August 4th is the Feastday of the Cure of Ars, patron saint of all priests.
Pray this novena to him on behalf of the priests of Menevia, especially those about to be ordained and for all priests throughout the world.
Novena to St. John Vianney for the Priesthood
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St. John Vianney was ordained a priest in 1815. Three years later he
was made parish priest of Ars, a remote French hamlet, where his reputation
as a confessor and director of souls made him known throughout the
Christian world. Accustomed to the most severe austerities, beleaguered by
swarms of penitents, and besieged by the devil, this great mystic manifested
a imperturbable patience. He was a wonderworker loved by the crowds, but
he retained a childlike simplicity, and he remains to this day the living image
of the priest after the heart of Christ. He heard confessions of people from
all over the world for the sixteen hours each day. His life was filled with
works of charity and love. It is recorded that even the staunchest of sinners
were converted at his mere word. He died August 4,1859, and was
canonized May 31, 1925.
First Day - July 27
St. John Vianney, Who Accepted the Cross
O holy Priest of Ars, as a young seminarian you encountered many obstacles
on the road to the Priesthood, but you realized that to suffer was to suffer
with Christ on Calvary, and so, if following our Lord meant taking up His
cross, you lovingly embraced it. Your motto in life became loving while
suffering and suffering in order to love. You did not get discouraged, but
your strong faith united you closer to Jesus every day of your life.
O great St. John Vianney, you know what is needed for our Priests’ salvation
-- a strong faith able to accept the will of God in all things. To serve Christ,
they too must take up their crosses and follow Him. By your prayers, obtain
for them a heart full of courage and strength. Obtain for each Priest that
same courage and strength to follow Jesus wholeheartedly even if it means
following Him to Calvary. Intercede for them before the Lord that they may
do the will of God, obey the commandments, and loyally love the Church,
the Bride of Christ.
Recite the Novena Prayer.
Novena Prayer
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served Him
faithfully as His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never
despaired but persevered in your faith until you died. Remember now the
dangers, fears and anxieties that surround our Priests and intercede for
them in all theirs needs and troubles especially console them in their most
difficult moments, grant them serenity in the midst of crisis, and protect
them from evil.
O St. John Vianney, Patron of Priests, I have confidence in your intercession.
Please pray for us and our Priests! Please pray especially for the needs of
Father(s) ____________ and for an increase in vocations to the Priesthood.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.
(5x in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to receive a Partial Indulgence*)
Second Day - July 28
St. John Vianney, Full of Zeal for Souls
O holy Priest of Ars, you taught men to pray daily: “O my God, come to me,
so that You may dwell in me and I may dwell in You.” Your life was the very
living out of this prayer. The divine life of grace abided in you. Your zeal for
the salvation of souls was manifested by your total self-surrender to God,
which was expressed in your selfless service to others. You gave of yourself
unreservedly in the confessional, at the altar, in the classroom, in fact, in
every action you performed.
O great St. John Vianney, obtain for each Priest the realization that God also
dwells in him when he is free of sin. Remind him that the salvation of his
soul is the fulfillment of his existence. Awaken in him a sense of self-giving
for the salvation of souls. Obtain for our Priests, by your intercession, a zeal
for souls like your zeal. May each Priest see that God dwells in him and in his
fellow men. Obtain for them from our Lord the grace to lead all men to
salvation. Let your prayer be theirs: “If you really love God, you will greatly
desire to see Him loved by all the world.”
Recite the Novena Prayer.
Third Day - July 29
St. John Vianney, Adorer of the Blessed Sacrament
O holy Priest of Ars, you had such an overwhelming love for Christ in the
Blessed Sacrament that you prayed for hours in His presence. You said that
“when our Lord sees them coming eagerly to visit Him in the Blessed
Sacrament, He smiles upon them. They come with that simplicity which
pleases Him so much.”
O Saint of the Eucharist, may your example enkindle in our Priests a deeper
love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. By your prayers, never let them
doubt Christ’s Real Presence, but obtain for them a firm faith rooted in the
Eucharist. Help them not to be afraid to defend or preach Christ’s Real
Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Obtain for them the grace to approach
our Lord with simplicity of heart as he lays his soul’s innermost thoughts
before Jesus’ Sacred Heart. Keep our Priests under your continual protection,
that they may be supported by your example and assistance and be
faithfully devoted to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. May their lives reflect
the belief of our Lord’s abiding presence with us. O St. John Vianney, by the
power of your intercession, give us Priests devoted to the holy Sacrament of
the Altar.
Recite the Novena Prayer.
Fourth Day - July 30
St. John Vianney, Greatly Devoted to Our Blessed Mother
O holy Priest of Ars, your life was consecrated to the Blessed Mother. You
prayed earnestly to her, entrusting your Priesthood to her care. You begged
all the faithful to pray the rosary, the favorite prayer of Mary, our Mother.
You summed up the reason for your great love of our Lady by saying: “We
have only to turn to the Blessed Mother to be heard. Her heart is all love.”
O great John Vianney, I ask you with all my heart through the merits of
Jesus and the intercession of Mary, the Virgin Mother to make our Priests
lives’ patterned after that of our heavenly Mother, full of love for God and his
neighbor. Obtain for them a deeper love for our Lady and a filial confidence
in her. She is the person to whom they can turn in times of distress when
lonely or upset or in times of temptation. Inspire each Priest to consecrate
his life to his Mother in heaven. May they know the powerful protection of
Mary’s mantle all the days of their lives.
Recite the Novena Prayer.
Fifth Day - July 31
St. John Vianney, Lover of Sinners
O holy Priest of Ars, you spent many long hours daily in the confessional.
People came to you for forgiveness of their sins from far-off places. Although
you despised sin, you always received the sinner with much love and
forgiveness.
O holy confessor of the Lord, St. John Vianney, awaken in each Priest a
sense of his sinfulness before the eyes of God. By your Priestly example,
grant them a love of the reception of the Sacrament of Penance. Obtain for
them the understanding that it is in confessing one’s sins that God’s mercy is
poured out upon him and he draws closer to Christ. Obtain for them a deep
hatred of sin and the grace to resist temptation. Teach them the value of
frequent confession, where we meet Jesus, our Savior, the source of all
mercy and consolation. Contrite and forgiven may all those with whom they
comes in contact act with that same mercy. Pray that our Priests always love
the Sacrament of Penance. Pray that they may call sinners to repentance
with their good examples and live in complete service to our Lord.
Recite the Novena Prayer.
Sixth Day - Aug 1
St. John Vianney, Model of Purity
O holy Priest of Ars, your life was a model of purity. Your life of chastity was
a source of edification to all. You said that when a soul is pure all the court
of heaven looks upon it with great joy. Today we are experiencing a great
disregard for the virtue of purity; it is looked upon with ridicule by worldly
standards.
O great St. John Vianney, more than ever before, we need your prayers and
help in avoiding sins of impurity. I ask you to help keep our Priests pure in
mind and in body and give good example in their speech, conduct and faith.
Obtain for them the strength necessary to combat temptations against the
virtue of purity, which could lead them away from God. Unite your prayers
with those of Mary Immaculate to implore God that our Priests be pure in
mind and heart and preserve them from those sins which are so displeasing
to God.
Recite the Novena Prayer.
Seventh Day - Aug 2
St. John Vianney, Humble in all Things
O holy Priest of Ars, your life was filled with humility. You wore an old
cassock. You ate meager meals. You realized that before the throne of God,
you were one of His creatures made to glorify God and praise Him in all
things. You said that the “first virtue is humility; the second, humility; and
the third, humility.” You counseled people to remain humble, remain simple
and the more one is so, the more good he will do. Your simplicity of soul and
your uncluttered way of life led you to sanctity.
O humble St. John Vianney, when our Priests forget they are totally
dependent on God for everything, intercede for them with Almighty God, to
allow them to see that without His Creator nothing is possible and that they
must rely on God for everything. He is their Creator, who keeps them in
existence at every moment. Obtain for each Priest the grace of humility. May
their lives exemplify your humility and simplicity, a life uncluttered, a life
totally dependent on God.
Recite the Novena Prayer.
Eighth Day - Aug 3
St. John Vianney, Lover of Penance and Mortification
O holy Priest of Ars, you led a life of detachment from worldly pleasures.
Your meals consisted of a boiled potato each day; you slept a few hours each
night. But you did all of this so that you would be able to serve God to the
best of your ability. Your life was portrayed by the saying: “We complain
when we suffer. We have much more reason to complain when we do not
suffer, since nothing likens us to our Lord as the bearing of His cross.”
O great St. John Vianney, in these days when we are surrounded by so many
comforts and pleasures, it can be so difficult for us to do penance for our
sins and live a life of detachment. I resolve to offer some sacrifice today for
the expiation of our Priests sins and the sins of all mankind. Assist Priests in
accepting the cross God chooses to send him. May they embrace the life of
sacrifice to which Priests are called. May they willingly offer their whole lives
to God! Obtain for each Priest the grace to imitate the life of Christ by the
bearing of His cross.
Recite the Novena Prayer.
Ninth Day - Aug 4 (Plenary Indulgence Day**)
St. John Vianney, Good and Holy Priest
O holy Priest of Ars, you lived in an age of much upheaval, in a time when
men turned their backs on God. Your bishop told of a parish to which he
wished to send you where there was no love. He assigned you to Ars and
said that you would be the Priest who would enable the people to know the
love of God. Not only did you draw these people back to God, but your
saintly reputation soon spread and many people were converted to a life of
holiness. You said that a good Priest, a Priest after Christ’s own heart is the
greatest treasure that God can give a parish. Give us such Priests!
O great St. John Vianney, once again we are living in day of upheaval. There
is much evil in the word. Obtain for our Priests the grace to persevere in
faith and never to despair. May they walk with the Lord and trust in Him all
the days of their lives. Obtain through your heavenly intercession, for each
Priest the grace of modeling his life after that of Jesus Christ, that his people
will know the love of God. More than ever the people need them to be able
to bring the world to Christ. O great Priest of Ars, on this, your Feast Day,
please pray for our Priests!
Recite the Novena Prayer.
* The Partial Indulgence is granted to all the faithful every time they devoutly recite five
Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glorias, or another expressly approved prayer, in honour
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to obtain that priests be preserved in purity and holiness
of life.
**The Plenary Indulgence is granted to all the faithful who are truly repentant who, in
church or in chapel, devoutly attend the divine Sacrifice of Mass and o
Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest, for the priests of the Church, and any other good
work which they have done on that day, so that he may sanctify them and form them in
accordance with His Heart, as long as they have made expiation for their sins through
sacramental confession and prayed in accordance with the Supreme Ponti
intentions: on the days in which the Year for Priests begins and ends, on the day of the
150th anniversary of the pious passing of St John Mary Vianney, on the first Thursday
of the month or on any other day established by the local Ordinaries for the benefit of
the faithful.
(Given in Rome, at the O
Mark the Evangelist, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord 2009.)ffer prayers toff'sffices of the Apostolic Penitentiary on 25 April, the Feast of St
