SAINT John Vianney spent 11 to 12 hours a day in the confessional in his parish of Ars.
He became famous for it.
By 1827, he saw 20,000 pilgrims through his church each year.
John’s life began at a time when the French Church was under severe persecution.
The Terror saw the Church outlawed – religious and priests worked underground or faced the guillotine.
John, who was raised in a Catholic home, saw priests as his heroes.
He was raised Catholic and began his studies in the hopes of one day becoming a priest.
The Church was re-established in France in 1802.
In 1809, John was drafted into Napoleon Bonaparte’s army despite his placement as an ecclesiastical student, which was normally exempted from service – Napoleon had voided those exemptions.
But only two days into his military service, John was hospitalised due to illness.
When he went to a church to pray, he met a young man who volunteered to return him to his group, but instead led him deep into the mountains where military deserters met.
Here he went by the name Jerome Vincent as he started up a school for a nearby village.
John would spend one year and two months living like this until 1810 when deserters were granted amnesty.
He returned to his ecclesiastical studies and attended seminary before being ordained in 1815.
He became parish priest of Ars three years later.
When he began his ministry, he realised how many of his flock were indifferent or ignorant to the Church’s teachings because of the lapse created by the French Revolution.
His homilies against blasphemy and dancing, particularly on the Sabbath, became a staple of his Masses.
His work in the confessional flourished with his community and over his years, he brought thousands from across France back into communion with God.
His ministry was not without its own struggles.
John had tried to run away to become a monk four times in his life.
Each time he came back to his parish with the last attempt in 1853.
John died in 1859 and left behind a legacy of faith and was viewed as the champion of the poor.
