There was a certain eleven-year-old girl who was very troublesome and lazy. She always insisted on having her own way, and would get very angry at the smallest opposition to her will.
This went on for a long time. Promises and threats made no impression on her, and the nuns who taught her school began to lose hope that they could ever get the girl to improve.

One day, they saw that an incredible change had come over this girl. Her bad habits were gone, and she became one of the most obedient and gentle children in the school. No one could explain why. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, that they could see, to change the child.

One of her teachers noticed that, from time to time, this girl pressed her hand to her chest, as if there was something she wore around her neck that sat over her heart.

Naturally, the nun approached the girl and asked why she did that. The child blushed at the question, and did not answer it. The good sister urged the girl to tell her. So the child whispered into her ear these words:

"It is to help me to be good."

"How can that help you to be good, my child?" the nun asked.

With some reluctance, the girl reached for a ribbon that hung around her neck. She pulled it all the way up to expose a crucifix which she wore. Showing the crucifix, the girl explained:

"When I am tempted to be naughty, I press this to my heart, and then I find it easy to be good."

God’s grace can touch even the most stubborn among us. And when we ourselves find it hard to do the right thing, God is right there to help us. All we have to do is ask.