Artist unknown.
In 1818, St Jean Vianney became the parish priest in Ars, France, shortly after the French Revolution had attempted to destroy the Catholic faith. And indeed the Revolution had devastated the Church with grievous injury and attack.
The Curé de Ars found himself father to a flock that had largely grown to disdain and ridicule religion and spiritual discipline. His persistent fatherly love—often in the form of homilies that bluntly called out this diluted faith—eventually restored his congregation's sense of dignity and reverence. He became beloved for his simple, loving wisdom.
In his last ten years, he spent 16 to 18 hours daily in the confessional. I mean. Y’all.
This statue of the Curé de Ars is inside the Saint-Pierre Cathedral in Lisieux. The connection: St Thérèse committed herself especially to pray for parish priests, of which St Jean Vianney is the patron.
Fr Vianney said so many powerful things, but here are a few:
On why Sunday Mass is a necessity in addition to private prayer: 'Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there: If you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that.'
On embracing the cross: 'On the Way of the Cross, you see, my children, only the first step is painful. Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses. We have not the courage to carry our cross, and we are very much mistaken; for, whatever we do, the cross holds us tight—we cannot escape from it. What, then, have we to lose? Why not love our crosses, and make use of them to take us to heaven?'
On Confession: 'When you go to Confession, you un-nail our Lord.'
On our response to the good Father: Oh, how senseless we are! The good God calls us to Himself, and we fly from Him. He wishes to make us happy, and we will not have His happiness. He commands us to love Him, and we give our hearts to the devil. We employ in ruining ourselves the time He gives us to save our souls. We make war upon Him with the means He gave us to serve Him.
St Jean Vianney lived 1786 to1859. You can pray at his tomb and venerate his incorrupt body at the Le Sanctuaire de Ars. The reliquary of his incorrupt heart sometimes tours the world for veneration and prayer. He is the patron of parish priests, so pray for them on his feast, August 4.
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