Nativity Reflection #6: “[You know the three gifts they offer to Him...gold, frankincense and myrrh.] And so do we too offer gold to the newborn king if we shine in his sight with the brightness of the wisdom from on high. We too offer him incense if we enkindle on the altar of our hearts the thoughts of our human minds by our holy pursuit of prayer, so as to give forth a sweet smell to God by our heavenly desire. And we offer him myrrh if we mortify the vices of our bodies by our self-denial. Myrrh brings it about, as I have said, that dead bodies do not decompose ... Therefore we are offering myrrh to God when we employ the spice of self- restraint to keep this earthly body of ours from decomposing through decadence.” -St Gregory the Great
