......And the story of three other boys.....

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!