devotion, figured by frankincense; and the
unreserved sacrifice of themselves by mortification, represented by
myrrh.[23] The divine king, no doubt, richly repaid their generosity by
favors of a much greater excellency, the spiritual gifts of his grace.
It is with the like sentiments and affections of love, praise,
gratitude, compunction, and humility, that we ought frequently, and
particularly on this solemnity, to draw near, in spirit, to the infant
Jesus; making him an affectionate tender of our hearts, but first
cleansed by tears of sincere repentance.

The holy kings being about to return home, God, who saw the hypocrisy
and malicious designs of Herod, by a particular intimation diverted them
from their purpose of carrying back word to Jerusalem, where the child
was to be found. So, to complete their fidelity and grace, they returned
not to Herod's court; but, leaving their hearts with their infant
Saviour, took another road back into their own country. In like manner,
if we would persevere in the possession of the graces bestowed on us, we
must resolve from this day to hold no correspondence with a sinful
world, the irreconcilable enemy to Jesus Christ; but to take a way that
lies at a distance from it, I mean that which is marked out to us by the
saving maxims of the gospel. And pursuing this with an unshaken
confidence in his grace and merits, we shall safely arrive at our
heavenly country.

It has never been questioned but that the holy Magi spent the rest of
their lives in the fervent service of God. The ancient author of the
imperfect comment on St. Matthew, among the works of St. Chrysostom,
says, they were afterwards baptized in Persia, by St. Thomas the
apostle, and became themselves preachers of the gospel. Their bodies
were said to have been translated to Constantinople under the first
Christian emperors. From thence they were conveyed to Milan, where the
place in which they were deposited is still shown in the Dominicans'
church of that city. The emperor Frederick Barbarossa having taken
Milan, caused them to be translated to Cologne in Germany, in the
twelfth century.

Footnotes:
1. St. Aug. Serm. 203, ol. 64, de div.
2. According to Papebroch, it was pope Julius the First, in the fourth
century, by whom the celebration of these two mysteries, the
nativity and manifestation of Christ to the Magi, was first
established in the western church on distinct days. The Greeks still
keep