Holy water font.

Holy water font.
*******************************"

It really happened in a boarding.

The boarders were High School students.

One day the students were exiting from the Church after morning Mass.

Each student dipped his fingers into the holy water in the font at the entrance, made sign of the Cross, exited from the Church and walked towards the boarding house.

As per boarding rules they were supposed to be silent till breakfast.

But their eyes could not be silent.

They were looking at their own shirts and others' with unrest.

Why?

The front of the shirts of all the boys had been irregularly showered with ink.

How did it happen?

They entered the Church with clean shirts, but exited with spoiled-with-ink ones.

To their shock, their fingers too were soaked in ink.

When they entered the study hall, their prefect too entered with them.

"Hi boys, please sit down."

The boys sat down.

"One from among you have done some mischief in the Church. He has emptied one bottle full of ink into the holy water font..."

Before he finished the sentence one boy stood up and came to the front.

Before being asked a question he began to speak.

"It is I who poured ink into the holy water font.

But it was not intended to be a mischief.

I wanted to teach my friends a lesson.

Lesson learned through experience is more effective than that learned through words.

The holy water in the font is meant for us to make sign of the cross with it.

Just look at my friends'  shirts.

If they had made Sign of the Cross properly the ink spots would be only on their
forehead​, centre of the chest and shoulders.

But they are scattered irregularly here and there.

They have not made  Sign of the Cross.

They have merely sprinkled the holy water over their shirts.

Excuse me, Father. I just wanted to teach them a lesson. The sign of the Cross is to be made properly and piously"

The prefect did not know what to say.

He just smiled.

"Alright. You just go and clean up the font and fill it with holy water, holy water alone. Your friends would have learned a lesson."

We too should learn a lesson.

Making sign of the Cross is an effective prayer.

Let us make it piously and properly.

Lourdu Selvam.