1. John Vianney is known for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish in Ars, France, resulting in the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings.
28 Facts About John Vianney
1. 2.
John Vianney was canonized in 1925 and his feast day is August 4.
3.
John Vianney received his First Communion catechetical instruction in a private home from two nuns, whose communities had been dissolved during the Revolution.
4.
John Vianney made his first communion at the age of 13, in a neighbour's kitchen; during the Mass, the windows were covered so that the light of the candles could not be seen from outside.
5.
John Vianney was 20 when his father allowed him to leave the farm to be taught at a "presbytery school", in the neighbouring village of Ecully, conducted by the Abbe Balley.
6.
John Vianney struggled with school, especially with Latin, since his past education had been interrupted by the French Revolution.
7.
John Vianney's studies were interrupted in 1809, when he was drafted into Napoleon's armies.
8.
John Vianney would have been exempt, as an ecclesiastical student, but Napoleon had withdrawn the exemption in certain dioceses, because of his need for soldiers in his fight against Spain.
9.
John Vianney went into a church to pray, and fell behind the group.
10.
John Vianney met a young man who volunteered to guide him back to his group, but instead led him deep into the Forez mountains, to the village of Les Noes, where deserters had gathered.
11.
John Vianney lived there for fourteen months, hidden in the byre attached to a farmhouse, and under the care of Claudine Fayot, a widow with four children.
12.
John Vianney assumed the name Jerome Vincent, and under that name, he opened a school for village children.
13.
An imperial proclamation in March 1810 granted amnesty to all deserters, enabling John Vianney to go back legally to Ecully, where he resumed his studies.
14.
John Vianney was tonsured in 1811, and, in 1812, went to the minor seminary, at Verrieres-en-Forez.
15.
However, Balley persuaded the vicar general that John Vianney's piety was great enough to compensate for his ignorance, and the seminarian received minor orders, and the subdiaconate on 2 July 1814, was ordained a deacon, in June 1815, and was ordained a priest, on 12 August 1815, in the Couvent des Minimes de Grenoble.
16.
John Vianney said his first Mass the next day, and was appointed the assistant to Balley in Ecully.
17.
In 1818, shortly after the death of Balley, John Vianney was appointed parish priest of the parish of Ars, a town of 230 inhabitants.
18.
John Vianney spent time in the confessional and gave homilies against blasphemy and profane dancing.
19.
John Vianney came to be known internationally, and people from distant places began travelling to consult him as early as 1827.
20.
John Vianney spent at least 11 or 12 hours a day in the confessional during winter, and up to 16 in the summer.
21.
John Vianney wanted to approach the great priest but his line often lasted for hours and she could not reach him.
22.
John Vianney is in Purgatory, and you must pray for him.
23.
John Vianney regarded her as his guardian and erected a chapel and shrine in honour of the saint.
24.
John Vianney yearned for the contemplative life of a monk, and four times ran away from Ars, the last time in 1853.
25.
John Vianney was a champion of the poor as a Franciscan tertiary and was a recipient of the coveted French Legion of Honour.
26.
In November 2018, John Vianney's heart was transported to the United States for a 6-month nationwide tour.
27.
Saint John Vianney is said to have lived his life according to the heart of Christ and united his heart to Christ's.
28.
The tour of the incorrupt heart of John Vianney came to the Parish of St Catherine of Siena in Nichols, Connecticut, on April 29,2019, with a liturgy celebrated by Daniel A Cronin, Archbishop Emeritus of Hartford, and concelebrated by Joseph A Marcello, pastor of St Catherine of Siena.