St Jean-Marie Vianney . . .

Benediction with the monstrance used by St Jean Vianney

Dear Jesus, we thank you for the joy and happiness

brought to us by the Most Holy Eucharist.

Come and slake our thirst, satisfy our hunger.

Deepen our desire to receive you in this Sacrament of your Love,

so that we might become one with you for ever.

Amen.

Today we keep the memorial of St Jean-Marie Vianney. He was born near Lyons in 1786 and from an early age wanted to become a priest.

After his ordination in 1815 he was sent to the village of Ars and was Parish Priest there for forty years.

He was most noted for his great love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. As a Spiritual Director he attracted big numbers and spent many hours in the confessional.

He was canonised in 1925 by Pope Pius XI and declared Patron of Parish Priests.

St Jean Vianney's confessional.

Lord God, we thank you for the beauty and grace
of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Give us deeper faith in the power of this sacrament
to purify and renew our soul,
and grant us greater confidence in your boundless mercy.
Amen.

More on the Reception of Holy Communion . . .

Following on from my earlier posts on the Reception of Holy Communion, I would like to add a few words about our prayer of thanksgiving after Holy Communion taken from 'A Curé of Ars Prayer Book.'

St John Vianney has this to say,

'I do not like people to begin to read directly when they come from the holy table. Oh no! what is the uses of the words of men when God is speaking? We must do as one who is very curious, and listens at the door. We must listen to all that God says at the door of our heart. When you have received Our Lord, you feel your soul purified, because it bathes itself in the love of God. When we go to to Holy Communion, we feel something extraordinary, a comfort which pervades the whole body, and penetrates to the extremities. What is this comfort? It is Our Lord, who communicates Himself to all parts of our bodies, and makes them thrill. We are obliged to say, like St John, "It is the Lord!" Those who feel absolutely nothing are very much to be pitied.'

My Lord and my God,

I thank you for coming to me

in the Most Holy Sacrament.

Dwell in me, fill my soul, vivify me,

and sustain me in the pilgrimage of life.

As I become more conformed

to your image and united to you,

enable me to draw others

to your Mystical Body, the Church.

Amen.

Feast of St John Vianney . . .

Today we celebrate the Memorial of St John Vianney, patron saint of all priests.

Once again, I would like to quote from St John Vianney himself taken from the little booklet, 'A Curé of Ars Prayer Book'

"St Bernard tells us that everything has come to us through Mary; and we may also say that everything has come to us through the priest; yes, all happiness, all graces, all heavenly gifts. If we had not the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we should not have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest. Who was it that received your soul, on its entrance to life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing that soul, for the last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest - always the priest. And if that soul comes to the point of death, who will raise it up, who will restore it to calmness and peace? You cannot recall one singly blessing from God without finding, side by side with this recollection, the image of the priest."

Please pray for me and all parish priests,

Lord, we give thanks for priests who bring You to us.

We give thanks for all the graces and gifts we have received

through their ministry during our lives.

Grant us holy priests, entirely devoted to the service of souls,

in teaching the faith and ministering the Sacraments,

so that we may be led to your heavenly Kingdom.

Amen.

More on the Year of the Priest . . .

I will be referring to St John Vianney from time to time this year especially as it is the Year of the Priest.

I find the book, 'A Curé of Ars Prayer Book' very inspiring. Here, for example, is an extract from the saint's writing on Priesthood:

How great is a Priest

Oh, how great is a priest! The priest will not understand the greatness of his office till he is in Heaven. If he understood it on earth, he would die, not of fear, but of love. The other benefits of God would be of no avail to us without the priest. What would be the use of a house full of gold, if you had nobody to open you the door! The priest has the key of the heavenly treasures; it is he who opens the door; he is the steward of the good God, the distributor of His wealth. Without the priest, the Death and Passion of Our Lord would be of no avail. Look at the heathens: what has it availed them that Our Lord has died? Alas! they can have no share in the blessings of Redemption, while they have no priest to apply His Blood to their souls!

The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, he is for you. After God, the priest is everything.

God Our Father,

we thank you for all our parish priests.

We entrust them to your paternal care.

Help them in the challenges and difficulties they are faced with.

Guide them in their ministry, and keep them faithful to their calling as

pastors of your flock and stewards of your Kingdom.

Amen.

As well as praying for priests, it is of course very important that we continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood. As Pope John Paul II said in his Letter To All the Priests of the Church for Holy Thursday 1986, '. . . We beseech the Holy Spirit to call to the Church's service many priest of the calibre and holiness of the Curé of Ars . . . "

My Dear Jesus,

Thou desirest that we pray the Lord of the Harvest

that He send zealous labourers into His harvest.

Deign to raise up in Thy Church, and especially in this diocese,

numerous and holy priests who, taking Thy Divine Heart as their Model,

will, in the exercise of their holy priesthood,

promote the glory of Thy heavenly Father and

the salvation of those souls whom

Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood.

Give us true holy priests who, inflamed with the fire of Thy divine love,

seek nothing but Thy greater glory and the salvation of souls.

O Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us;

obtain for us a great number of vocations to the holy priesthood.

Amen.

A Prayer for Priests in The Year for Priests . .

This year marks the 150th Anniversary of the death of St Jean-Marie Vianney and, as we know, Pope Benedict has declared a Year for Priests from 19th June 2009 to 19th June 2010.

There are many prayers in circulation for priests and I commend this one to you from the book, A Curé of Ars Prayer Book.

I hope that readers of this blog will find it useful. I, along with all parish priests I'm sure, am very grateful for your prayers, always.

Prayer for my Parish Priest

(to be said daily)

O Lord, mayest Thou find shelter and rest gently

within the heart of Thy priests,

especially Father(s) . . . . .

Make them, O Lord, priests according to Thy Heart:

meek, humble, zealous, so that all they do

will be for Thine honour and glory.

Mould them into men of prayer and labour,

insensible to earthly things,

and sensible only to Thy love

and to the graces of the Holy Ghost.

Amen.

A Curé of Ars Prayer Book . . .

Family Publications have kindly sent me a copy of 'A Curé of Ars Prayer Book' to review.

The Holy Father has declared 19th June 2009 to 19th June 2010 'A Year for Priests' to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of the Curé of Ars - St Jean-Marie Vianney.

A man of great sanctity, St Jean-Marie Vianney attracted crowds and spent many hours daily hearing Confession he had a great love of the Eucharist and spent his life in leading souls to God through his prayer and example.

The book contains prayers and texts of St Jean-Marie Vianney together with a selection of prayers to him and by him.

In this Year of Priests, I recommend this beautiful book to priests and laity alike.

A Curé of Ars Prayer Book is published by Family Publications at £4.50.

The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus . . .

This feast appears as a liturgical feast in 1675 following the apparition of Our Lord to St Margaret Mary Alacoque.

During these revelations the Saint was given to know with special depth the need to make reparation for the passed sins of the whole world. Our Lord asked her to extend the practice of frequent Communion especially on the first Friday of each month. He asked for the first Friday after the Octave of the Blessed Sacrament (Corpus Christi) to be dedicated to a special feast to the glory of his Heart.

Pope Pius IX extended the feast to the Universal Church and in 1928 Pope Pius XI gave it the splendour it has today.

This year in March Pope Benedict, meeting with members of the Congregation for the Clergy, announced that the Church will celebrate a special Year for Priests beginning on 19th June – today. The year commemorates the 150th anniversary of St John Vianney, Curé of Ars.

In his address, the Pope explained the continuous struggle for moral perfection that dwells ‘in every true priestly heart.’ During the year Pope Benedict XVI will proclaim St John Marie Vianney as the patron of all the priests of the world.

The year will conclude on 19th June 2010 with the Holy Father presiding at a ‘World Meeting of Priests’ in St Peter’s Square.

Concluding his address, he warned of the ‘dilution’ of priestly ministry. He explained that 'without priests, there would be no Eucharist, no Mission’ or the Church.

Today we pray for all priests that we will model ourselves on Jesus Christ, Eternal Priest.

St John Marie Vianney, pray for us.

St John Vianney

Today at Mass we prayed for all parish priests as we celebrated the Memorial of St John Vianney, also known as the Curé d'Ars. I was touched and moved by these words in my
spiritual reading,

'On a certain occasion people asked a lawyer from Lyons returning from Ars, what he had seen there. He answered, " I saw God in a man.",

Today we ask the Lord that we may be able to say the same of each priest on account of his holiness, his union with God and his concern for souls.

If you read this blog, please pray for me.