St. Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney
Curé of Ars, born at Dardilly, near Lyons, France,
on 8 May, 1786; died at Ars, 4 August, 1859; son of Matthieu Vianney
and Marie Beluze.
In 1806, the curé at Ecully, M. Balley, opened
a school for ecclesiastical students, and Jean-Marie was sent to him.
Though he was of average intelligence and his masters never seem to
have doubted his vocation, his knowledge was extremely limited, being
confined to a little arithmetic, history, and geography, and he found
learning, especially the study of Latin, excessively difficult. One
of his fellow-students, Matthias Loras, afterwards first Bishop of
Dubuque, assisted him with his Latin lessons.
But now another obstacle presented itself. Young Vianney
was drawn in the conscription, the war with Spain and the urgent need
of recruits having caused Napoleon to withdraw the exemption enjoyed
by the ecclesiastical students in the diocese of his uncle, Cardinal
Fesch. Matthieu Vianney tried unsuccessfully to procure a substitute,
so his son was obliged to go. His regiment soon received marching
orders. The morning of departure, Jean-Baptiste went to church to
pray, and on his return to the barracks found that his comrades had
already left. He was threatened with arrest, but the recruiting captainbelieved
his story and sent him after the troops. At nightfall he met a young
man who volunteered to guide him to his fellow-soldiers, but led him
to Noes, where somedeserters had gathered. The mayor persuaded him
to remain there, under an assumed name, as schoolmaster. After fourteen
months, he was able to communicate with his family. His father was
vexed to know that he was a deserter and ordered him to surrender
but the matter was settled by his younger brother offering to serve
in his stead and being accepted.
Jean-Baptiste now resumed his studies at Ecully. In
1812, he was sent to the seminary at Verrieres; he was so deficient
in Latin as to be obliged to follow the philosophy course in French.
He failed to pass the examinations for entrance to the seminary proper,
but on re-examination three months later succeeded. On 13 August,
1815, he was ordained priest by Mgr. Simon, Bishop of Grenoble. His
difficulties in making the preparatory studies seem to have been due
to a lack of mental suppleness in dealing with theory as distinct
from practice -- a lack accounted for by the meagreness of his early
schooling, the advanced age at which he began to study, the fact that
he was not of more than averageintelligence, and that he was far advanced
in spiritual science and in the practice of virtue long before he
came to study it in the abstract. He was sent to Ecully as assistant
to M. Balley, who had first recognized and encouraged his vocation,
who urged him to persevere when the obstacles in his way seemed insurmountable,
who interceded with the examiners when he failed to pass for the higher
seminary, and who was his model as well as his preceptor and patron.
In 1818, after the death of M. Balley, M. Vianney was made parish
priest of Ars, a village not very far from Lyons. It was in the exercise
of the functions of the parish priest in this remote French hamlet
that as the "curé d'Ars" he became known throughout
France and the Christian world. A few years after he went to Ars,
he founded a sort of orphanage for destitute girls. It was called
"The Providence" and was the model of similar institutions
established later all over France. M. Vianney himself instructed the
children of "The Providence" in the catechism, and these
catechetical instructions came to be so popular that at last they
were given every day in the church to large crowds. "The Providence"
was the favourite work of the "curé d'Ars", but,
although it was successful, it was closed in 1847, because the holy
curé thought that he was not justified in maintaining it in
the face of the opposition of many good people. Its closing was a
very heavy trial to him.
But the chief labour of the Curé d'Ars was the
direction of souls. He had not been long at Ars when people began
coming to him from other parishes, then from distant places, then
from all parts of France, and finally from other countries. As early
as 1835, his bishop forbade him to attend the annual retreats of the
diocesan clergy because of "the souls awaiting him yonder".
During the last ten years of his life, he spent from sixteen to eighteen
hours a day in the confessional. His advice was sought by bishops,
priests, religious, young men and women in doubt as to their vocation,
sinners, persons in all sorts of difficulties and the sick. In 1855,
the number of pilgrims had reached twenty thousand a year. The most
distinguished persons visited Ars for the purpose of seeing the holy
curé and hearing his daily instruction. The Venerable Father
Colin was ordained deacon at the same time, and was his life-long
friend, while Mother Marie de la Providence founded the Helpers of
the Holy Souls on his advice and with his constant encouragement.
His direction was characterized by common sense, remarkable insight,
and supernatural knowledge. He would sometimes divine sins withheld
in an imperfect confession. His instructions were simple in language,
full of imagery drawn from daily life and country scenes, but breathing
faith and that love of God which was his life principle and which
he infused into his audience as much by his manner and appearance
as by his words, for, at the last, his voice was almost inaudible.
The miracles recorded by his biographers are of three
classes:
* first, the obtaining of money for his charities and
food for his orphans;
* secondly, supernatural knowledge of the past and future;
* thirdly, healing the sick, especially children.
The greatest miracle of all was his life. He practised
mortification from his early youth. and for forty years his food and
sleep were insufficient, humanly speaking, to sustain life. And yet
he laboured incessantly, with unfailing humility, gentleness, patience,
and cheerfulness, until he was more than seventy-three years old.
On 3 October, 1874 Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney was proclaimed
Venerable by Pius IX and on 8 January, 1905, he was enrolled among
the Blessed. Pope Pius X proposed him as a model to the parochial
clergy.
[Note: In 1925, Pope Pius XI canonized him. His feast
is kept on 4 August.]
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia @http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08326c.htm
