History of SJV Parish
Our Parish’s Patron Saint
Ever worry that you’re not smart enough? Or influential enough? Or important enough? Ever wonder if the life of a very average person can be a life of real meaning and impact? Then look no further for inspiration than our parish’s patron saint.
Jean-Marie Vianney was born into a farming family in eastern France in 1786. As a young man, his fervent desire was to become a priest, but his own intellectual shortcomings made that dream nearly impossible. He had a poor memory, little ability for abstract thought, and he simply could not grasp the fundamentals of such subjects as Latin and theology. Although his piety was recognized, he flunked out of the seminary.
That would have been the end of the story, but for the kindness of another priest, Father Balley, who tutored Jean-Marie and interceded for him with the diocesan examiner of candidates for ordination. The examiner saw Jean-Marie’s academic deficiencies, but also saw his holiness and suitability for the priesthood. Father Vianney was eventually ordained in 1815, assigned to assist Father Balley until Balley’s death in 1817.
In 1818 Father Vianney received his first independent assignment, to a parish in a small, obscure village called Ars. Ars had only about 230 inhabitants, and very few of these were outstanding for their faith. For most, religion was a mere formality, ignored except for weekly Mass attendance. Not a very promising first assignment for newly-ordained Father Vianney!
Father Vianney began his ministry by house-to-house visits in the parish, catechism classes for children, and most important of all, by personally living a life of humility and holiness that was a model for his parishioners. Slowly but surely, things began to change in Ars. The taverns closed, the church became crowded even on weekdays, and the line to the confessional grew always longer. In the confessional, Father Vianney discovered that he had a real gift for seeing into the depths of his parishioners’ souls and for giving them absolution with a few compassionate words that often changed the whole course of their lives.
In time, the world came to Ars, as word spread about this extraordinary priest. From 1830 on, Father Vianney averaged 12-16 hours a day in the confessional, in addition to his regular pastoral duties, so sought-after was this humble, modest priest.
Father Vianney died in 1859, by which time Ars had already become a place of pilgrimage. Pope Pius XI canonized him in 1925, and in 1929 named him, very appropriately, the patron saint of parish priests.
St. Jean-Marie Vianney could also be considered a patron saint of all of those who worry about their shortcomings, their failures, their mediocrity.
If there’s one lesson we can learn from St. John Vianney’s life, it’s that God has given each of us all of the talents and gifts we need, and even the most unpromising of assignments has the potential for greatness.
And there’s a second story here, as well. Remember Father Balley, the kindly priest who mentored Jean-Marie and helped him become ordained?
Father Balley died two years later, so he never knew how much good resulted from his helping Father Vianney achieve his vocation. It’s a reminder to all of us that opportunities for greatness, and for setting positive things in motion, present themselves to us every day.
It’s in the smallest of ways, by living genuinely good lives and extending ourselves in kindness to others, that each of us, like St. John Vianney, achieve lives of true impact and importance.
