Patron of priests, known as the “Curé of Ars”. Saint John Mary Vianney, born during the days of the French Revolution, was ordained a priest in 1815. 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 Christian world. His life was one of extreme mortification.
Accustomed to the most severe austerities, beleaguered by swarms of penitents, and besieged by the devil, this great mystic manifested a imperturbable patience. He was a wonderworker loved by the crowds, but he retained a childlike simplicity, and he remains to this day the living image of the priest after the heart of Christ.
He heard confessions of people from all over the world for the sixteen hours each day. 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.
ST. JOHN MARY VIANNEY PRAY FOR US
AND HAPPY FEAST DAY TO YOU ALL!!
My prayer for you today.
Dear Saint John Vianney, your childhood dream was to be a Priest, to win souls for God.
You endured years of toil and humiliation to attain the Priesthood.
You became a priest truly after God’s own heart, outstanding in humulity and poverty; prayer and mortification.
Totally devoted to the service of God’s people.The Church has exalted you as model and patron saint of all Parish priests, trusting that your example and prayers will help them to live up to the high dignity of their vocation to be faithful servants of God’s people, to be perfect imitators of Christ the Saviour Who came not to be served but to serve, to give His Life in ransom for many.
I Pray that God may give to His Church today many more priests after His own Heart.
I Pray for all the priests under your patronage, that they may be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd.May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance; be examples of humility and poverty; shining modelss of holiness; tireless and powerful preachers of the Word of God; zealous dispensers of God’s Grace in the Sacraments.
May their loving devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist and to Mary His Mother be the Twin Fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry. Amen.
