A pious young lady lived in a house that was about three miles from the city. One night, according to her usual custom before falling asleep, she said her evening prayers and read a pious meditation from her book of devotions.

While she was reading, a carriage from the city stopped at the door of her house. A message was brought to her that one of her friends had suddenly become very ill and wanted to see her. She immediately got up and set the book on the table, still open at the place where she had been reading. Then she hurried away to the house of her friend, accompanied by her maid and her servant.

At that very moment, a robber was passing near the house. He saw the people leave in the carriage and thought it would be an excellent opportunity of stealing some of the young woman’s possessions.

He used a ladder to get to the window of her bedroom. He climbed inside easily and looked around to see what he could take. The first thing that attracted his attention was the open book upon the table at the side of the bed. Out of simple curiosity, he picked it up, and the first words he read were these,

“O my God, be pleased, I beseech You, to keep me this day without sin; then, indeed, I shall be able to sleep at night peacefully. May I spend all the days of my life free from sin! How sweet will it be to die after a life faithfully spent in Your service! Death, which is so terrible to most men, would then become for me a peaceful slumber.”

These words touched the heart of the robber so strongly that he did not lay his hands on any of the things he could so easily have stolen. He left the room more hurriedly than he had entered it; and from that moment he changed his life, made a good Confession, and became a fervent Catholic.

Years later, when he lay on his death-bed, he related the story of his repentance to his children. With his dying lips, he told his dear children to always have a high esteem in their hearts for the Word of God, to read good books, and pray always with great devotion.