was that another reminder of the glory of this child was
given to the mother. An old man, Simeon, took the infant in his arms,
and spoke of him as God's salvation. As he gave the parents his
parting blessing he lifted the veil, and showed them a glimmering of
the future. "This child is set for the fall and rising again of many
in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against." Then to the
mother he said solemnly, "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own
soul also." This was a foretelling of the sorrow which should come to
the heart of Mary, and which came again and again, until at last she
saw her son on a cross. The shadow of the cross rested on Mary's soul
all the years. Every time she rocked her baby to sleep, and laid him
down softly, covering his face with kisses, there would come into her
heart a pang as she remembered Simeon's words. Perhaps, too, words
from the old prophets would come into her mind,--"He is despised and
rejected of men; a man of sorrows;" "He was bruised for our
iniquities,"--and the tears would come welling into her eyes. Every
time she saw her child at play, full of gladness, all unconscious of
any sorrow awaiting him, a nameless fear would steal over her as she
remembered the ominous words which had fallen upon her ear, and which
she could not forget.

Soon after the presentation in the temple came the visit of the magi.
Again the mother must have wondered as she heard these strangers from
the East speak of her infant boy as the "King of the Jews," and saw
them falling down before him in reverent worship, and then laying their
offerings at his feet. Immediately following this came the flight into
Egypt. How the mother must have pressed her child to her bosom as she
fled with him to escape the cruel danger! By and by they returned, and
from that time Nazareth was their home.

Only once in the thirty years do we have a glimpse of mother and child.
It was when Jesus went to his first Passover. When the time came for
returning home the child tarried behind. After a painful search the
mother found him in one of the porches of the temple, sitting with the
rabbis, an eager learner. There is a tone of reproach in her words,
"Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have
sought thee sorrowing." She was sorely perplexed. All the years
before this her son had implicitly obeyed her. He had never resisted
her will, never withdrawn from her guidance. N