The Cure of Ars
Patron Saint of
Parish Priest 1786-1859
By Father Bartholomew O'Brien
135 page book (4.25" x 7"), $4
At the time of his death in 1859, over 100,000 people a year visited
the little village of Ars, northwest of Lyons, France, and its beloved Cure, St. John
Vianney – known everywhere as "the Cure of Ars." Today over 500,000 people visit this simple
farming town in the middle of France, where they come to see the incorrupt body of one of the
greatest saints in the history of the Church, and to visit in prayerful meditation the
simple parish church where the holy Cure converted thousands and reconciled to Jesus Christ
and His Church tens of thousands of souls.
Yet this is a most improbable story, for here is the story of a saint who,
with only two years' formal education before entering upon his priestly studies, had the greatest
difficulty passing his examinations and becoming a priest. And even when he did, he was given one
of the poorest, most remote and most run-down parishes in all of France. But within a few short
years, he had reformed his parish and his town, and in the process established such a reputation
that the world began to seek him out and finally to beat a path to his door. The Devil himself
once revealed to St. John Vianney that if there were three such men as he alive at one time, his
kingdom (the Devil's) would be destroyed. Just four years after his canonization in 1925, Pope
Pius XI named him "Patron Saint of Parish Priests."
Here is his story – the story of a saint who turned seemingly impossible
adversity into spiritual triumph and in the most humble parish imaginable became the model and
patron of parish priests everywhere. Here is the story of a saint whose warmth and love and
spiritual penetration go right to the heart of the Christian message and bring it home, even to
modern readers, with a force and a power that is unique among the saints – a force and power made
possible only by the very greatest sanctity. Here is the inspiring story of how that sanctity was
forged in the soul of the Cure of Ars – "Patron Saint of Parish Priest."
Published by TAN Books and Publishers
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