Today is the Feast of St. John Vianney, the Cure’Dars.
One of my favorite stories of the saint is this one:
To a mother of a large family, who was expecting another child, he said with fatherly kindness and consideration: “Be comforted, my child. If you only knew the women who will go to Hell because they did not bring into the world the children they should have given to it.”
Many non-Catholics, and perhaps even today’s uncatechized modern Catholic might be offended by the saints words. But I think I know what he meant. By being a mother, or a married woman who is open to conceiving new life, you sort of turn your back on a certain way of life. Being open to life makes you less selfish, more focused on the needs of someone else besides yourself, and for a Catholic, it gives you a unique opportunity to be close to God the creator as you shar in that creation. It’s really a beautiful thought!
More on the life of this wonderful saint!
Feastday: August 4
St. John Vianney, Priest (Patron of priests) Feast day – August 4 Universally known as the “Cure of Ars),” St. John Mary Vianney was ordained a priest in 1815. Three years later he was made parish priest of Ars, a remote French hamlet, where his reputation as a confessor and director of souls made him known throughout the Christian world. His life was one of extreme mortification.
Accustomed to the most severe austerities, beleaguered by swarms of penitents, and besieged by the devil, this great mystic manifested a imperturbable patience. He was a wonderworker loved by the crowds, but he retained a childlike simplicity, and he remains to this day the living image of the priest after the heart of Christ.
He heard confessions of people from all over the world for the sixteen hours each day. His life was filled with works of charity and love. It is recorded that even the staunchest of sinners were converted at his mere word. He died August 4, 1859, and was canonized May 31, 1925.
*************http://www.catholictradition.org/priests2.htm
From the Wisdom of Saint John-Marie Vianney:
“Contradictions bring us to the Foot of the Cross, and the Cross brings us to the Gates of Heaven . . .”
The Cur� d’Ars on the Priesthood:
“O how great is a priest! The priest will not understand the greatness of his office until he is in Heaven . . . Go to confession to the Blessed Virgin, or to an Angel. Will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of Our Lord? No.
If I were to meet a priest and an Angel, I should salute the priest before I saluted the Angel. The latter is the friend of God; but the priest holds His place. St. Teresa kissed the ground where a priest had passed. When you see a priest, you should say, “There is he who made me a child of God, and opened Heaven to me by holy Baptism; he who purified me after I had sinned; who gives nourishment to my soul. ” At the sight of a church tower, you may say, “What is there in that place?” “The Body of Our Lord. ” “Why is He there?” “Because a priest has been there, and has said holy Mass. ”
The priest has the key to of the Heavenly treasures; it is he who opens the door; he is the steward of the good God, the distributor of his wealth . . . the priest is not a priest for himself, he does not give himself absolution, he does not administer the Sacraments to himself . . . he is for you. After God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish 20 years without priests; they will worship beasts. When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest, because when there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice, and where there is no longer any sacrifice, there is no religion.”
Two words of wisdom from the Saint:
“We must never lose sight of the fact that we are either saints or outcasts, that we must live for Heaven or for Hell; there is no middle path in this. You either belong wholly to the world or wholly to God.
If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number of Christians would go to Heaven.”
Related Tags: St. John Vianney, Feast Day, Catholic, motherhood