LAKE JAMES
NORTH CAROLINA
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LAKE JAMES NORTH CAROLINA
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The Curé d’Ars As part of the aftermath of the
18th century French Revolution, a hostile environment prevailed in
terms of the Christian Faith. Born in 1786 of a devoutly religious farming
family near Lyons, Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney spent his earliest years with
only a smattering of religious instruction, but seems to have put whatever he
had learned to good use. As an eight-year old, when sent into the fields to tend
the sheep, he would gather other children of his age and lead them in prayer. As
a teenager, he expressed a great desire to become a priest, but had considerable
difficulty with academics (his parish priest, although a friend and believer in
the He worked tirelessly to improve the religious attitude of his parishioners and eventually reformed the entire town. His reputation as a holy and wise Confessor spread to the point where, during his last twenty years at Ars, thousands of people ranging from royalty and prelates came from all over Europe and the Americas to him for confession and spiritual direction. Apart from time for eating and sleeping, he was either at the Altar, in the pulpit, or hearing confessions. Worn out by his intense ministry, he died on August 4, 1859 at the age of seventy-three. He is considered to be the Patron Saint of parish priests and a model of total dedication to Christ for all in ordained ministry.
Collect for the Feast of St. Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney Almighty and merciful God, who wonderfully endued Saint Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney with pastoral zeal and a continual desire for prayer and repentance: grant, we pray, that by his example and intercession, we may bring others to Christ and, together with them, attain everlasting life. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, now and for ever. --------- To learn more about the Curé D'Ars from Wikipedia.org, click here.
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This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:40 PM |
young
man’s vocation of Holy Orders, nonetheless described him as being “slow of
mind”). Try as he might, Jean-Baptiste seemed to be incapable of learning Latin
and other necessary subjects. After a number of unsuccessful attempts to pass
the required examinations, he was able to finish his studies and, at the age of
29, was finally ordained to the priesthood. For three years, he served as
assistant to his own parish priest where his work could be evaluated. Believing
that he could do small harm if he was sent to a small, backwater village where
the Church had little influence with the people, he was assigned to be the
Parish Priest of Ars.