i met benda's widow and five of their six adult children in that same apartment where he taught. it was one of the most moving experiences of my life. and one of the most atheist countries in europe, all of the children are faithful catholics and are raising faithful catholic children. i asked how their parents got them through the persecution with their faith intact. martin, one of the boys said their father would take them aside every day to remind them the things they heard at school that day and things in the media were lies. he knew that he and his wife had to push back as hard against the system as hard as it pushed against their family and they had to do it every day. today, you can sit in that living room with their children and grandchildren and see what a difference that faith and discipline made. camilla, the widow told me something that surprised and delighted me. sitting in their apartment, there are books everywhere. on every wall. she said that during the communist years she read to her children every night for two or three hours. she said the works of jr. r. tolki