Here, the Virgin Herself trains them, and note, the little lad you saw is neither more diligent nor more conscientious than his fellows; they are all alike.

Dedicated to the priesthood from the time when they can first understand, they learn quite naturally to lead a spiritual life from their constant intimacy with the services." "What then is the system of this Institution ?" "The Foundation of the Clerks of Our Lady dates from 1853, or rather it was reconstituted in that year--for it existed in the Middle Ages--by the Abbe Ychard.

Its purpose is to increase the number of priests by admitting poor boys to begin their studies.

It receives intelligent and pious children of every nationality, if they are supposed to show any vocation for Holy Orders.

They remain in the choir school till they are in the third class, and are then transferred to the Seminary.
"Its funds ?--are, humanly speaking, nothing, based on trust in Providence, for it has altogether, for the maintenance of eighty pupils, nothing but the pay earned by these children for various duties in the Cathedral, and the profits from a little monthly magazine called 'The Voice of the Virgin,' and finally and chiefly the charity of the faithful.