Perhaps you know about St. Jean Vianney. If so, you might know him as the patron saint of parish priests. Or you might know that he often heard confessions for many hours a day. In fact, he was such a popular confessor, that people would wait in long lines to give their confessions in the same way that today people line up outside a store prior to the release of some new product of technology. Or you might know that he helped turn a town around as the parish priest. However, he is also known as a miracle worker. Here are some stories about how he helped bring about a couple of miracles.
Early Life During the French Revolution
First, it might be good to share some background about St. Jean Vianney.
He was born in the year 1786 to Matthieu Vianney and Marie Beluzein in the village of Dardilly, in the area of Lyons in France. Jean was the fourth of six children His family were farmers, and when he was old enough, he was given charge of the sheep.
As a shepherd, he had time to think and to pray. One practice which he had was to take a little image of the Virgin Mary which he had made and put it in the hollow of a tree, adorn it with flowers, and kneel before Our Lady's image to pray the Rosary. This practice attracted the attention of the other shepherd boys, and Jean was able to explain who the lady is and what he was doing. He found that he enjoyed teaching about the Faith.
It must be understood that at this time the French Revolution had begun and the Catholic Faith was being suppressed. The boys with whom Jean spoke might not have been to mass in years because their families had given up the practice of their faith. And, in fact, what Jean was doing was actually illegal in the eyes of the government.
The priest in the local parish had taken an oath of fidelity to the French Republic with its commitment to secularism so families stopped going to mass. And many families, including Jean's companions, had abandoned anything to do with the Catholic Faith.
Jean's family did not stop going to mass. Instead, they went to masses which were held secretly in places like a family's barn. The priests who celebrated the mass there had remained faithful, and, consequently, they were wanted men. And families took the risk to go to mass and to hide the faithful priests. For young Jean, his first impression of priests were men who risked their lives to serve the people by administering the sacraments.
In light of that, it soon became clear at a fairly young age that Jean had a vocation to the priesthood. It was just about at that time that the ban on religious practice was lifted. All the same, Jean worked for about five years on his family's farm continuing to grow in his faith and develop virtues such as patience, gentleness, and perseverance through the hard work of plowing, cultivating, and harvesting.
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Following his Vocation
In the year 1806, a parish priest in the neighboring village of Ecully opened a school for students to prepare for the priesthood. Jean's parents made the sacrifice and sent him to the school. Unfortunately, for Jean, he was not a very good student. Jean found learning all of the information difficult. His studies were math, geography, history, and Latin which was particularly difficult for him. Nonetheless, despite his educational struggles, his vocation was considered to be genuine.
Jean's first assignment was as a curate for M. Bailley who was the parish priest who had taught him and advocated for him. It was well that this was the case because Jean had not yet received all of his faculties--he could not hear confessions--and under any other priest he might have been found seriously wanting. The fact is that Jean lacked the formal training expected of priests but he made up for it in spades by his actual experience in the spiritual life. His relationship with Christ enabled him to serve the people. And the people responded by recognizing his holiness. Accordingly, Jean spent three valuable years serving under the senior priest.
Assigned to Ars
Fr. Jean came from peasant stock, and he had maintained a simply and trusting heart. Consequently, he had deep trust in God, and probably the "secret" to his ministry was that trust which led Fr. Jean to simply do what was needed to help his people lead lives of holiness. If hours of confession were needed, he would do it. If lack of sleep was needed, he would do that. If taking on additional penances was needed in order to help his penitents, he would do it.
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To accommodate the girls the top floor of the house became a dormitory. And when that became too small to house the girls, the home was enlarged. Fr. Jean would start building and the money would come in as God provided it. Fr. Jean would beg far and wide to provide for the school, and over time, the school continued to grow and be sustained from donation to donation.
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Dough More than You Think You Can
Only four or five years later, the school faced the same crisis with a lack of flour and corn. The granary was empty due to the drought. The miller had failed to deliver the flour because the miller had none. Fr. Jean told the school's baker to put the yeast in the little flour she had and tomorrow to act as if she had all that she needed. The next day the baker went to work with the dough and it began to grow. She could not add water fast enough to the mixture.
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