Many of
his sermons are available online and many of his quotations are on
Saints' Quotes.
Saint Jean Marie Vianney is the
Patron Saint of Parish priests, he is an ideal model to follow that the Church has given to her priests.
'See, my children, how sin degrades man; of an angel created to love God it makes a demon who will curse Him for all eternity. Ah! If Adam, our first father, had not sinned, and if we did not sin every day, how happy we should be! We should be as happy as the saints in heaven. There would be no more unhappy people on the earth. Oh, how beautiful it would be!'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
'A spiritual communion acts on the soul as blowing does on a cinder - covered fire which was about to go out. Whenever you feel your love of God growing cold, quickly make a spiritual communion.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
'My children, St. Philomena has great power with God. Her virginity and generosity in embracing heroic martyrdom has rendered her so agreeable to God that He will never refuse anything that she asks for us.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
'You must either suffer in this life or give up the hope of seeing God in Heaven. Sufferings and persecutions are of the greatest avail to us, because we can find therein a very efficient means to make atonement for our sins, since we are bound to suffer for them either in this world or in the next.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
'In the morning, we must do like the little child in its cradle. The moment it opens its eyes, it looks round the house for its mother. When it sees her, it begins to smile; if it does not see her, it cries.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
'If a priest is determined not to lose his soul, so soon as any disorder arises in the parish he must trample under foot all human considerations as well as the fear of the contempt and hatred of his people. He must not allow anything to bar his way in the discharge of duty, even where he is certain of being murdered on coming down from the pulpit. A pastor who wants to do his duty must keep his sword in hand at all times.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
'We are convinced, that this sin [willful ignorance] alone causes the loss of more souls than all the other sins together, because he who is ignorant does not realize the harm he does by his sin, nor the great good he thus forfeits.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
'Alas, my friend. We cannot be together in Heaven unless we have begun to live so in this world. Death makes no change in that. As the tree falls, so shall it lie. . . Jesus Christ said . . . "He that does not hear the Church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican." And he also said, "There shall be one fold and one shepherd," and He made St. Peter the chief shepherd of His flock. My dear friend, there are not two ways of serving Jesus Christ. There is only one good way, and that is to serve Him as He Himself desires to be served.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
'It is not surprising, then, that the devil should do everything possible to influence us to give up prayer or to pray badly, because he knows better than we do how terrible it is for hell and how impossible it is that God should refuse us what we ask Him for in prayer. How many sinners would get out of sin if they managed to have recourse to prayer!'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
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