Our Patron- St. John Marie Vianney

Saint John Vianney, also known as the Cure d’Ars, plus commonly known as Jean Marie Vianney, is the patron saint of priests and of The Spiritual Adoption of Priests.

This excerpt from Saint John Vianney’s childhood shows he possessed a strong devotion to Mary and the Rosary as well as a strong spirit of self sacrifice and self denial for the love of God from the earliest years of his life.

Saint John Vianney came to age during the turbulent years of the French revolution. A time when religion was suppressed under the false notion of so-called liberty. His family went to Mass in secret. And yet, his closeness to Mary carried him peacefully through this awful time.

He possessed a priestly heart from the beginning. There was no longer a parish in his town, but when the day’s work was complete, he would go to work winning souls for Jesus. He would teach the other boys about God, to love the Blessed Virgin Mary, and how to say their prayers.

He had a favorite image of Mary that he would take with him while he watched his family’s animals graze. His friends would gather around and he would lead them all in prayer. He then would give them a little “sermon”. Sometimes his friends would get bored and run off and play as little boys will do. This did not matter to St. John Vianney though. He would remain alone and contemplate the things of God.

Imagine the great need for priests by the time his country was restored to it’s sanity. When the Church was no longer suppressed and the churches were re-opened, there were few priests left to administer to the people. The priests had either been executed on the guillotine or exiled. Before Saint John Vianney became a priest he would say, “If I were ever a priest, I would win many souls to God.” And he did just that.