Chapter 17: Of the holy and hidden life of the lowly Jesus

I BLESS You, and give thanks to You, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the surpassing holiness of that hidden life, which You did for so long time lead in the house of Your parents at Nazareth, where You did dwell with them in great poverty, lowliness, and subjection, from the twelfth to the thirtieth year of Your age,

I most heartily praise and magnify You for Your condescension in veiling Your Majesty from those among whom You did dwell, in that You did deign to be called, and to be believed to be, the son of a carpenter; and openly did nothing from which Your Godhead might be known.

O the humility of Christ! O my God, how do You confound by it my foolish self-conceit; how, by Your bright example, do You bid me avoid all outward show, turn aside from men of the world, choose to lead a secluded life, seek to be known to God alone, make the salvation of my soul my chief aim, not put myself forward, even for the sake of edification; but rather strive to lay diligently to heart the Word of Life, until such time as the heavenly call shall come to bring forth fruit!

Help me, sweet Jesus, You gracious Master, to understand, by diligent meditation upon it, the character of Your hidden life; to dedicate my own inner self to You; ever to love a humble and secluded life, taking no heed of the things of this world; but cherishing rather, as the objects of my love, the things which concern You and my home in Heaven; and, in the secret closet of my heart, to treasure up the story of Your most holy life and conversation.