But first, I would like to direct your attention to an article well worth bookmarking and reading over these days leading to his feast day, August 4. I know there are some discerning young men reading this blog, and potentially some seminarians, and priests. If you read this article, or have read it already, consider giving a brief review of your own in the comment section so that others can read your thoughts. I would invite any lay people to do the same. Can we use some of his methods today?
While St. John Vianney is the patron saint of priests, as a lay person myself, I find him very interesting as a saint, as well as his writings. Click the link below to go to the article, but don't forget to come back here and give just 5 minutes of your time to pray the novena prayer for the day. Even if you don't see this until tomorrow (blogger was problematic all day), one priest recently told me that if we miss the first day of a novena, we should not give up. Just do day one in the morning, and day two in the evening of the 2nd day!
I'll get you started on the article here....
St. John Vianney’s ministry gives parish priests
a fundamental blueprint for a pastoral plan for any place and time.
St. John Vianney’s Pastoral Plan
By John Cihak
St. John Vianney’s Pastoral Plan
By John Cihak
St. John Vianney (1786 1859) is regaining popularity among diocesan seminarians. After a generation of being ignored, if not ridiculed, the patron saint of parish priests is once again finding his way into the hearts and minds of seminarians and priests. The Church names him as patron because this humble priest, assigned to the backwaters of southeastern, post revolutionary France, reveals things perennial about the priesthood and priestly ministry. The pioneering Pope Blessed John XXIII even wrote an encyclical letter on St. John Vianney recommending him as a model for diocesan priests to follow. The new generation of American priests is not discovering St. John Vianney because it simply has nostalgia for what is old, rather because it has a hunger for what perdures. This article is the fruit of this search and the summary of a discussion I had with a group of transitional deacons on the cusp of ordination. By the time this article is published, these men will already be priests.
Their assignment was to examine the beginning years of St. John Vianney’s ministry in Ars through the lens of two questions: 1) What was the cultural landscape of his time? 2) What are the basic contours of his pastoral plan? How was it that within eight years of the Curé’s arrival to Ars many of the people who were living indifferent and nominally Christian lives became fervent and committed believers? Continue reading Vianney...
Ok - now how long can this take, once each day for the next 9 days? Just do it!!!
If you click St. John's picture in my sidebar above the vocation section, it will take you to EWTN's version. However, I found another version I like very much because it allows me to insert the name of a priest. I know of many priests names I will likely insert, but I will also ask that an unnamed priest be included - one whom is in most need of the graces from this novena. It is easy to pray for those whom we know and love, but those who need our prayers the most, may have no one truly praying for them. Consider doing this out of love for God. Help one priest and you help all those with whom he has contact - spiritually, and actually.
St. John Vianney, Who Accepted the Cross
O holy priest of Ars, as a young seminarian you encountered many obstacles on the road to the Priesthood, but you realized that to suffer was to suffer with Christ on Calvary, and so, if following our Lord meant taking up His cross, you lovingly embraced it. Your motto in life became loving while suffering and suffering in order to love. You did not get discouraged, but your strong faith united you closer to Jesus every day of your life. Oh great St. John Vianney, you know what is needed for Father _____________________’s salvation--a strong faith able to accept the will of God in all things. To serve Christ, he too must take up his cross and follow Him. By your prayers, obtain for him a heart full of courage and strength. Obtain for Father _____________________ that same courage and strength to follow Jesus wholeheartedly even if it means following Him to Calvary. Intercede for him before the Lord that he may do the will of God, obey the commandments, and loyally love the Church, the Bride of Christ. Recite the Novena Prayer.
Novena Prayer
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served Him faithfully as His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never despaired but persevered in your faith until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that surround Father ___________________ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him serenity in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John Vianney, I have confidence in your intercession. Pray for Father ____________________ in a special way during this novena.
I have more a little more on St. John Vianney in a post I made a week or two ago, mentioning this notable novena.
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