St. John Vianney
Incorrupt Relic
(1786-1859)
Called the "Cure of Ars", St. John Vianney was the son of a poor farmer in Dardilly, France. He worked as a shepherd and didn't begin his education until he was 20 years old. While an ecclesiastical student he was called for military service, and became a "delinquent conscript" more or less because of illness, and hid to escape Napoleon's police.
He had difficulty learning Latin, and twice failed the examinations required before ordination. He was finally ordained at the age of 30, but was thought to be so incompetent he was placed under the direction of Fr. Balley, a holy priest in a neighboring village, for further training.
St. John lived an austere life, ate potatoes he boiled, and learned to keep suspended by a rope from the ceiling, so the rats wouldn't get to them. He allowed himself 2 hours of sleep each night and was frequently interrupted by the devil, who assaulted him with deafening noises, insulting conversation, and physical abuse. These diabolical visitations were occasionally witnessed with alarm by the men of the parish, but the pious Cure accepted the attacks as a matter of course and often joked about them.
St. John was given many spiritual gifts, such as the power of healing and the ability to read the hearts of his penitents. It was this latter gift which caused his fame to spread throughout France, and created large crowds seeking guidance from him.
The frail Cure began hearing confessions at 1 o'clock in the morning, and it has been reported that he spent from 13 to 17 hours a day in the cramped confessional.
St. John died peacefully on August 4, 1859. His body was exhumed because of his impending beatification, and was found dried and darkened, but perfectly entire.
St. John Vianney, who as a student had difficulties being accepted for the priesthood, was canonized in 1925 and was named later the Patron of Parish Priests throughout the world.
More information on St. John Vianney can be obtained from The Cure of Ars, by Fr. O'Brien, or The Incorruptibles, Joan Carroll Cruz.
No wonder we Catholics have to put up with so much nonsense! An "object of WORSHIP?[latria]" I don't think so. Maybe an object of veneration [doula].
The MainStream Media once again shows what incompetent dopes they are. Sheesh!
"All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man."
- St. John Vianney, Cure d'Ars
Worship vs. Veneration bump....
If I had known about this in advance enough, I would have been there...
Dear Cure of Ars,
Faithful worker for our Lord,
whose life was a shining example of one who lived for the Lord,
pray for us, and especially all priests,
now, and at the hour of our deaths, Amen.
Ditto's with the problem of people accusing Catholics of "praying to saints" and equating it with idolatry. As if the saints were mini-god's with god-like powers who could answer our prayers on their own!! Educated Catholics know what "praying to saints" really means, ie. we are asking for an intercessory prayer to God, not asking the saint themself to anwser our prayer.
However, many non-Catholics like to play semantic word games with "praying to saints" too, and then one needs to stop and try to explain reality to them.
This is why I cringe whenever I hear a Catholic say something like "I prayed to Mary for my child to be healed of their illness, and my child got better soon after", or something along those lines. I am always careful to say that I am asking a Saint for intercessory prayers for this reason - I say something like "Mary, pray for us", rather than saying that I am praying TO Mary. Catholics know the difference (at least the one's who have been properly educated in the Faith), but modern NON-Catholics do not (or pretend they do not!!).
I take adult "Catholic Classes" twice a month from a Traditional Priest from the Institute of Christ the King, Soverign Priest. When he made a comment in a recent class about how we should "pray to Saint Francis de Sales", I immediately interjected "you mean we should 'ask Saint Francis de Sales to pray for us', right?". And he gave me a quick "yes, of course" type of answer, as if to say "well, yeah, we should THAT already". My dealings with non-Catholics who accuse us of "praying to saints" even causes me to prompt a priest from one of the most Orthodox Catholic orders around to clarify himself on the point!!
If 'ole John made it to heaven, he's going to need that heart at the Rapture when our bodies are redeemed...
Let's get an address to this church on Long Island.
I was there today. BTTT