They walked on for a little in silence. Then she said—
"What must I do to be saved, my father?"
"Keep the ten commandments," he answered at once.
"But the rich young man who came to Jesus could say with his hand on his heart that he had kept them all, and yet had no assurance of salvation. He was in great trouble. He said, 'What must I do to be saved?'"
"Oh, then you must take the holy Eucharist very often."
"But those who take it, my father, are they saved from sinning? Are they not the victims of the power of evil, the same as others?"
"Oh! yes, madame, but then there is the Confessional."
"But does not the same thing apply to the Confessional, my father? You must know that there are tens of thousands in France who confess, but fall again the next day. They have not found rest. Is not Christ ready to save us if we are ready to be saved?"
"Alas! madame, we shall sin always, always, to the very end of our lives."
"But, my father, were not St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Siena, Fénelon and many others, delivered from the slavery of sin and self? They attained to something definite—to holiness."