For the Feast of St. John Vianney

Holy Mother Church celebrates the feast of St. John Mary Vianney on August 8.  Also known as the Cure D'Ars, St. John Vianney is the patron Saint of parish priests.  Born in France in 1786, St. John was ordained to the priesthood on August 13, 1815 and sent to the little town of Ars to be the pastor to the people there, most who lacked the true Faith.  

He provided his parishioners with an example of a true love of God, the Faith, and zeal for souls.  St. John Vianney offered many penances for his parishioners, and he spent long hours in prayer before our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  The Saint told his parishioners, “One need not say much to pray well...  We know that Jesus is there in the Tabernacle. Let us open our hearts to Him, let us rejoice in His sacred presence. That is the best prayer.”

St. John became known as "a great hospital of souls," spending up to 16 hours a day in the confessional, hearing the confessions of people from all over Europe.  God granted the Cure D'Ars the ability to read souls, which allowed him to bring many stubborn hearts back to the Faith.  He also had a great devotion to St. Philomena, whose feast day is August 11, and many miracles worked through him were at the same time through her intercession.

With the good being accomplished through him, St. John Vianney was at times tormented by the devil.  Once, while the Saint was praying his Office at the end of a long day, the devil kept extinguishing his candle, thus making it too dark to read the prayers.  Finally St. John, relighting the candle again, handed it to the devil, making him hold it for him until he finished. 

Act of Love of the Holy Cure D'Ars 

I love Thee, O my God. 

My only desire is to love Thee, 

until the last breath of my life. 

I love Thee, O infinitely loveable God, 

and I prefer to die loving Thee, 

rather than to live for an instant without Thee. 

I love Thee, O my God, 

and I desire only to go to Heaven, 

to have the happiness of loving Thee perfectly. 

I love Thee, O my God, 

and my only fear is to go to Hell, 

because one will never have the sweet 

solace of loving Thee there. 

O my God, if my tongue cannot say

at all times that I love Thee, 

at least I want my heart to repeat it to Thee! 

as many times as I breathe. Ah! Do me the grace 

to suffer while loving Thee, 

to love Thee while suffering, 

and, that when I die: 

I not only will love Thee, 

but experience it in my heart. 

I beg Thee that: the closer I come to my final end, 

Thou wilt increase and perfect my love for Thee.   Amen.

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Just as God worked much good through the life of St. John Vianney, likewise He continues to work through our own priests.  May we daily remember to pray for our priests and the priests throughout the world, thanking God for them and begging His graces to be bestowed abundantly upon them.

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A Prayer for Priests 

O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep Thy priests within the shelter of Thy Sacred Heart, where none may touch them. Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Thy Sacred Body. Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with Thy Precious Blood. Keep pure and unworldly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood. Let Thy Holy Love surround them from the world's contagion. Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here and their everlasting crown hereafter. Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us: obtain for us numerous and holy priests. Amen.

God bless!

+JMJ+