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th e upper room prayer meeting. To be called the queen of Heaven would have been as astonishing to her as it is shocking to us. Those who seek to do her honor can best do so by follow ing th e advice she gives in John 2:5. The encomium pronounced by Gabriel, Luke 1:28, and by h er cousin E lisa beth, Luke 1:42, has been verified by history. She stands unique not only in blessing and honor b u t in sorrow and pain. Even before th e b irth of her first-born son, h er suffering on his ac count began. H er betrothed husband suspected h er of th e foulest sin and would have exposed and denounced h er had it no t been for Divine in terfer ence. If th is was th e m ind of the one dearest and nearest to her, w hat must have been th e a ttitu d e of th e unbe lieving world! The joy of th e Sav io u r’s b irth m ust have been m arred by th e hum iliating circumstances of its occurrence, among th e beasts of the stall and only strang ers to atten d her. A t the presentation in th e temple she heard Simeon’s prediction of the soul- piecing sword. I t was followed by th e hu rried flight to Egypt to escape the murderous Herod. When Jesus was twelve years of age, she began to learn th a t the ways of m other and son were not th e same and a t Cana of Galilee she was given to understand th a t she must not interfere. His zeal a t a la ter tim e seemed to h er and her other children to border upon madness th a t ought to be re strained. F inally when she stood be fore the cross, she waa indeed the Mater Dolorosa and her cup of sorrow was full. F o r any one to be associ ated and identified w ith Christ involves an experience somewhat akin to his. At one tim e Christ pronounced a eulogy upon John the B aptist g reater than was ever conferred upon a hum an be ing, and immediately exalted the hum blest disciple of his to a higher rank th a n John by saying th a t the least in
th e kingdom of heaven was g reater th a n he. In like m anner he not only defined the sp iritual sta tu s of his mother bu t co-ordinated th e obedient believer w ith h er by saying “Whoso ever shall do th e will of my F a th e r which is in heaven, the same is my * * * * m other.” Matt. 12:50. ¿Mb. m Mary And The Baby Jesus. Luke 1: 26-38; 2:1-20. Memory Verse.— “Thou sh alt call his name Jesus; for it is he th a t shall save his people from th e ir sins. Matt. 1 : 21 . Approach.—How many of you boys and girls like to receive a nice gift? Of course we all do, and as Roland has had a birthday this week, we will ask him what he re- BEGINNERS celved. A baseball AND PRIMARY and bat. No won- Mabel L. M errill der he looks so b right and happy, for th a t is a g ift th a t would make any boy happy. Who can guess w hat is the nicest gift th a t ev er comes to a home? Marion has guessed rig h t and I know why she was th e first one to answer, for she has ju st the d earest little baby sister in her home, w ith the p rettiest blue eyes. W hat person in th e home do you th ink loves baby most, and will watch over and care fo r it day and night? Yes,, mother, and she loves h er baby so dearly she will go w ithout sleep, and suffer anything for the baby. Prayer. Lesson Story.— In our story la st week we heard about a little baby th a t came into a home where th e re had never been any children. Harold, you te ll us w hat this baby’s name was? Yes, his name was John, and when he grew up he preached to th e people and told them about Jesus who had come to be a Saviour to save people from th e ir sins. He told people to repen t of th e ir sin and be baptized. Repent
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