How many mysteries does [the Nativity of the Lord] conceal in itself; how much joy, although – by the will of God – immeasurable sadness penetrated the greatest joy. The shepherds greeted [the newborn] as God; yet the cold tormented Him as a human being; there was no place for Him in the inn, just as if He were the worthless of men. Foreign kings came to worship Him; His own were conspiring to kill Him. All this happened that the Virgin’s bravery might shine more brightly in the mist of the adversities [of fate]. This is why she had to flee to Egypt with the One to whom belonged the whole earth (totus orbis) and sky.

 Saint Stanislaus Papczyński,

Messenger of the Queen of Arts, A.D. 1663