Saint John Vianney, Pray for Us!

This past week we observed the Feast of Saint John Vianney, known also as The Curé of Ars. Ars is the small village in southern France where he served as Pastor most of his priestly life. He is the Patron Saint of Parish Priests.
 
He was born in the French town of Ecully in 1786, and raised during “The Terror,” the years following the French Revolution, when the Catholic Faith was outlawed and all churches were closed. He studied his Catechism in the basement of the local Rectory, and made his First Communion in a neighbor’s kitchen, where Mass was celebrated secretly, with the windows covered, so that no one could see the candles on the makeshift altar. His education was further interrupted by the Terrors, leaving the young man with a minimal education, insufficient for his eventual admission to the seminary.
 
In 1802, Napoleon signed a Concordat with the Vatican, allowing the re-opening of the churches, Catholic schools and seminaries. Vianney then studied with his Pastor to catch up on lost time, and was eventually admitted to the seminary. However, he was twice dismissed because he couldn’t master Latin, a requirement that remained in priestly formation until the 1960’s. His Pastor was as patient as he was arduous, working with the young Saint, and finally saw him ordained a Priest in 1815. He was assigned to his home parish in Ecully for three years, after which he was given the small parish (230 people) in Ars. When assigning him, his Bishop told him, “There is not much love for God in that town; you will have to bring it to them.”
 
And he did. He immediately cleaned up the neglected church, taught Catechism himself, and encouraged people to return to the Sacraments, especially Sunday Mass and Confession. In a matter of a few years, the people were reawakened to the Faith and the parish was renewed. He became so well loved and admired that people came from all over France to attend Mass and go to Confession. He spent up to sixteen hours a day in the Confessional, stopping only to pray and to fix his supper, which generally consisted of boiled potatoes.
 
In his preaching and teaching, Vianney was specific about Christ. He knew that great teachers pass on teachings but that Christ passes on Himself. A loving, prayerful relationship with Christ has to be at the center of our faith, even if we’re not that well catechized, or find ourselves weak in keeping the church’s moral teachings. The universal call to holiness issued in the Second Vatican Council reminds us that we were all created for sainthood, especially in our own time of exaggerated secular influence. As one priest said to me recently, “Saints do not surrender to dissolute moral pathology.” In order to hold our own in a rampantly pathological era, we must stay close to the Sacraments.
 
The Curé once said that “Saints are like so many mirrors in which Christ contemplates Himself.” Imagine living a life in which Christ can see Himself! Perfection is not required to begin such a life, but desire for holiness is, as well as the urge to begin, or start anew, an approach to Our Lord. Later receiving an Apparition of the Blessed Mother, she said to him, “What do you ask?” His answer was, “Ah, most loving Mother, I ask for the conversion of sinners, the consolation of the afflicted, and the relief of the sick.” Nothing for himself… he was praying for us. 

Saint John Vianney died in 1859. He was beatified in 1905 and canonized a saint in 1925. In 2009, the 150th anniversary of his death, Pope Benedict declared a “Year for Priests” whose intention was renewal of the priesthood, so rocked by scandal in recent years. Then, ten years later, his incorrupt heart was sent on an around-the-world pilgrimage for veneration by priests as well as the laity. His relic was brought to Vermont that year, and I was able to make a “pilgrimage” to venerate his heart. While my priesthood seems rather ordinary in comparison to that of this great Saint, visiting and viewing his heart was a source of great peace and renewal.