If you are just discovering this novena, don't hesitate to jump in and do both Day 1, and Day 2 as we work towards the feast day of August 4. As I stated in my first post, this format found at Sacred Heart Parish in Dunn, NC gives us what is below so that we can use it to pray for a priest. One idea, is to give John the discretion of applying it to a priest who is in most need of the graces coming from this prayer.
St. John Vianney, Full of Zeal for Souls
O holy Priest of Ars, you taught men to pray daily: “O my God, come to me, so that You may dwell in me and I may dwell in You.” Your life was the very living out of this prayer. The divine life of grace abided in you. Your zeal for the salvation of souls was manifested by your total self-surrender to God, which was expressed in your selfless service to others. You gave of yourself unreservedly in the confessional, at the altar, in the classroom, in fact, in every action you performed. O great St. John Vianney, obtain for Father ________________ the realization that God also dwells in him when he is free of sin. Remind him that the salvation of his soul is the fulfillment of his existence. Awaken in him a sense of self-giving for the salvation of souls. Obtain for Father __________, by your intercession, a zeal for souls like your zeal. May he see that God dwells in him and in his fellow men. Obtain for him from our Lord the grace to lead all men to salvation. Let your prayer be his: “If you really love God, you will greatly desire to see Him loved by all the world.” Recite the short Novena Prayer found in the first post.
Here is an excerpt from one of the longest and detailed accounts of his life I can find on the web. It is written by Bruce Marshall. There are some odd characters in my version of the webpage and they are carrying through here. I managed to figure it out. Just recall that he was also known as the "Cure d'Ars", or simply as "the Cure".
Soon the report of the Cur钳 holiness began to spread. People from the surrounding countryside came to hear him and he was asked to preach in neighbouring villages. He preached missions in Vilefranche-sur-Sa? Tr鶯ux, Montmerle, Saint Trivier, Saint Bernard, Savigneux, Mis鲩eux. At the forty hours? adoration at Limas he was embarrassed to find prelates and ecclesiastics assembled to hear him.
To the end of his life the poor Cur頣ould never understand the reason for his own fame. And to begin with, many of his colleagues couldn?t understand it either. An abb頂orjon wrote to him: "Monsieur le Cur鬠a man with as little theology as yourself ought never to enter a confessional." The Cur頯f Ars replied:
My very dear and respected colleague, how right I am to love you. You alone really know me. As you are good and charitable enough to deign to take an interest in my poor soul, help me to obtain the favour for which I have been asking for so long, so that I may be moved from a post I am unworthy to fill because of my ignorance and retire into obscurity to atone for my wretched life.
This long and awkward sentence was written without irony, but with humility, and its recipient was touched. Fortunately, M. Vianney had his bishop behind him. One day when a priest said to Msgr. Devie: "The Cur頯f Ars is looked upon as being rather uneducated", the Bishop answered: "I don?t know whether he is educated or not, but what I do know is the Holy Spirit makes a point of enlightening him."
The boozers in the cabarets also attacked him. Furious at the interruption of their pleasures, they spread rumours that the Cur钳 pallor was not due to asceticism but to the practice of vice. They sang lewd songs under his window at night. They spattered his door with filth. They said that he was the father of a prostitute?s child. These tales reached the Bishop, who felt obliged to send the Cur頯f Tr鶯ux to conduct an enquiry. Although the slanders were all disproved, the Cur頳uffered greatly.
More excerpts tomorrow from Bruce Marshall's piece.