I. Besides the parents of the Baptist, there was one other person intimately concerned in the mystery of the Incarnation, to whom it was necessary that it should be revealed: viz., the spouse of Mary. The method of its manifestation was extraordinary, it showed how various are the ways of Divine Providence, and how they serve to elicit different forms of human virtue. The knowledge of the facts and the explanation of the mystery were for a while withheld from St. Joseph. This constituted a trial of the most painful kind, one of the most terrible that could befall a just man. He was drawn different ways by anxiety and doubt, by kindness and sense of justice. Yet, in spite of a turmoil in his mind enough to disturb the balance of judgment, there was no loss of self-control, no precipitate action afterwards to be regretted, no indulgence of the sense of wrong, no bitterness or malevolence. He pondered carefully, he besought the guidance of God, and so he merited the interposition of the angel. See in this how God tries the just as if by fire. See how easy it is to be deceived by appearances, and how even that which is holiest is open to misinterpretation. Beware of rashness in judgment or action, and always ask enlightenment from God before any serious step.
