r gentle heart entrance.

"See the Virgin Mother beaming!
Jesus by her arms embraced,
Dew on softest roses gleaming,
Violet with lily chaste!

"Each round other fondly twining.
Pour the shafts of mutual love,
Thick as flowers in meadow shining,
Countless as the stars above.

"Oh, may one such arrow glowing,
Sweetest Child, which thou dost dart
Thro' thy mother's bosom going,
Blessed Jesus, pierce my heart."

II

ABRAHAM AND THE THREE ANGELS

In the story of Abraham, as related in our Bible, we read of the
wandering and adventurous life of the patriarch as he moved from place
to place. In process of time he became "very rich in cattle, in
silver, and in gold." He was as brave as he was industrious. When Lot,
his brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, was taken captive by some
foreign kings who had conquered the king of Sodom, Abraham armed his
large company of servants and went to the rescue. He recovered not
only his nephew, but all the booty which the victors had taken.
Moreover, Abraham was a man of vision as well as of action, a man who
feared God and sought righteousness.

In his old age he was living with his aged wife Sarah on the plains of
Mamre. "He sat in the tent door in the heat of the day," the story
goes on,[1] "and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men
stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent
door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, 'My Lord, if now
I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy
servant: let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your
feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of
bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for
therefore are ye come to your servant.' And they said, 'So do, as thou
hast said.'

[Footnote 1: Genesis, chapter xviii., verses 1-8.]

"And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, 'Make ready
quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the
hearth.' And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and
good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he
took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it
before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat."

In the picture we see Abraham welcoming his strange visitors in front
of his simple dwelling-place. He is dre