ile he often
withdraws himself for a short time from us to make us seek him the more
earnestly. He thus describes the sentiments of his holy parents on this
occasion.[8] "Let us consider what was the happiness of that blessed
company, in the way to Jerusalem, to whom it was granted to behold his
face, to hear his sweet words, to see in him the signs of divine wisdom
and virtue; and in their mutual discourse to receive the influence of
his saving truths and example. The old and young admire him. I believe
boys of his age were struck with astonishment at the gravity of his
manners and words. I believe such rays of grace darted from his blessed
countenance as drew on him the eyes, ears, and hearts of every one. And
what tears do they shed when he is not with them." He goes on
considering what must be the grief of his parents when they had lost
him; what their sentiments, and how earnest their {623} search: but what
their joy when they found him again. "Discover to me," says he, "O my
Lady, Mother of my God, what were your sentiments, what your
astonishment and your joy when you saw him again, and sitting, not among
boys, but amidst the doctors of the law: when you saw every one's eyes
fixed on aim, every one's ears listening to him, great and small,
learned and unlearned, intent only on his words and motions. You now
say: I have found him whom I love. I will hold him, and will no more let
him part from me. Hold him, sweet Lady, hold him fast; rush on his neck,
dwell on his embraces, and compensate the three days' absence by
multiplied delights in your present enjoyment of him. You tell him that
you and his father sought him in grief. For what did you grieve? not for
fear of hunger or want in him whom you knew to be God: but I believe you
grieved to see yourself deprived of the delights of his presence even
for a short time; for the Lord Jesus is so sweet to those who taste him,
that his shortest absence is a subject of the greatest grief to them."
This mystery is an emblem of the devout soul, and Jesus sometimes
withdrawing himself, and leaving her to dryness, that she may be more
earnest in seeking him. But, above all, how eagerly ought the soul which
has lost God by sin, to seek him again, and how bitterly ought she to
deplore her extreme misfortune!

As no further mention is made of St. Joseph, he must have died before
the marriage of Cana, and the beginning of our divine Saviour's
ministry. We cannot doubt but he had t