How fitting that our dear pope, Benedict XVI, declares 2009-2010 the Year of the Priests and entrusts the priests of the world to the patronage of St. Jean Marie Vianney and exhorts all priests to follow the simple Cure of Ars' life.
The Saint's simplicity and dedication to his vocation is a matter not be emulated not only by priests, diocesan or religious, but by the laity as well for St. John Mary Vianney showed how to live according to one's state in life.
I once visited a blog laudemgloriae.blogspot.com, by Christine, who went on a pilgrimage to Ars. Among the beautiful photos that she took from her trip and pilgrimage are rare photos of the museum of the saint where St. John's items are displayed. His cassock and other personal items are so simple and meager while the vestments he used to celebrate Mass were splendidly trimmed with gold threads! It proves that when it comes to the Lord, St. John offers everything. How ironic that those who call for simplicity in the Liturgy are the ones who live extravagantly.
Here are the photos
The saint's personal effects
St. Jean Marie Vianney knows excellent liturgical fashion!
You can see more of her pilgrimage by clicking here. Please do visit Christine's blog. Kudos Christine!
I now share to you this beautiful prayer attributed to the great saint.
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath.
The saint's incorrupt body awaiting the resurrection, lying above the main altar of the basilica dedicated in his honor.
Yes, St. John Vianney is certainly one of those saints we can all wish to be even though most of us will almost certainly never reach his level of spirituality. There's an excellent book I recommend full heartedly to anyone: The Cure of Ars by Abbe Trochu. It is seriously a work of art and you read about his mortifications (the known potato a day) but also about him actually slashing himself for penance... and fainting because of loss of blood... of him getting resources where there almost wan't any hope... of his extreme sacrafices... of his trouble yet peace in the seminary. His is a life which I believe everyone should know better than just a casual read in a lives of the saints or some passing remark. Thank you very much to the Pinoy Catholic blogger! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful comment Gregory.
ReplyDeleteThe Catholic blogosphere is the new frontier for Catholics who love the Faith and are loyal to the Pope.
Keeping you always in my prayers. God bless you.
Gregory, thank you for the book recommendation. I plan to pick up this book either from the local Catholic bookstore or Amazon.
ReplyDeleteA few more interesting points of St. John Vianney's life:
- From the generosity of his parishioners, he was able to build a glorious memorial to our Lord. His bishop became jealous and ordered him to tear the memorial down. St. John Vianney did so immediately, and an angel appeared to him and said that because of his obedience he had dealt a serious defeat to the devil that day
- The devil told St. John Vianney that if there were just 3 more saints like him in this world, the devil's reign would end
If only our parish priests would know and love their patron St. John Vianney who longs to draw close to them!
Is this the crucifix Connie? Lovely story! I once talked to a friend priest who is secretly a traditional priest, who in secrecy celebrates the TLM, once said to me "If priests would just stick to their job description..." He said a lot but those struck me like a bullet. Even in a simple office, everybody is expected to do their job description first. A lot of priests focus their energies of social action, Catholic citizenship, etc. Nothing wrong with that but they devote much of their time that is not expected of the ordained. May the prayers of St. John Marie Vianney help in the renewal all priests in the world.
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