Here is the Lord, in this manger, in Whom is made known to us the divine secret: that the peoples of the pagan world, now living after the manner of beasts in their stalls, are to be nourished from the abundance of the sacred Food. The ox knoweth his master, and the ass his master's crib (Is. 1:3). The ass therefore, which is the figure and type of the heathen peoples, knoweth the manger of his Lord. And he says accordingly: The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing (Ps. 22). Can anyone say that the Lord is made known to us by signs of little import, when the Magi come and adore Him, the angels serve Him, and the martyrs confess Him? He comes forth from a womb, but He shines like lightening from above; He lies in an earthly resting place, but round about Him is the brightness of heaven. The espoused has brought forth; but a Virgin hath conceived. A wife hath conceived; but a Virgin hath given birth. There is here another mystery of no small significance, which the holy Matthew makes known, and which the holy Luke believed he might omit, as it was already fully related, believing he had recorded sufficient when he had given testimony of the manger of the Lord. Now to this little Child, Whom you, if you believe not, will consider as an ordinary child, the Wise men from the East, following on so long a journey, now come, and falling down they adored Him, and call Him King, and profess that He shall rise from the dead; and this they do by offering Him from their treasures, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.