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Also known as
Cure of Ars; Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney; Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney;
Jean-Baptiste Vianney; John Baptist Vianney; John Vianney
Profile
Farm hand who in his youth taught other children their prayers and
catechism. Priest at age 30, though it took several years study as he was
not a very good student, and his Latin was terrible. Assigned to the
parish of Ars, a tiny village near Lyons, which suffered from very lax
attendance; he began visiting his parishioners, especially the sick and
poor. Spent days in prayer, doing penance for his parishioners. Gifted
with discernment of spirits, prophecy, hidden knowledge. Tormented by evil
spirits, especially when he tried to get his 2-3 hours of sleep each
night. Thousands came to hear him preach, and to make their reconciliation
because of his reputation with penitents. Spent 40 years as the parish
priest.
Born
1786 at Dardilly, Lyons, France
Died
4 August 1859
Canonized
1925
Name Meaning
God is gracious
Patronage
archdiocese of Dubuque Iowa, confessors, diocese of Kansas City Kansas,
priests
Readings
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.
Saint John Vianney
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If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number
of Christians would go to Heaven.
Saint John Vianney
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You either belong wholly to the world or wholly to God.
Saint John Vianney
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I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the Cross than in
serving the world and its pleasures.
Saint John Vianney
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You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are
utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their
actions.
Saint John Vianney
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We must always choose the most perfect. Two good works present themselves
to be done, one in favor of a person we love, the other in favor of a
person who has done us some harm. Well, we must give preference to the
latter.
Saint John Vianney
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We should consider those moments spent before the Blessed Sacrament as the
happiest of our lives.
Saint John Vianney
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My little children, reflect on these words: the Christian's treasure is
not on earth but in heaven. Our thoughts, then, ought to be directed to
where our treasure is. This is the glorious duty of man: to pray and to
love. If you pray and love, that is where a man's happiness lies.
Prayer is nothing else but union with God. In this intimate union, God and
the soul are fused together like two bits of wax that no one can ever pull
apart. This union of God with a tiny creature is a lovely thing. It is a
happiness beyond understanding.
My little children, your hearts, are small, but prayer stretches them and
makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of
heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves
us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all
things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before
the sun.
Some men immerse themselves as deeply in prayer as fish in water, because
they give themselves totally to God. O, how I love these noble souls!
How unlike them we are! How often we come to church with no idea of what
to do or what to ask for. And yet, whenever we go to any human being, we
know well enough why we go. And still worse, there are some who seem to
speak to the good God like this: "I will only say a couple of things to
you, and then I will be rid of you." I often think that when we come to
adore the Lord, we would receive everything we ask for, if we would ask
with living faith and with a pure heart.
from the catechetical instructions by Saint John Mary Vianny
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Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.
Saint John Vianney
source:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj18.htm |
