July 26, 2025 • 15 mins
Discover the extraordinary life of Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, commonly known as St John Vianney, a French parish priest who is celebrated in the Catholic Church as a saint and the patron saint of all priests. Known fondly as the Curé dArs, his parish work led to a profound spiritual transformation in his community, making him an internationally recognized figure. His saintly life, dedicated ministry, and ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to Saint Philomena were all instrumental in this transformation. This brief biography, written before his canonization in 1925, offers a stirring glimpse into the life of this much-loved saint. (Summary Adapted from Wikipedia)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter three of a Life of Blessed John B. Marie
vi Any, Curie of Ours. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information nor a volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
Life of Blessed John B. Marie vi Any, Curitie of
(00:21):
Ours by anonymous Chapter three, The House of Providence and
the Tribulations. In eighteen twenty five, seven years after father
vi Any had been appointed to the parish at Ours,
he resolved upon a new and important undertaking. He wanted
to bring together in one home all the neglected, poor
(00:43):
and orphan children of Ours and the surrounding country, and
to provide at one the same time for both their
physical and spiritual needs. Facing the village Green, there stood
a desirable house which he would gladly have acquired for
this purpose. One day he received from an anonymous donor
a considerable sum of money for charitable purposes. He immediately
(01:07):
betook himself to the owner of the house in question,
and without much difficulty, was enabled to purchase it, and
this was the beginning of the House of Providence. As
directresses for this home, he selected two young women of
the parish and placed them in charge, but without imposing
upon them any religious files. The home soon sheltered many
(01:32):
little ones, either neglected or homeless, who were fed, clothed,
and cared for, and whose instruction in the catechism vi
Ani took upon himself daily. By degrees, the grown up
parishioners came to assist at these instructions, which took the
place of those which had been held in the parish church.
(01:53):
This home was maintained by father vi Any for twenty
five years. For its financial support, he made use of
the alms given to him, and it frequently happened that
sums of money to be used in charity were transmitted
to him, most unexpectedly, and at times when the home
was in greatest need. Relief sometimes came in a manner
(02:14):
which excludes the idea of human intervention. Among other incidents
observed by many witnesses, it is related that one day
there was no flower for the day's supply of bread,
and no money with which to purchase any Everyone whom
Father vi Any approached upon this subject seemed either to
be unable or unwilling to relieve him, so that the
(02:36):
cure imagined himself almost forsaken. Never before had he felt
so miserable. Then he remembered Saint Francis Regis and decided
to seek heavenly intercession. He took the relics of the
saint and carried them to the storeroom, concealing them under
the remnant of grain that lay there. Next day, the
(02:58):
caretakers of the home came and again reminded the pastor
that there was nothing left to eat in the house.
Father Viane, weeping, exclaimed, then we must send our poor
children away. Nevertheless, he betook himself with one of the
caretakers to the storeroom, and with great anxiety, opened the door,
(03:19):
when behold the storeroom, which had been empty, was found
to be filled with grain. It was on such an
occasion as this that Father Vianne's sanctity manifested itself. Instead
of welcoming this public miracle with joyful satisfaction, he felt,
on the contrary, deeply humiliated because of his having previously
(03:42):
given way to discouragement. He hastened to the children of
the home and exclaimed, in self accusation, behold, dear children,
I mistrusted the Good God. I was about to send
you all away, and for this he has well punished me.
The report of this miraculous supply of food was quickly circulated.
(04:05):
The whole congregation visited the store room every one could
convince himself of the truth of the matter. Later, Bishop
de Vie of Belat inquired personally into the matter and
found the facts to be as above stated. Now, great
graces in the lives of holy persons are never bestowed
without great trials, and the good Curee was no exception
(04:29):
to this rule. During the ten years of his ministry,
he had suffered from suspicion, distrust, and calumny. His enemies
had criticized his actions and had held him up to derision.
He had even been threatened with violence. Among those who
attacked him were some of his own colleagues in the ministry,
(04:50):
who were greatly angered because their parishioners flocked in numbers
to ours to ask advice and counsel of one whom
they had called the inexperienced and ignorant priest. Of course,
Father Vianes's own behavior gave no little reason for their
disparaging opinion of him, for, in his humility, had several
times declared himself to be a worthless and incapable servant
(05:12):
of God, an opinion which undoubtedly he sincerely held. These
aspersions from his colleagues were disseminated among the people, so
that many of the faithful, influenced by the mistaken opinion
of their spiritual leaders, took upon themselves the liberty of
defaming their pastor. Some went further and wrote and left
(05:34):
at his door, noticed containing coarse and dishonorable remarks. To
such an extent had these ideas progressed, that some persons
attributed the furrows with which penitential works had seemed the
brow of the humble priest to be an immoral mode
of living. With touching patience and resignation, Father vi Ainy
(05:56):
bore these years of bitterness, His zeal never relaxed for
a day, and the interior agony which he suffered was
not observable in any of his pastoral duties. At that time,
he frequently repeated those memorable and beautiful words, we can
do more for God when we perform our duties faithfully,
(06:17):
without interior gladness and a certain relish, and fulfilling them,
the profound repose of his inner life will appear still
more admirable to those who learn what cunning snares were
prepared for him at the same time by the arch
enemy of the human race. When news of the diabolical
(06:39):
visitations to which Father Vienny was frequently exposed reached his colleagues,
they laughed aloud. They declared that he was a dreamer
whose brain was disordered with his accustomed composure. The humbled
Curee bore the derision of his colleagues and of the
faithful who agreed with them. Far from being weak minded,
(07:01):
as his associates represented him to be, Father Vieny at
first refused to believe that it was the powers of
evil that were persecuting him and depriving him of his
night's rest in order to render him unfit for his
pastoral duties. When the nocturnal rappings became more pronounced, he
begged some courageous men of the parish to assist him
(07:24):
in discovering the evil doers, or thieves, as he at
first considered them, whose purpose he thought was to carry
off some of the costly articles which had been presented
for the parish church. Those men came to keep watch
with him, and for many nights in succession they heard
the same sounds which Father Vienny had heard without seeing
(07:45):
any person or thing to account for them. Like their pastor,
they were much wrought up over the strange occurrences. One
winter's night, however, when the rappings upon the front door
were louder than usual, the Cure sprang from his bed
and hurried to the courtyard, believing that he might find
traces of the marauder in the freshly fallen snow. But
(08:09):
there were no footprints to be seen. Then Father Vienny
no longer doubted that it was Satan that was persecuting him,
and this conviction removed all sentiments of fear from his soul,
for he knew well how to combat the enemy of God.
These violent Satanic assaults were kept up against Father Vienny
(08:30):
for the space of thirty five years. That a man
so tortured and deprived continually of his needed rest, so
enfeebled by the mortifications which he imposed on himself, did
not die earlier than his seventy fourth year seems almost
more miraculous than the inexhaustible activity of his life. Meanwhile,
(08:52):
his enemies had advanced a step further in their efforts
to render this zealous Pasture's position precarious. They calumnated him
to the bishop of the Diocese of Balay, to which
ours now belonged, saying that their pastor was unfit to
be entrusted with the care of souls. The bishop, however,
would not condemn the poor priest without a hearing. He
(09:16):
sent his vicary general to Ours and informed Father Vienny
that in future he must submit to the episcopal jurisdiction
all difficult cases of conscience coming before him, as well
as the decision he had passed upon them himself. The
investigation was welcomed by Father Vienny, and he very soon
(09:36):
submitted over two hundred cases. Bishop de Vie of Blay
examined these himself and found that the decisions reached upon
the difficult points, excepting only two cases in which his
opinion differed, were correct. From that moment he would not
suffer any one to speak of the Curate of Ours
as an incapable pastor. About this time, moreover, the bishop
(10:01):
personally visited Father Vienny at his house in Ours, and
found there a zealous and holy man instead of the
ridiculous figure which the Cure's enemies had made him out
to be. Speaking one day to his assembled clergy. In
regard to the cure of ours, he said, gentlemen, would
that you all had a trifle of the foolishness about
(10:24):
which you make so merry, It would not prejudice your
intelligence in the least. Yet, far more than the protection
thus afforded by the Bishop, did the unalterable humility and
amiability of Father Vienny bring these opponents to reason. In
the course of a few years, this noble character ceased
(10:46):
to have any enemies among the clergy. Laymen likewise stopped
their calumnies, even if they did not cease their ridicule altogether.
But God had prepared a new trial for his servant.
We have already told how Father Vienny had found it, and,
under great difficulties, had carried on the home for a
(11:07):
neglected children, called the Providence. The time had come when
this useful institution was to be taken from his control.
The Board of Education had found fault with the home,
as being neither a regular school nor a hospital. The
clergy criticized its management by lay persons, until at last
(11:28):
the Bishop was prevailed upon to put the institution in
charge of a religious ardor, and the curee. Although sore
at heart, subscribed to the deed of surrender in November
eighteen forty seven. Thereupon the sisters of Saint Joseph Herbourg
were put in charge of the institution, which came to
be known as a free school for girls. Soon it
(11:52):
became evident that this blow, hard as it was, but
in which Father Vienny, as ever beheld, the finger of God,
turned out to his profit, for all the powers of
his body and mind henceforth were devoted to the single
purpose of the conversion of sinners, who kept coming to
ours in ever increasing numbers. Before we speak further on
(12:15):
this point, we must draw attention to an event that
took place in the year eighteen forty three. In May
of that year, Father vie Ainy became ill as a
result of over work. So serious was his condition that
he received the last sacraments. There was universal sorrow in
the village, and the church was constantly filled with parishioners
(12:38):
who prayed that he might be spared, But the physicians
gave no hope. One of them, as he touched the
cold hand of the motionless figure, exclaimed aloud, he has
only a few moments to live. The dying man heard
plainly the verdict pronounced over him, and at that same moment,
as he afterwards declared, he was seized with such terror
(13:02):
of the supreme judgment of God that he besought the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin and of Saint Philamina, and
he implored the Almighty through them to vouchsafe to postpone
the awful moment of his appearance. Before him. His prayers
were heard, to the great astonishment of those present. The
vitality of the man sick, apparently unto death, returned, and
(13:27):
on May nineteenth Father Vienny was able to be carried
into the church amid the rejoicings of his children, and
there he prayed at length before the tabernacle. But at
this time he made a resolution which earlier he could
not have carried into effect. His Bishop, seeing the great
amount of work which had to be performed at ours,
(13:49):
had sent him an assistant priest, to whom, in his humility,
Vieane considered himself subordinate, and, knowing that there was some
one now to take his place, he decided to retire
from his pastoral work and to spend the rest of
his poor life, as he called it, in some remote
monastery to carry out this purpose, he planned to flee
(14:11):
from Ours under cover of the darkness and mist, but
his project was betrayed by his friends at the providence,
to whom he was obliged to give necessary instructions regarding
the future care of the children. Great excitement immediately prevailed
among the parishioners and the many visitors, and they quietly
surrounded the rectory in order to prevent his escape. The pastor, however,
(14:35):
managed to elude them and make his way through a
path in the garden which had been overlooked, and hastened
to his birthplace at Dardilly. Thereupon the sheep went in
search of their shepherd, but as soon as they discovered
him in his home, he fled further away, they still
following him. At last, moved by the distress which his
(14:58):
departure had caused and the appeals made to him by
the inhabitants of Ours to return to them, he concluded
that it was the holy will of God that he
should return and resume the heavy burden of his pastorate
from which he had hoped to be relieved. All thought
they had surely won him back, but later on the
blessed Vienni made two other efforts to lay down his
(15:21):
pastoral cares and to retire into a monastery there to
work out his own salvation. But God granted the fervent
petition of the people of ours and caused these plans
to come to naught. End of Chapter three
Chapter three of a Life of Blessed John B. Marie
vi Any, Curie of Ours. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information nor a volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
Life of Blessed John B. Marie vi Any, Curitie of
(00:21):
Ours by anonymous Chapter three, The House of Providence and
the Tribulations. In eighteen twenty five, seven years after father
vi Any had been appointed to the parish at Ours,
he resolved upon a new and important undertaking. He wanted
to bring together in one home all the neglected, poor
(00:43):
and orphan children of Ours and the surrounding country, and
to provide at one the same time for both their
physical and spiritual needs. Facing the village Green, there stood
a desirable house which he would gladly have acquired for
this purpose. One day he received from an anonymous donor
a considerable sum of money for charitable purposes. He immediately
(01:07):
betook himself to the owner of the house in question,
and without much difficulty, was enabled to purchase it, and
this was the beginning of the House of Providence. As
directresses for this home, he selected two young women of
the parish and placed them in charge, but without imposing
upon them any religious files. The home soon sheltered many
(01:32):
little ones, either neglected or homeless, who were fed, clothed,
and cared for, and whose instruction in the catechism vi
Ani took upon himself daily. By degrees, the grown up
parishioners came to assist at these instructions, which took the
place of those which had been held in the parish church.
(01:53):
This home was maintained by father vi Any for twenty
five years. For its financial support, he made use of
the alms given to him, and it frequently happened that
sums of money to be used in charity were transmitted
to him, most unexpectedly, and at times when the home
was in greatest need. Relief sometimes came in a manner
(02:14):
which excludes the idea of human intervention. Among other incidents
observed by many witnesses, it is related that one day
there was no flower for the day's supply of bread,
and no money with which to purchase any Everyone whom
Father vi Any approached upon this subject seemed either to
be unable or unwilling to relieve him, so that the
(02:36):
cure imagined himself almost forsaken. Never before had he felt
so miserable. Then he remembered Saint Francis Regis and decided
to seek heavenly intercession. He took the relics of the
saint and carried them to the storeroom, concealing them under
the remnant of grain that lay there. Next day, the
(02:58):
caretakers of the home came and again reminded the pastor
that there was nothing left to eat in the house.
Father Viane, weeping, exclaimed, then we must send our poor
children away. Nevertheless, he betook himself with one of the
caretakers to the storeroom, and with great anxiety, opened the door,
(03:19):
when behold the storeroom, which had been empty, was found
to be filled with grain. It was on such an
occasion as this that Father Vianne's sanctity manifested itself. Instead
of welcoming this public miracle with joyful satisfaction, he felt,
on the contrary, deeply humiliated because of his having previously
(03:42):
given way to discouragement. He hastened to the children of
the home and exclaimed, in self accusation, behold, dear children,
I mistrusted the Good God. I was about to send
you all away, and for this he has well punished me.
The report of this miraculous supply of food was quickly circulated.
(04:05):
The whole congregation visited the store room every one could
convince himself of the truth of the matter. Later, Bishop
de Vie of Belat inquired personally into the matter and
found the facts to be as above stated. Now, great
graces in the lives of holy persons are never bestowed
without great trials, and the good Curee was no exception
(04:29):
to this rule. During the ten years of his ministry,
he had suffered from suspicion, distrust, and calumny. His enemies
had criticized his actions and had held him up to derision.
He had even been threatened with violence. Among those who
attacked him were some of his own colleagues in the ministry,
(04:50):
who were greatly angered because their parishioners flocked in numbers
to ours to ask advice and counsel of one whom
they had called the inexperienced and ignorant priest. Of course,
Father Vianes's own behavior gave no little reason for their
disparaging opinion of him, for, in his humility, had several
times declared himself to be a worthless and incapable servant
(05:12):
of God, an opinion which undoubtedly he sincerely held. These
aspersions from his colleagues were disseminated among the people, so
that many of the faithful, influenced by the mistaken opinion
of their spiritual leaders, took upon themselves the liberty of
defaming their pastor. Some went further and wrote and left
(05:34):
at his door, noticed containing coarse and dishonorable remarks. To
such an extent had these ideas progressed, that some persons
attributed the furrows with which penitential works had seemed the
brow of the humble priest to be an immoral mode
of living. With touching patience and resignation, Father vi Ainy
(05:56):
bore these years of bitterness, His zeal never relaxed for
a day, and the interior agony which he suffered was
not observable in any of his pastoral duties. At that time,
he frequently repeated those memorable and beautiful words, we can
do more for God when we perform our duties faithfully,
(06:17):
without interior gladness and a certain relish, and fulfilling them,
the profound repose of his inner life will appear still
more admirable to those who learn what cunning snares were
prepared for him at the same time by the arch
enemy of the human race. When news of the diabolical
(06:39):
visitations to which Father Vienny was frequently exposed reached his colleagues,
they laughed aloud. They declared that he was a dreamer
whose brain was disordered with his accustomed composure. The humbled
Curee bore the derision of his colleagues and of the
faithful who agreed with them. Far from being weak minded,
(07:01):
as his associates represented him to be, Father Vieny at
first refused to believe that it was the powers of
evil that were persecuting him and depriving him of his
night's rest in order to render him unfit for his
pastoral duties. When the nocturnal rappings became more pronounced, he
begged some courageous men of the parish to assist him
(07:24):
in discovering the evil doers, or thieves, as he at
first considered them, whose purpose he thought was to carry
off some of the costly articles which had been presented
for the parish church. Those men came to keep watch
with him, and for many nights in succession they heard
the same sounds which Father Vienny had heard without seeing
(07:45):
any person or thing to account for them. Like their pastor,
they were much wrought up over the strange occurrences. One
winter's night, however, when the rappings upon the front door
were louder than usual, the Cure sprang from his bed
and hurried to the courtyard, believing that he might find
traces of the marauder in the freshly fallen snow. But
(08:09):
there were no footprints to be seen. Then Father Vienny
no longer doubted that it was Satan that was persecuting him,
and this conviction removed all sentiments of fear from his soul,
for he knew well how to combat the enemy of God.
These violent Satanic assaults were kept up against Father Vienny
(08:30):
for the space of thirty five years. That a man
so tortured and deprived continually of his needed rest, so
enfeebled by the mortifications which he imposed on himself, did
not die earlier than his seventy fourth year seems almost
more miraculous than the inexhaustible activity of his life. Meanwhile,
(08:52):
his enemies had advanced a step further in their efforts
to render this zealous Pasture's position precarious. They calumnated him
to the bishop of the Diocese of Balay, to which
ours now belonged, saying that their pastor was unfit to
be entrusted with the care of souls. The bishop, however,
would not condemn the poor priest without a hearing. He
(09:16):
sent his vicary general to Ours and informed Father Vienny
that in future he must submit to the episcopal jurisdiction
all difficult cases of conscience coming before him, as well
as the decision he had passed upon them himself. The
investigation was welcomed by Father Vienny, and he very soon
(09:36):
submitted over two hundred cases. Bishop de Vie of Blay
examined these himself and found that the decisions reached upon
the difficult points, excepting only two cases in which his
opinion differed, were correct. From that moment he would not
suffer any one to speak of the Curate of Ours
as an incapable pastor. About this time, moreover, the bishop
(10:01):
personally visited Father Vienny at his house in Ours, and
found there a zealous and holy man instead of the
ridiculous figure which the Cure's enemies had made him out
to be. Speaking one day to his assembled clergy. In
regard to the cure of ours, he said, gentlemen, would
that you all had a trifle of the foolishness about
(10:24):
which you make so merry, It would not prejudice your
intelligence in the least. Yet, far more than the protection
thus afforded by the Bishop, did the unalterable humility and
amiability of Father Vienny bring these opponents to reason. In
the course of a few years, this noble character ceased
(10:46):
to have any enemies among the clergy. Laymen likewise stopped
their calumnies, even if they did not cease their ridicule altogether.
But God had prepared a new trial for his servant.
We have already told how Father Vienny had found it, and,
under great difficulties, had carried on the home for a
(11:07):
neglected children, called the Providence. The time had come when
this useful institution was to be taken from his control.
The Board of Education had found fault with the home,
as being neither a regular school nor a hospital. The
clergy criticized its management by lay persons, until at last
(11:28):
the Bishop was prevailed upon to put the institution in
charge of a religious ardor, and the curee. Although sore
at heart, subscribed to the deed of surrender in November
eighteen forty seven. Thereupon the sisters of Saint Joseph Herbourg
were put in charge of the institution, which came to
be known as a free school for girls. Soon it
(11:52):
became evident that this blow, hard as it was, but
in which Father Vienny, as ever beheld, the finger of God,
turned out to his profit, for all the powers of
his body and mind henceforth were devoted to the single
purpose of the conversion of sinners, who kept coming to
ours in ever increasing numbers. Before we speak further on
(12:15):
this point, we must draw attention to an event that
took place in the year eighteen forty three. In May
of that year, Father vie Ainy became ill as a
result of over work. So serious was his condition that
he received the last sacraments. There was universal sorrow in
the village, and the church was constantly filled with parishioners
(12:38):
who prayed that he might be spared, But the physicians
gave no hope. One of them, as he touched the
cold hand of the motionless figure, exclaimed aloud, he has
only a few moments to live. The dying man heard
plainly the verdict pronounced over him, and at that same moment,
as he afterwards declared, he was seized with such terror
(13:02):
of the supreme judgment of God that he besought the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin and of Saint Philamina, and
he implored the Almighty through them to vouchsafe to postpone
the awful moment of his appearance. Before him. His prayers
were heard, to the great astonishment of those present. The
vitality of the man sick, apparently unto death, returned, and
(13:27):
on May nineteenth Father Vienny was able to be carried
into the church amid the rejoicings of his children, and
there he prayed at length before the tabernacle. But at
this time he made a resolution which earlier he could
not have carried into effect. His Bishop, seeing the great
amount of work which had to be performed at ours,
(13:49):
had sent him an assistant priest, to whom, in his humility,
Vieane considered himself subordinate, and, knowing that there was some
one now to take his place, he decided to retire
from his pastoral work and to spend the rest of
his poor life, as he called it, in some remote
monastery to carry out this purpose, he planned to flee
(14:11):
from Ours under cover of the darkness and mist, but
his project was betrayed by his friends at the providence,
to whom he was obliged to give necessary instructions regarding
the future care of the children. Great excitement immediately prevailed
among the parishioners and the many visitors, and they quietly
surrounded the rectory in order to prevent his escape. The pastor, however,
(14:35):
managed to elude them and make his way through a
path in the garden which had been overlooked, and hastened
to his birthplace at Dardilly. Thereupon the sheep went in
search of their shepherd, but as soon as they discovered
him in his home, he fled further away, they still
following him. At last, moved by the distress which his
(14:58):
departure had caused and the appeals made to him by
the inhabitants of Ours to return to them, he concluded
that it was the holy will of God that he
should return and resume the heavy burden of his pastorate
from which he had hoped to be relieved. All thought
they had surely won him back, but later on the
blessed Vienni made two other efforts to lay down his
(15:21):
pastoral cares and to retire into a monastery there to
work out his own salvation. But God granted the fervent
petition of the people of ours and caused these plans
to come to naught. End of Chapter three
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