Dear brothers and sisters, I invite you to pray for priests so that, with your prayers, priests will receive help and consolation from your prayers.
My dear brothers and sisters, the Lord has chosen me to be the Holy Protector of the priests of these end times who have consecrated themselves, not only as priests of the end times, but also as priests of the Lamb of God who prepare the Triumph of the Lamb of God.
My dear brothers and sisters, with your prayers help every priest of these end times. And be filled together with them, with the Fire of a New Pentecost.
The Holy Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration will renew the whole world and prepare for the Era of Peace and Love of the Divine Will.
I give you the Blessing of Christ the Priest, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And I, Saint John Mary Vianney, pray for all the apostles of the End Times to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Peace.
SAINT JOHN MARY VIANNEY Patron Saint of the Priests of the End Times …prepare the Triumph of the Lamb of God. August 4 – Liturgical Memorial
A VILLAGE PRIEST A poor priest so poorly gifted intellectually that even his superiors hesitated to allow him to be promoted to the Orders. They denied him for a long timethe office of hearing confessions and then sent him to one of the smallest and poorest parishes in the Diocese of Lyon: He was of such a puny appearance and peasant air that his parishioners, who were not demanding, were not very happy; his memory was so rebellious that it took him seven or eight hours of effort to learn his sermons; his poverty was so extreme that he had nothing but a threadbare cassock, an old hat and crude nailed shoes, and he could leave his parish nothing but his body, worn out by fasting, disciplines and the Cilice.
THE CONVERSION OF A PARISH
And yet this poor priest would soon become the talk of the town. Sending him to Ars, the Vicar General told him: “There is not much love of God in that parish. Implant it yourself if you can.” Never was a slogan better observed. But this did not happen without suffering, and later the saintly priest would say: “If I had known what I had to suffer here, I would have died suddenly”. He spared nothing to obtain from God the conversion of his parish. He got up at one or two o’clock in the morning and spent a great part of the day before the Blessed Sacrament. Every evening he disciplined himself to the point of shedding blood. He never used heat. His charity led him to all the miseries of the souls entrusted to him, to the sick whom he comforted and saved. His parishioners must have soon recognized the merits of the priest that Providence had sent them. When they saw him transfigured on the altar where he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice, when they heard his very simple sermons, but burning with the love of God, and even more his catechesis that enlightened both the great and the small, when they became aware of the mortifications, he imposed for them, when they heard the devil persecute him, their esteem increased, and they were not slow to proclaim his sanctity.
CONVERSION OF THE MULTITUDES His fame soon spread far and wide, and crowds soon thronged to see this priest who read souls, foretold the future, cured the sick, and soothed consciences by giving them light and forgiveness from God. While at the other end of the diocese of Belley, in another village called Ferney, a few admirers were struggling to support the prestige of Voltaire, the crowds, tired of so much doubt, ran to a humble priest, to a poor village, hitherto unknown, and there they began again to believe, to hope and to love. God was once again fulfilling the words of the Apostle Paul: “He confounded the wisdom of the wise with the foolishness of the cross. For many years there was an influx of people to Ars, comparable to that which, in the Middle Ages, led the crowds to the most renowned shrines of the world. One can easily imagine the fatigue, the martyrdom that such an influx would cause the holy priest, the 17 hours spent each day in the confessional, the fasting and the macerations. Until the evening of July 29, 1859, he continued his superhuman ministry. Finally, he was forced to stay in bed and never to get up again. The pilgrims forced their way into his room, and he, with heroic courage, lavished his blessings, his advice and his absolutions. Finally, on the morning of August 4, he fell asleep in sweet peace, joyfully obeying the Lord who was calling him for the reward.
LIFE Saint John Mary-Vianney was born in Dardilly, near Lyon, on May 8, 1786. When he was still very young, he took advantage of working in the fields or tending sheep to spend long hours in recollection and prayer. He liked to gather the children of his age around him and taught them to love God and to pray the rosary. Desiring to become a priest, he was taken to the priest of Ecully to be taught Latin. But finding it very difficult to study, he went on a pilgrimage to ask Saint Francis Regis in Louvesc for the grace to learn enough to become a priest. In fact, he was ordained a priest in 1815 and was appointed vicar of Ecully. He remained there for about three years living in great austerity. He was then appointed parish priest of Ars where he met some unchristian neighbors whom he soon converted, as much by his charity and penance as by his preaching. The devil, envious of such a result, persecuted him in a thousand ways. Soon crowds of people came from everywhere to his confessional to seek the light of the grace of conversion. Finished by the fatigues he died on August 4, 1859, at the age of 73 years. St. Pius X beatified him in 1905 and named him patron of all the priests of France who have the care of souls and Pius XI canonized him on May 31,1925.
THE CROSS The first years of your ministry, of which you used to say: “I expected to be suspended at any moment and condemned to end my days in prison”. At that time, they forgot to comment on the Gospel in the pulpits and preached about the poor priest of Ars. Oh, what a cross I had to bear…! It overwhelmed me so much that I could hardly bear it! I began to ask for the love of the crosses; then I was happy.” For you the work is now finished; but from the bosom of your repose listen to the workers of salvation implore your patronage; sustain them in your mission each day more ungrateful, complete of bitterness. To those whose patience threatens to give way in the face of persecution and slander, repeat to them the words you said to one of your predecessors:
“My friend, do as I do. I would be angry if God were offended; but on the other hand, I rejoice in the Lord for all that he permits to be said against me, because the condemnations of the world are blessings from God. Contradictions place us at the foot of crosses and crosses at the gate of heaven. Does not he who flees from the cross flee from Him who wished to be nailed to it and die for us? May the cross make us lose our peace! It is she who has given peace to the world, and who must bring it to our hearts.”
HOLINESS Raised to the Apostolic Chair on the anniversary of your entry into glory, St. Pius X, who inserted you in the code of the Blessed, chose precisely that same day of August 4 to address to the Catholic clergy the solemn exhortation that inspired in his Pontiff’s heart our evil and dangerous times. Help with your supplications before the foot of the throne of the Lord the recommendations that the successor of Peter drew from your example, when he said to the priests: “Holiness alone can make of us what our divine vocation demands, namely, men crucified to the world and in whom the world itself is crucified,’ who look to heaven only as far as they are concerned and spare no effort to lead others.” Men of God is it necessary that only those show themselves who are the light of the world, the salt of the earth, the ambassadors of Him who deigns to call them His friends, who makes them dispensers of His gifts? These are not a source of holiness as they must be for others, if in the first place they are not themselves holy in the secret of the face of the Lord; to the extent that they give themselves to God, God will give himself through them to the people. O John Mary! May they be able to say to themselves and say to others with you: “Outside of God, there is nothing that is solid. Life passes away; fortune crumbles; health is destroyed, reputation is attacked. We walk like the wind. Paradise, hell, and purgatory have a foretaste from this life. Paradise resides in the hearts of the perfect who are closely united with our Lord; hell is in the hearts of the wicked; and purgatory is in the souls who are not dead to themselves. Man was created for love: that is why he is so disposed to love; moreover, he is so great that nothing on earth can contain him. He is content only when he is heading for heaven.”
CONCLUSION THE LIFE AND VOCATION OF SAINT JOHN MARY VIANNEY SHOWS US THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ROLE OF PRIESTS IN THE SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION OF OUR COMMUNITIES. SAINT VIANNEY WAS ABLE TO TRANSCEND HIS LIMITATIONS AND HUMBLE BEGINNINGS TO BECOME AN EXEMPLARY PRIEST WHO CHANGED HIS CITY AND EVEN THE WORLD. HIS FORTHCOMING AND FRANK WAY OF APPROACHING THE TRUTH AND MAKING IT PREVAIL IN HIS IMPRESSIVE HOMILIES HAS MADE HIM DESERVE TO BE PROCLAIMED THE PATRON SAINT OF PRIESTS IN THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH AND CONFIRMED AS PROTECTOR OF THE PRIESTS OF THE END TIMES IN THE APOSTOLATE OF THE UNITED SACRED HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY.
PRAYER Saint John Mary Vianney, Curé of Ars, guide, inspire and intercede before the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary that our priests of the End Times may be faithful to their vows. Intercede on behalf of all of them. Help them to persevere in a holy life, especially by doing penance for the conversion of their flock. We ask this with humility. Touch the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary with our supplication. Be attentive to the needs of your brother priests of the End Times. Intercede for all of them and pray to Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary that your brothers may receive the greatest gift of all, the gift of love. AMEN.
Source: The Liturgical Year. DOM PROSPERO GUERANGER. Abbot of Solesmes
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