assisting parents in handing down to their children the food that nourishes them for life. many did so at the coast of extraordinary sacrifice and with heroic charity. i think, for example, of saint elizabeth ann seton, who founded the first free catholic school for girls in the united states or in saint john neumann, the founder of the first system of catholic education in this country. this evening, my brothers and sisters, i have come to join you in prayer that our vocations as