Have you ever looked on a milk container and seen that little word 'Pasteurized'? This means that the milk has been boiled so that any germs that were in it are killed. This method of boiling food to kill any germs within it is called "pasteurizing" it. The scientist who discovered this method of sanitizing food was named Louis Pasteur; hence the name pasteurization. Although it is unnecessary and often unhealthy to prepare food that way nowadays, it was very salutary in Pasteur's time. Because food today is prepared under very sanitary conditions, pasteurization actually boils out the vitamins and healthy aspects of it- because there are no germs to begin with. In Pasteur's day however, there was a great deal of germs, because food either wasn't or couldn't be prepared under very clean environments. So to people then, his invention literally was a life saver. But this was not the only discovery Pasteur made. Another one of Louis Pasteur's greatest achievements was to formulate an antidote for rabies, a disease that meant certain death before his great cure was put into practice. He was indeed a great scientist, one of the greatest the world has ever known.
Around the same time that France was benefiting from all of Pasteur's great discoveries, a university student was traveling across this country on a train. This student was sadly one of those poor unfortunate men who believed that science was indeed the way of the future, and that the Catholic Faith was superstitious nonsense. He saw the Catholic Religion as a thing of the past, full of myths and legends; where miracles were just pious lies meant to confuse the ignorant and the simple. Miracles of course, just didn't happen in the scientific world. To him, science and Catholicism were rivals; but he believed that science held the real truth and was the key to knowledge.
As he seated himself down, the young student looked towards his neighbor. Judging by his appearances, the old man beside him was a peasant who seemed to be getting along fairly well in the world. The student decided to start a pleasant conversation with this fellow passenger. Then he noticed, to his disgust, that the old man was praying Our Lady's Holy Rosary.
"Sir," the student said not too kindly, "do you still really believe in such outdated things?"
The stranger looked up from his prayers, "Yes, I do" he replied calmly. "Do you not?"
The boy began to laugh. "My dear man, I do not believe in such silly things. Here, take my advice: throw the Rosary out the window, and learn what science has to say about it."
"Science?" the old man asked, with his eyes full of tears, "I do not understand this science. Perhaps you can explain it to me."
The student saw that he was hurting this old man's feels by talking to him in this way. Poor simple man! he must have thought to himself. Led astray by such superstitious lies! I must show him the right way! The truth! The greatness of Science! Then he shall know what his prayers are worth. The boy decided that the present conversation would do more good if continued over a longer period of time. If communication was kept up between them, this stranger would over time see the error of his ways.
So the student said to him, "Please give me your address. I will send you some literature to help you on this matter." The old man searched about in his pocket and finding his traveling card, handed it to the lad. The boy, looking at his companion, glanced down at the card he'd been given. His face grew ashen and his pride sank when he read the stranger's name. "Louis Pasteur, Director of the Institute of Scientific Research, Paris."
Is it not logical that a great scientist should turn to God, the Author of all science, and to the Mother of that God for the answers to the mysteries of science?