Tomorrow is the Feast of The famous St. Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney patron of parish priests and confessors.
His humble beginnings did not dictate the heights he would reach towards sainthood. From the very beginning, he struggled with learning and when he decided to be a priest he had to be taught the catechism in secret. Back in the 1800s, France was going through the revolution and priests were forbidden to worship. His seminary education was challenging because he had trouble learning Latin and had to be tutored. With much effort, years later, he was ordained as a priest on August 13, 1815.
In February of 1818, he was appointed to Ars, a small town drowned in drunkenness and sin. He was told that since there was little religion or love there, it would be his job to bring the light of Christ to them. Through prayer, Eucharistic adoration, praying to the Blessed Mother and doing great penances, he was able to attract hard hearted sinners to repentance. He worked tirelessly and sometimes heard confessions for 16 to 18 hours a day. People came from all over to have confessions with him and sometimes had to wait hours or even days to see him.
The small village of Ars began attracting huge crowds of visitors each day. His exceptional holiness and numerous miracles irresistibly attracted men and women of all ages and walks of life in search of the truth. He was able to live in extreme austerity and made his village a fervent and exemplary community. Long before his death in 1859 he was the most famous priest in France. He is now a model for all those who have to work hard in trying to study or work for what they want.
To prepare for his feast, we are baking several loaves of bread for our parish priests along with a thank you note for their loving ministry and their fatherly love for our families.
At home we are preparing a liturgical tea celebration. For the little ones I made ready these wonderful vintage cutouts on the vestments of priests. You may download free the file HERE.
Let us offer an hour of adoration and a Rosary for our beloved parish priests. We are their family and they need abundant graces of faith love and perseverance. Pray for their ministry to be bountiful and for their souls so they can be one day saints by doing God's will perfectly.
St. Curé of Ars, pray for us and for our beloved parish priests!
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