Ad Beatissimi Virginem.

Cum Sponso Iosepho Bethleem proficiscentem.¹

Sedula quid properas casto cum coniuge Virgo       Foenora iussa Urbi solvere² Bethlemiae? Cum sacro edideris caelestem e viscere foetum       Tum nil, quod cupiant, terra, & Olympus³ erit.

¹ A reference to the Nativity account in Luke 2:1-5. The emperor Augustus issued a decree that a census be taken and everyone had to register in their hometown. Although Mary was pregnant at the time, she and Joseph left Nazareth to travel to Bethlehem, his ancestral home. ² Foenora iussa…solvere: “to pay taxes.” ³ Olympus, the home of the gods in Greek mythology. Here likely also a reference to heaven