Today August 4

In this great month of saints, we now celebrate one of the greatest: St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars (1786 - 1859). He was a great and interesting man. He met St. Benedict Joseph Labre when the latter made a pilgrimage out near the Vianney's home and stayed with them -- St. John was just a child.

He was drafted into Napoleon's Army; he was labeled a deserter when he didn't fight. I've heard that it was a mistake, and I've heard he got lost on the way to the battle. I never heard that he was a conscientious objector, but who knows?

He struggled with his studies, especially Latin. He almost didn't make it through seminary. But the patient and tolerant tutoring by Abbe Balley and Vianney's obvious piety and devotion got him accepted.

He was assigned to what we would call "the sticks" -- the parish of Ars. He "bloomed where he was planted," staying forever in his little town, which after the Revolution had become almost "godless" -- Angelus Book of Saints. Many of France's priests were burnt out, fallen away, or merely going through the motions. John Vianney was not: he was the real thing, a true believer, one who didn't spare himself. He heard confessions from 1:00 am til 7:00 am, when he then said Mass (Day off? What day off? And wow -- even on Saturdays. Can you believe it?), then heard some more after his thanksgiving until 11:00 am when he taught catechism and had lunch, then yet some more after his visitations to the old and sick, until night prayers, which he said til about 10:00 pm -- leaving only about 3 hours for sleep! But he singlehandedly whipped that parish into shape: he counseled sinners, even effecting conversions of the most hardened; he read souls and even predicted futures -- correctly every time; he eliminated drunkenness, servile work on Sunday and even dancing from his parish. I admit to being a little hard on the old Cure of Ars when I heard about that, until I learned that these dancing parties often involved sleepovers which led to sexual immorality.

He died in the saddle, so to speak, on this date in 1859. Huge numbers of people flocked to him. He longed to quit and join a monastery, but it never was to be.