherwise probably have done, for the more commodious
education of the child. And, therefore, being directed by God in another
vision, he retired into the dominions of his brother, Herod Antipas, in
Galilee, to his former habitation in Nazareth, where the wonderful
occurrences of our Lord's birth were less known. St. Joseph being a
strict obse