“To pray and to love, that is the happiness of man on earth.”
St. John Vianney, A Catechism on Prayer, “The Noble Task of Man, to Pray and to Love,” Liturgy of the Hours, Divine Office Breviary, August 4, 2022, https://www.universalis.com/-400/readings.htm.
The saint of little and much
St. John Vianney (1786-1859) had incredible gifts. He was given the supernatural gift of reading souls (in the confessional) and possessed an energy level that did not match is intake of nourishment or nightly amount of sleep. He is the saint of “little” and “much.”
Let me explain. His food intake every day for 41 years was a few potatoes, rarely a piece of meat, and a piece of bread. He slept 2-3 hours every night (he was tormented nightly by demons) yet he sat in the confessional and heard thousands of confessions from 2 AM-9 PM until his death at the age of 73.
How did he live on such a rigorous schedule on so little sleep and sustenance? It was said in his old age he wanted to retire in a peaceful and quiet monastery. There was only one problem: His parishioners loved him so much they wouldn’t let him leave.
His life is a supreme example that God can bring much out of so little. Again, let me explain.
From little to much
As a child, St. Vianney witnessed the barbarism of the French Revolution known as “The Reign of Terror.” His parents were forced to practice their Catholic faith underground by going to Mass in secret homes. Instead of intimidating the young boy, little John saw these priests who risked their own lives as superheroes, and vowed to become one of them someday. Today, this saint is now the patron saint of parish priests.
“Dim” or great?
Coming from a poor peasant family, John helped his family earn money by working in the fields all day. He didn’t begin his education until he was 20 years old. He failed his ordination exams and required extra tutoring to pass on the second try at the age of 29. He was assigned to his first parish in the tiny village of Ars, France with a population of 230.
He began living an ascetic life (even sleeping on wooden boards instead of a bed) and fasting for the towns people, who populated the the local tavern instead of attending Mass.
Slowly, their priest won them over with his gift for preaching, and his supernatural abilities in the confessional spread by word-of-mouth. The entire town began attending Mass and people traveled from all over France to see him and go to confession with him. Some came from as far as Belgium and the United States.
“I weep because you do not weep enough.”
It was said he wept when preaching about sin and when he distributed Holy Communion. Once, someone asked him why he wept so much. He answered “Ah! My friend, I weep because you do not weep enough.”
Abbe Francis Trochu, The Cure d’Ars–Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1977), p. 120.
A heart incorruptible
45 years after St. John Vianney’s death at the age of 73, his body was exhumed (for his beatification) and his heart was found to be in perfect condition with the myocardial tissue absent of any effects of decomposition.
Over 160 years later it still remains the same, enclosed in a glass reliquary for viewing in his hometown of Ars, France.
His incorrupt heart traveled to the United States in 2018-2019 with the Knights of Columbus, where a quarter of a million pilgrims came to venerate the first-class relic across all 48 continuous states.
St. John Vianney’s advice
“Consider, children, a Christian’s treasure is not on earth, it is in heaven. Well then, our thoughts should turn to where our treasure is.”
A Catechism on Prayer, “The Noble Task of Man, to Pray and to Love,” Liturgy of the Hours, Divine Office Breviary, https://www.universalis.com/-400/readings.htm.