Laying Down the Rails for Children - Simply Charlotte Mason
Laying Down the Rails for Children - Simply Charlotte Mason
Laying Down the Rails for Children - Simply Charlotte Mason
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Decency and Propriety Habits<br />
The strict and regular life of <strong>the</strong> Cardinal and his clergy, and <strong>the</strong>ir home in <strong>the</strong><br />
spacious palace, were, no doubt, under Providence, a preservative; but, in <strong>the</strong> opinions<br />
of <strong>the</strong> time, <strong>the</strong>re was little short of a miracle in <strong>the</strong> safety of one who daily preached in<br />
<strong>the</strong> ca<strong>the</strong>dral,—bent over <strong>the</strong> beds of <strong>the</strong> sick, giving <strong>the</strong>m food and medicine, hearing<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir confessions, and administering <strong>the</strong> last rites of <strong>the</strong> Church,—and <strong>the</strong>n braving<br />
<strong>the</strong> contagion after death, ra<strong>the</strong>r than let <strong>the</strong> corpses go <strong>for</strong>th unblest to <strong>the</strong>ir common<br />
grave. Nay, so far was he from seeking to save his own life, that, kneeling be<strong>for</strong>e <strong>the</strong> altar<br />
in <strong>the</strong> ca<strong>the</strong>dral, he solemnly offered himself, like Moses, as a sacrifice <strong>for</strong> his people.<br />
But, like Moses, <strong>the</strong> sacrifice was passed by—‘it cost more to redeem <strong>the</strong>ir souls’—and<br />
Borromeo remained untouched, as did <strong>the</strong> twenty-eight priests who voluntarily offered<br />
<strong>the</strong>mselves to join in his labors.<br />
No wonder that <strong>the</strong> chief memories that haunt <strong>the</strong> glorious white marble ca<strong>the</strong>dral<br />
of Milan are those of St. Ambrose, who taught mercy to an emperor, and of St. Carlo<br />
Borromeo, who practiced mercy on a people.<br />
Notes<br />
<strong>Simply</strong><strong>Charlotte</strong><strong>Mason</strong>.com 45