“Our Lord is our model, let us take up our cross and follow Him.” The Little Catechism of the Curé of Ars, TAN Books, 1987

As the Pauline Year draws to an end, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the “Year for Priests” which began on June 19, 2009, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In a meeting with the Vatican Congregation for Clergy assembled to discuss the missionary identity of the priest on March 16, the Pope referred to priestly ministry and the importance of “a spiritually intense new life and a new lifestyle which was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus and which the apostles made their own.”

The pope chose this year because it marks the 150th anniversary of the death of the patron saint of parish priests, St. John Vianney, who is also known as the “Curé d’Ars” (French for the “parish priest of Ars”).  The Pope subsequently declared the saint the Universal Patron of Priests.  With St. John as an example, the Pope has said this year is “meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world.”

St. John Vianney, born in Dardilly, France in 1786 and ordained a priest in 1815, was sent to Ars with a warning from his bishop that the people there had little love of God.  It would be up to St. John to inspire the parishioners.  With this in mind, he set himself to educate the faithful as well as visit the sick and the families of his parish.  The Curé did much to transform the hearts of his flock through the witness of his life and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.  This was perhaps most acutely seen in his emphasis on the Sacrament of Penance, which kept him in the confessional up to sixteen hours a day.

Called to Serve: Vocations and the Church

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