"Dear child, if ever you become a priest, never be so hard-hearted towards poor widows as are the priests of to-day."
Those words were never forgotten, as our next story will show.
Many years had passed. The child had become a man and a priest, when he was invited to preach a course of three sermons in the church of a rich curate. On the second day, walking with him to the parsonage, a very poor, ragged, and miserable man took off his hat, and tremblingly addressed the curate, saying—
"You know, sir, that my poor wife died, and was buried ten days ago; but I was too poor to have a funeral service sung for her, and I fear she is in purgatory. Almost every night I see her in my dreams in burning flames, and she cries to me to help her. Will you be so kind as to sing that high mass for her?"
"Of course," answered the curate. "Your wife is suffering in purgatory. Give me five dollars, and I will sing the mass to-morrow morning."
The poor man replied that his wife had long been ill, and he was too distressed to pay the money, and begged that five low masses might be said for her. The priest told him he must pay five shillings for them, but the wretched man declared he had no money, and that he and his children were starving.
"Well, well," said the curate, "I saw two beautiful sucking pigs before your house this morning. Give me one of them."
"Those pigs, sir," said the man, "were given me by a charitable neighbour, that I might raise them for my children's food next winter. They will surely starve if I give my pigs away."
Chiniquy could not wait to hear the conclusion of the shameful bargain. He hurried away to his room, refused to take tea, and spent a sleepless night wondering whether the Church of Rome could be the Church of Christ. Next morning, he gave five dollars to the poor man, and went breakfastless to church.
After preaching, he was led by the curate to his dining-room. The long fast had made him very hungry, and the foremost dish was a delicious sucking pig. He had cut a piece, and was just about to eat, when the scene of yesterday flashed across his mind, and he inquired, "Was this that sucking pig?"