Practical Devotion of the Day: Take an example of the incense offered by the three wise men

Real incense. On leaving their country, the Magi collected, as a gift to the newborn King, the best of the products found there. Similar to Abel and generous hearts they offered not the leftovers, the waste of the world, the useless things, but the most beautiful and the best of what they had. Let us imitate them by offering to Jesus the sacrifice of that passion that costs us the most ... It will be the gift and the sacrifice of the most fragrant incense to Jesus.

Mystical incense. The Lord directed the Magi in the choice of incense: Jesus was God; the cradle was the new altar to the God - child; and the incense of the Magi was the first sacrifice offered to Jesus by the hand of the great of the earth. We present to the Child the incense of fervent prayers, with frequent ejaculations of love, to him who was born to save us. Do you pray, do you raise your heart to Jesus in these days?

Fragrant incense. In Heaven the elders poured balms in the presence of the Lamb (Apoc. V, 8), symbol of the adoration of the Saints; the Church perfumes the Holy Host, a figure of prayers that welcome the throne of God; but what would it be worth sending the incense of our prayers to Jesus for a moment, and then continually offending him with our sins?

PRACTICE. - Offer the incense of your prayer to God every day.