When the Angel's message came to Mary, and she had accepted the Divine decree, she became conscious of the presence in her womb of the Incarnate God, in whose Sacred Heart was centred His love for fallen man. What was her prevailing sentiment in contemplating this mystery of Divine compassion? We know it from her own words. She desired that her heart should humbly cooperate with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that she, in the lowly capacity of His handmaid, should be allowed to take her share in the work He had come to do.

There was another present who joined with Mary in her submission, in her gladness, in the union of her will with God's. Gabriel, before he departed from her, humbly adored his Incarnate God, doing reverence to that Sacred Heart of Jesus, and rejoicing in the Divine decree that was to be the means of filling up the places in Heaven of those who had fallen from their high estate.

A few days passed, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus received from another the testimony of his recognition and his joy. St. John Baptist manifested his love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The unborn infant in Elizabeth's womb leaped with delight within his mother's womb, and received from the Sacred Heart the gift of being freed from the stain of sin and clad in the robe of justice. To me, too, the Sacred Heart offers the same happiness, if only I choose to avail myself of it.