<p>The name of this French priest may be unfamiliar to many, but by his title he is world renowned: the Curé d'Ars. He was born in 1786 near Lyons, France, three years before the French Revolution. At age 20, he enrolled in a school run by Abbé Balley, but found studying difficult. Having learned the rudiments of theology, John was ordained in 1815.</p>
<p>In 1818, John became the parish priest of the little village of Ars-en-Dombes, where most of the people were not interested in religion or God. He spent the rest of the life serving the parishioners of this village. His devotion to prayer and fasting obtained unimaginable results. He became so renowned as a confessor that, between 1830 and 1845, visitors and pilgrims numbered in the hundreds every day.</p>
<p>The priest heard confessions for 12 to 16 hours a day, and from 1844 until his death, he gave a short lesson in the church every morning. When he walked from the confessional to the rectory, pilgrims would surge after him, cutting pieces from his clothing and his hair. Three times he tried to leave the village to join a monastery, but each time was persuaded to return. For 30 years he served all who came to him: people were healed and converted, and many were given appropriate words of wisdom or advice even before they had explained their predicament. When he died in 1859 at the age of 73, John Vianney already had the reputation of being a saint. He was canonized in 1925 and is a patron of parish priests.<br /></p>
<p>©2011 <em>Living with Christ, </em>Novalis - Bayard Press Canada Inc., <strong>http://www.livingwithchrist.ca/</strong>. Reprinted with permission.</p>
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