Saint John Vianney, pray for us!

Today is the Feast Day of Saint John Vianney, patron of parish priests. He was known as the "Cure of Ars." He studied for the priesthood at the age of twenty, but was drafted into the army while he was studying. He left the army and went to the Lyons seminary in France in 1813. Primarily because of his notable holiness he was ordained a priest in 1815, but he lacked in his knowledge of religious studies. Three years later he was made parish priest of Ars, a remote French hamlet, where his reputation as a confessor and director of souls made him known throughout the world.

At his parish in Ars, he used the confessional as a primary means of converting souls, spending 16 to 18 hours a day, hearing confessions and absolving sinners all year around including in the very, hot summers without air conditioning and in the cold winters with insufficient heat. He fasted constantly, eating small morsels of rotten potatoes for his sustenance. Ten of thousands of souls were converted to Christ through his heroic efforts. Because he was converting so many souls, the demons were constantly attacking him, and on one occasion they set his bed on fire. He received spiritual gifts from God, including the discernment of souls and visions. This great mystic had the gift of tremendous patience. He was called a wonderworker who was loved by the crowds, but he retained a childlike simplicity, He remains to this day the living image of the priest after the heart of Christ.

Saint John Vianney had a great devotion to Saint Philomena. He regarded her as his guardian and erected a chapel and shrine in honor of the saint. In May 1843, he fell so ill he thought that his life was coming to its end. He asked Saint Philomena to cure him and promised to say 100 Masses at her shrine. Twelve days later, he was cured and he attributed his cure to her. He promoted devotion to Saint Philomena, a saint who was martyred for Jesus at the age of thirteen by the Roman government. His life was filled with works of charity and love. It is recorded that even the staunchest of sinners were converted at his mere word. He died August 4, 1859, and was canonized May 31, 1925.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER: Let us ask Saint John Vianney to give us the grace to go to confession often during our life on this earth so that our love for Jesus will be very pure.

"My little children, your hearts, are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun." Saint John Vianney

"We should consider those moments spent before the Blessed Sacrament as the happiest of our lives." Saint John Vianney