St. John Vianney

Ever Ancient, Ever New: A series on Saints with a special devotion to the Eucharist


Saint John Vianney (also called the Curé of Ars) is venerated as the patron saint of parish priests. 

He is most known for his dedication to the Sacrament of Confession and spending daily up to 18 hours in the confessional, with nearly 20,000 pilgrims a year desiring to receive absolution from this holy priest. 

Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney was born in 1786 in Dardilly, France, to a devout Catholic family of farmers. 

During the French Revolution, and the anticlerical regime of that time, he was prepared for his First Holy Communion in a private home by two nuns and received the sacrament at the age of 13 in a neighbor’s kitchen. He witnessed many loyal priests living in hiding, risking their lives to administer the holy sacraments. Vianney admired them as heroes fighting for Christ. 

He was ordained as a priest in 1815, and was sent three years later to the small town of Ars with 230 residents. 

Father Manelli, O.F.M. Conv., S.T.D, described the priestly life of Saint John Vianney in Ars, in his book “Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love.” Upon his arrival to Ars, someone said to the young priest with bitterness, “Here there is nothing to do.” The saint replied, “Therefore, there is everything to do,” and he immediately began his pastoral work. He dedicated all his efforts to provide spiritual care to the faithful, visited the poor, restored the church, organized patronal feast days and founded a shelter home for girls. 

Saint John Vianney was known for rising at 2 a.m. and praying at the altar in the dark church, reciting the Divine Office and preparing himself for Holy Mass. After the Eucharist, he made thanksgiving prayers, and remained in prayer until noon, always kneeling on the floor without any support, with a Rosary in his hand and his eyes fixed on the tabernacle.

He was keeping vigils, spending many hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament and fasting to assist the reparation of sins of the faithful he confessed.

Emphasizing the value and spiritual merits of the Eucharist, he used to preach, “All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison, for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man.”

Speaking about spiritual blessings of the Holy Communion, he used to say, “Without the Holy Eucharist there would be no happiness in this world; life would be insupportable. He who communicates loses himself in God like a drop of water in the ocean. They can no more be separated.”

Because of his deep devotion to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, he encouraged and drew many faithful to Christ. He understood that the loving relationship with God requires reciprocity, “When we go before the Blessed Sacrament, let us open our heart; our good God will open his. We shall go to him; He will come to us; the one to ask, the other to receive. It will be like a breath from one to the other.”

His teachings always highlighted the simplicity of heart in prayer, “When we speak to Jesus with simplicity and with all our heart, He does like a mother who holds her child’s head with her hands and covers it with kisses and caresses.”

John Vianney died in 1859 at the age of 73. He was beatified in 1905 by Pope Saint Pius X and canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI who also proclaimed him the “heavenly patron of all parish priests throughout the world.”

Saint Vianney’s advice about adoration is universal and timeless for all Catholics, “When you awake in the night, transport yourself quickly in spirit before the Tabernacle, saying: ‘Behold, my God, I come to adore you, to praise, thank, and love you, and to keep you company with all the Angels.’”

Information compiled from the Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association, the Vatican News and the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Jad Ziolkowska is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.