Annibale della Genga who became Pope Leo XII |
Now
consider this other story about two boys who were living in Italy during the
end of the 18th Century. Both of them were altar-boys, one of them named
Annibale della Genga, and the other Francesco Saverio Castiglioni. One day they
had a fight in the sacristy before serving mass, and one boy cracked a
candlestick on the other boy's head. The priest was naturally upset, but kept
calm, reprimanded them and gave them another chance. And it was a good thing he
did. Later on in their lives, della Genga was to be crowned Pope Leo XII and
reigned as Pope between 1823 and 1829, while Castiglioni followed him as Pope
Pius VIII, reigning for a year and a half. Yes, patience with children does
leave its fruits too !
Bishop Fulton Sheen |
There
is yet another story told by Archbishop Fulton Sheen about a young altar boy
who dropped the glass water and wine cruets on the marble floor of the
sanctuary at Mass, breaking them into a zillion pieces. The priest yelled at
him and told him not to come back. He never went back, and eventually became
the Communist leader of Yugoslavia: Marshall Tito (Josip Broz). But there was
an occasion when another young altar boy dropped the cruets, smashing them to
smithereens. The understanding (and patient) priest patted the young fellow on
the back and said: "Don't worry about it, son - you'll probably be a
bishop some day." and this youngster grew up to be Archbishop Fulton
Sheen!
Very interesting stories about the alterboys, especially the 2 who
ReplyDeletelater became popes.