The first loves of Saint John Mary Vianney (1786-1859), known to all as “The Curé of Ars”, were the Blessed Sacrament and the Madonna, whom he loved beyond recognition. to him. It’s my first love.” His ministry belongs to Jesus and Mary, from them comes the strength to face countless difficulties and problems before he was made a pastor, from them comes the love that led him as a parent to the souls in the small church of Ars, until he had to become a priest in 1929 love of the heart of Jesus,” said the saint. He was very humble, but he knew the importance of the priesthood, which cannot be separated from Christ the High Priest. “The good shepherd, a shepherd after God’s heart is the greatest treasure that the good God can give to a parish and one of the most precious gifts of God’s love.”
The fourth of six children, he was born to two farmers in the French village of Dardilly.. He was taught the Christian faith by his mother, who took him to Mass with her during the difficult years of the Revolution. It was the era of the division among the so-called priests the jurywho bowed to the Jacobin opinion, and the priests debatekeep the Church faithful to the reason of the persecution, the first to be destroyed by the rebels. Therefore priests are often forced to celebrate the liturgy in barns and other places of work. In this way Giovanni, who was thirteen years old, who had grown firmly in the faith, received his First Communion at the widow’s home. As a child, he showed his desire for God, teaching the basics of the catechism to his younger brother while taking care of the family and gathering to pray with other shepherd children. .
First the father’s economic problems, then the big problems in learning Latin and others They delayed his path to the coveted priesthood. But Providence did not abandon him and took advantage of a good priest, Don Carlo Balley (1751-1817), who died famous for his sanctity, which was immediately struck by the devotion of John. Don Balley was like a second father to her. He helped his spiritual son with his studies, prayed and repented with him (they both wore ugly clothes and were more violent). On August 13, 1815 the long-awaited day arrived: Giovanni became a priest. The two years of ministry were spent at the side of Don Balley, while his parish priest in Écully. That’s what gave him the last jobs.
Then the priest of Ars was given to the saint, a village of only 230 souls with a few pubs and a dance hall around, which defiled the customs of the people. It was February 9, 1818 when he left for Ars, about thirty kilometers away. He asked a shepherd boy to point out a thick fog. He praised him thus: “You showed me the way to Ars, I will teach you the way to Paradise”. When he reached his destination, he knelt down to pray. He continued his prayer in the church, calling upon the guardian angel of the church. When he saw the reign of religious ignorance, he began to devote himself to the Christian education of children. It is always fun and at the same time energetic in sending the teachings of the catechism. Decades later, his successors in Ars would testify with gratitude that their elders knew the truths of the faith very well.
His work of correction is necessary among parents – with the uncomfortable but we must fight against vices, which is always in the life of souls as its goal – meet again against. Some of them tried to get him out of the church, but they were to no avail. He was comforted by celebrating the thanksgiving feast, giving his clothes and fresh bread to the beggars. But in the midst of the failures and pains inflicted by the devil, “the good God gave me wonderful graces”. Many of the faithful experienced spiritual renewal, led by that same priest who led them to love the Lord with tears. Ars became a tourist attraction during his earthly life.
The endless lines of penitents forced him to spend up to 16 hours a day preaching.. “I cry because you don’t cry,” he said if he didn’t feel remorse in his heart. Instead, he encouraged sinners who were saddened by their weakness to hope, reassuring them of God’s infinite goodness. The way he reconciles, identifying himself with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, is the most powerful way of conversion, capable of moving the most contented. “All the good works put together are not like the sacrifice of the Mass, because they are the works of people, and the Holy Mass is the work of God,” he taught. And he said that the sanctity of the priest depends very much on the strength to celebrate the Eucharistic mystery.
see more:
Letter from Benedict XVI for the proclamation of the year for priests on the 150th anniversary of the death of Saint John Mary Vianney (2009)