St. John Vianney (1786–1859,) fully Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, also called Curé d’Ars (“the parish priest of Ars,”) was a French priest who was renowned as a confessor and for his supernatural powers. He is venerated as the patron saint of parish priests.
Born in Dardilly, Vianney received little education because of the French Revolution. He began studies for the priesthood in 1806. Drafted into Napoleon’s armies in 1809, he was separated from his draft cohort and ended up in a rural village with several army deserters, where he hid until 1810.
Vianney was ordained in 1815. He became the priest of the small village of Ars-en-Dombes in 1818 and made it a model parish. Reports of his holiness, his ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his supernatural powers soon spread. By 1827, Ars had become a pilgrimage site, and thousands of devotees visited Ars every year to seek Vianney’s blessings and make their confession to him.
Pope Pius XI canonized Vianney in 1925. His feast day is 4-August.
George W. Rutler’s The Cure D’Ars Today: St John Vianney (1988) is a popular biography.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by John Vianney
All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone—for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good.
—John Vianney
If something uncharitable is said in your presence, either speak in favor of the absent, or withdraw, or, if possible, stop the conversation.
—John Vianney
Topics: Kindness
The virtue of obedience makes the will supple… it inspires the courage with which to fulfill the most difficult tasks.
—John Vianney
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