I've noticed I've been quoting St. John Vianney a lot recently. His feast day is this week (August 4th). He is the patron saint of parish priests. He lived in France from 1786-1859 and was the pastor of a small rural parish in Ars for most of his life, but his great holiness attracted thousands of people from all over France to travel to Ars to seek his counsel or simply to go to him for confession. These pilgrims kept him so busy that, towards the end of his life, he would spend upwards of 16 hours a day in the confessional! Here are a couple of his quotes that have come to mind recently.
He was inspired by a parishioner who would stop by the church daily on his way to and from work to spend quiet time in prayer. When St. John asked him what he said to the Lord while he prayed so intently, the man replied, "I don't say anything. I look at Him and He looks at me." St. John Vianney used this as an illustration of prayer.
Regarding generosity with the poor, hesaid “We will have to answer for why we did or didn’t give, and the poor will have to answer forwhat they did with what is given them.”
Regarding love of God, he has a famous prayer: "I love You, O my God and my sole desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O infinitely lovable God and I prefer to die loving You than live one instant without loving You. I love You, O my God, and I do not desire anything but heaven so as to have the joy of loving You perfectly. I love You, O my God, and I fear hell, because there will not be the sweet consolation of loving You. O my God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to say it in every beat. Allow me the grace to suffer loving You, to love you suffering and one day to die loving You and feeling that I love You. And as I approach my end, I beg you to increase and perfect my love of You."
I've noticed I've been quoting St. John Vianney a lot recently. His feast day is this week (August 4th). He is the patron saint of parish priests. He lived in France from 1786-1859 and was the pastor of a small rural parish in