The Fence

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he should hammer a nail into the back fence. The first day the boy drove thirty-seven nails into the fence.

The number gradually dwindled. The boy discovered that it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy did not lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.

The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there.

"A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."

"Have much charity even for those who are bad. Speak ill of no one and flee from those who do so. Be very patient, for patience leads us to heaven. Mortification and sacrifices greatly please Our Lord." —Saint Jacinta Marto