Year for Priests (2)

(With material taken from the New Advent and Catholic Online websites)

Today, 4 August is the feast of St. John Mary Vianney, patron saint of parish priests.

His background story is an incredible one, arguably one made for Hollywood! He was a young man who had more than his share of problems. For while he was acknowledged as an average student and had been found to have a genuine vocation toward priesthood, nevertheless he found learning exceptionally difficult, things maybe some of us and our young people in school can identify with.

Being a Frenchman, and with France at war with Spain at the time, Vianney was conscripted to the front lines only to find that his fellow soldier friends had left him behind while he had gone to pray in the chapel! He was now a "deserter" from the army.

Somehow, with the help of the mayor and family, he survived by teaching at a remote village under an assumed name. His younger brother then substituted for him in the army, leaving Vianney free to continue his studies and enter seminary. But true to form, his woes did not end there. He found it increasingly difficult to follow the studies, he flunked his seminary entrance exams, had to re-sit and finally succeeded some time later.

After more ups and downs than a roller coaster, he finally became parish priest at Ars, a remote hamlet. It was here that he began to get known as the "cure d'ars" throughout France and then the Christian world. His "fame" spread. He founded an orphanage for destitute girls which became the model for other similar institutions in France and began teaching Catechism. His classes soon became very popular with the population although later he had to close them down due to severe opposition from some of the people.

His most important contribution though, was the "direction of souls" - people began coming to him from all over France and abroad. During the last 10 years of his life he was spending 16-18 hours a day in the confessional. He was sought out for advice by people from all walks of life - bishops, priests, young men and women, sinners, sick persons, and etc. It is said that his direction was characterized by common sense, remarkable insight and supernatural knowledge. His instructions were known to be simple in language, full of imagery drawn from daily life.

Biographers have attributed 3 miracles to him:

• obtaining funds for his charities and food for his orphans;
• supernatural knowledge of the past and future; and
• healing the sick, especially children.
  

But perhaps, the greatest miracle of all was his life. He practised mortification, and had insufficient food and sleep for 40 years even to sustain himself. And yet, he laboured without ceasing, with humility, gentleness, patience and cheerfulness until he was 73 and more.

On 3 October 1874, Pope Pius IX proclaimed him Venerable and on 8 June 1905 he was enrolled "Blessed". Later, Pope Pius X proposed him as model for the secular clergy. In 1925, Pope Pius XI canonised him. His feast day is today, 4th August.

Fast forwarding and looking at the tremendous challenges that parish priests face today, maybe now I can understand the significance of John Mary Vianney as patron. It's interesting also to note that Pope Benedict XVI has declared Vianney himself as the model for the "Year for Priests". The pope has also called for the relevance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which in recent times has fallen out of favour with many of us. Yet, it is the one thing more than anything else that brought the people of Ars back to God - Confessions.

Many of us have probably expressed concern at one time or another about the state of the world today, where there seems to be no place for God in our lives. But, just as it was relevant in Ars a hundred and fifty years ago, in the same context the Holy Father is urging us to use this next 12 months as a God-given opportunity to reconcile with ourselves and one another, the environment we live in and ultimately, Himself.

Even though now we know otherwise, we live in a world that at times glorifies academic excellence at the expense of other types of intelligences. Here, John Vianney goes against the grain. Like him, our parish priests may not be the high flying superstars that we expect them to be. But just like him, they may be the very ones to save our souls by giving simple but effective direction, advice, counseling, and healing. Maybe, in a sense, that's all that we really need.

It would be good too if not everyday, then on and off, during the next one year, we take time out and pray for our priests either in our own words or like the following prayer which was submitted by my granduncle, himself a Capuchin monk in India:

A PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

Keep them, I pray thee, dearest Lord,
Keep them, for they are Thine,
Thy priests whose lives burn out before,

Thy consecrated shrine.

Keep them thou knowest, dearest Lord,
The world, the flesh are strong
And, Satan spreads a thousand snares,
To lead them into wrong.

Keep them for they are in the world,
Though from the world apart,
When earthly pleasures tempt, allure,
Shelter them in Thy heart.

Keep them and comfort them in hours
Of loneliness and pain,
When all their life of sacrifice
For souls seems but in vain,

Keep them and O remember Lord,
They have no one but thee

Yet they have only human hearts,
With human frailty.

Keep them as spotless as the host, that
Daily they caress,
Their every thought and word and deed,
Deign, dearest Lord to bless.

Amen.

Imprimatur:
Henry Joseph O'Leary, D.D..
Archbishop of Edmonton.