Pope St. Leo the Great

on the coming of Christ drawing the Wise Men near:

...The wise men, therefore, fulfil their desire, and come to the child, the Lord Jesus Christ, the same star going before them.

They adore the Word in flesh, the Wisdom in infancy, the Power in weakness, the Lord of majesty in the reality of man:

And by their gifts make open acknowledgment of what they believe in their hearts, that they may show forth the mystery of their faith and understanding.

The incense they offer to God, the myrrh to Man, the gold to the King, consciously paying honour to the divine and human nature in union:

Because while each substance had its own properties, there was no difference in the power of either.

And when the wise men had returned to their own land, and Jesus had been carried into Egypt at the Divine suggestion, Herod’s madness blazes out into fruitless schemes.

He orders all the little ones in Bethlehem to be slain, and since he knows not which infant to fear, extends a general sentence against the age he suspects...

But that which the wicked king removes from the world, Christ admits to heaven.

And on those for whom He had not yet spent His redeeming blood, He already bestows the dignity of martyrdom.

Lift your faithful hearts then, dearly-beloved, to the gracious blaze of eternal light...