with cold, and holding in his
arms his companion, who was dead, and almost frozen into a block of ice.
Francis, hearing this account, turned to his attendants, who were
disheartened with the extreme fatigues which they had every day to
encounter, and availing himself of this circumstance to encourage them,
he said: "Some persons imagine that we do too much, and we certainly do
far less than these poor people. You have heard in what manner one has
lost his life in an attempt to find a strayed animal; and how another
has exposed himself to the danger of perishing, in order to procure for
his friend a burial, which, under these circumstances, might have been
dispensed with. These examples speak to us in forcible language; by this
charity we are confounded, we who perform much less for the salvation of
souls intrusted to our care, than those poor people do for the security
of animals confided to their charge." Then the holy Prelate heaved a
deep sigh, saying: "My God, what a beautiful lesson for bishops and
pastors! This poor shepherd has sacrificed his life to save a strayed
sheep, and I, alas! have so little zeal for the salvation of souls. The
least obstacle suffices to deter me, and make me calculate my every step
and trouble. Great God, give me true zeal, and the genuine spirit of a
good shepherd! Ah, how many shepherds of souls will not this herdsman
judge!" Alas! how just and how true is this remark. If we saw our very
enemies surrounded by fire, we would think of means to rescue them from
the danger; and now we see thousands of little children, redeemed at the
price of the blood of Jesus Christ, on the point of losing their faith,
and with it their souls; and shall we be less concerned and less active
for these images and likenesses of God than for their frames, their
bodies?

We hear a little child weeping, and we at once try to console it; we
hear a little dog whining at the door, and we open it; a poor beggar
asks for a piece of bread, and we give it; and we hear the Mother of our
Catholic children--the Catholic Church--cry in lamentable accents: "Let
my little ones have the bread of life--a good Christian education"--and
we do not heed her voice. We hear Jesus Christ cry, "Suffer the little
ones to come unto Me," by means of a Catholic education; we hear him
say: "Woe to him who scandalizes a little child"--who makes it lose his
innocence--his faith--his soul, by sending it to godless schools; we see
Him weep o