count of the influence they exert on them. The pagan Romans were
most solicitous that no slave whose speech was not perfectly elegant and
graceful should have access to children. Shall a Christian be less
careful as to their virtue? It is a fatal mistake to imagine that
children are too young to be infected with the contagion of vice. No age
is more impressionable than childhood; no one observes more closely than
the young, and nothing is so easily acquired by them as a spirit of
vanity, pride, revenge, obstinacy, sloth, etc., and nothing is harder to
overcome. What a happiness for a child to be formed to virtue from
infancy, and to be instilled from a tender age with the spirit of piety,
simplicity, meekness, and mercy! Such a foundation being well laid, the
soul will easily, and sometimes without experiencing severe conflicts,
rise to the height of Christian perfection.

_Prayer of the Church_

WE BESEECH Thee, O Lord, to graciously grant us through the intercession
of Thy blessed martyrs Vitus, Modestus, and Crescentia, that we may not
proudly exalt ourselves, but serve Thee in humility and simplicity, so
as to avoid evil and to do right for Thy sake. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

VI

St. Christophorus, Martyr

LEGEND

AN ANCIENT tradition concerning St. Christophorus relates: He was born
in the land of Canaan, and was named Reprobus, that is Reprobate, for he
was a barbarous heathen. In stature and strength he was a giant.
Thinking no one his like in bodily vigor, he resolved to go forth in
search of the mightiest master and serve him. In his wanderings, he met
with a king who was praised as the most valorous man on earth. To him he
offered his services and was accepted. The king was proud of his giant
and kept him near his person. One day a minstrel visited the king's
castle, and among the ballads he sung before the court was one on the
power of Satan. At the mention of this name the king blessed himself,
making the sign of the cross. Reprobus, wondering, asked him why he did
that. The king replied: "When I make this sign, Satan has no power over
me." Reprobus rejoined: "So thou fearest the power of Satan? Then he is
mightier than thou, and I shall seek and serve him."

Setting forth to seek Satan, he came into a wilderness. One dark night
he met a band of wild fellows riding through the forest. It was Satan
and his escort. Reprobus bravely accosted him, saying he wished to serve
him. He was accepted