St. John Vianney

St John Vianney was a blockhead and so am I.

St. John Vianney was born into a peasant family in the small town of Dardilly on 8 May 1786.

His family was poor in material possessions but rich in humanity and in faith. He spent so many years of his childhood and as a teenager in the fields and tending the flocks that at the age of 17 he was still illiterate.

He desperately wanted to be a priest. But soon after he entered the seminary, they asked him to leave mid-semester because he could not keep up with the academic work.

At that point an old pastor from Ecully took him in and personally prepared him and the Bishop of Grenoble ordained him when he was 29.

Before long, 1000s of people came from all over France to hear his wisdom and were converted.

It was not by virtue of his own human gifts that he succeeded in moving peoples' hearts; he won over even the most rebellious souls by communicating to them what he himself lived deeply, namely, his friendship with Christ.

We all have family and friends we want to help become committed to Jesus. St. John Vianney shows us you don’t have to be a theologian. We just need to develop a deep friendship with Jesus in prayer and then just be yourself.

That is the beauty of the Rosary, Mary helps us develop that friendship with Christ.