St. John Vianney

St. John Vianney - Patron of Parish Priests - August 9th

John Mary Vianney was born in France. He grew to be a little shepherd of his father’s sheep, a devout boy who loved to pray, but also loved to play horseshoes. When he was eighteen, he told his father he wanted to become a priest, yet it took him two years to obtain his father’s permission, because they were poor and there was much work to be done on the farm. Then the next problem John met was Latin. He just could not seem to learn it! He became so discouraged that he decided to walk sixty miles to the shrine of St. John Francis Regis to beg God’s help. After that, although he had as much trouble as ever with his studies he never again grew discouraged.

John’s next big problem came when through some mistakes, he was drafted into the army! But about a year later he was finally able to enter the seminary. There again, he had a very hard time. He kept working humbly, yet he never did well in his studies. And when the final examination came, he was so upset that he broke down in the middle of it. Yet, because John Mary was a saint and full of common sense, he knew the right answer when he was asked what should be done in this case or that. From Latin books he could not learn, but he was ordained, anyway, because he was a model of goodness.

In his parish of Ars, a little, out-of-the-way village, Father Vianney fasted and did hard penance for his people. He did all he could to make them stop sinning by their drinking and dancing, to come to church and not work on Sunday, and to stop swearing. Pretty soon, the taverns had to close down because they had no business and people began living much better lives. “Our priest is a saint,” they said, “and we must obey him.”

God gave this Saint the power to see into people’s souls and to know the future. Because of this gift, he converted many sinners and helped people to make the right decisions. He became so famous that about three hundred souls came to Ars every day to go to confession to him. Although he would have liked to live in peace in a monastery, St. John Vianney stayed in Ars until he died, and even heard confessions as he lay dying.

We are to seek God’s aid when we find things hard. God never refuses to hear our prayers. He always grants our wishes if they are for our best; otherwise He gives us what is better for us.