The Bite of the Poor
Father Giacomo was often in the home of his friend Michelino De Franchis.
One day (it was 1865) there came at lunchtime.
He wanted only healthy and go, but Michelino, with gentle violence, led him into the dining room, where Mrs. Mariannina and children welcomed him joyfully.
While they were talking, he noticed something unusual and fun:
to any extent, all parents and children, removing some of the dish and put in a larger dish, at the center of the table, they asked the friend explained.
"You see, dear James, - said Michelino - I educate so my children even when they are at the table, they must think of the poor who often lack even the bread. For we, a bite more or less, does nothing but the poor gain, little by little, to eat that. "
Shortly after, in fact, came a poor person who consumed the food thus obtained, served lovingly by her children.
Father James thought:
"If all the families of Palermo, which have the good fortune to eat at the table, is surrendering a morsel for every dish and every day, the problem of poverty would be solved: the rich and the poor will finally give the hand."
Then, after leave, while along the streets of the city compared the number of people and alleged that the poor and said to himself:
"If even half of Palermo join to make this work, depriving them of a "bite" at each meal, you could feed the poor every day seven thousand."