Healing the Brokenhearted

The Cure of Ars, St. John Mary Vianney, was ordained in 1815, a year before St. Marcellin and the founders of the Society of Mary. Like St. Marcellin, he was not a top rank scholar, but rather a man of a simple and strong faith. The stories of his hours in the confessional, 16-18 hours a day, his ability to "read souls", his simple but inspiring sermons, his poverty, his miracles even while alive, such as multiplying the flour and potatoes in the pantry of the orphanage connected to the parish, and his bouts with the devil, are legendary. There is no question of why he is a saint.
The Entrance Antiphon for his Mass comes from Luke 4:18: "The Spirit of God is upon me; he has anointed me. He sent me to bring good news to the poor, and to heal the broken-hearted." It sums up the mission of this humble parish priest and touches on the "secret of his success", his immense love of God that grew as a result of the presence of the Spirit of God in his life. He composed a prayer in which he ardently expresses his love of God, "I love you O my God and desire heaven only to have the blessing of loving you perfectly....I want to tell you with each breath how much I love you." In another place he wrote, "to love God with our whole mind is to think of him often (the Presence of God), and to make it our principal study to know him well."
His whole being was offered to God as a sacrifice of love, and thus made him a most effective instrument of healing for penitents and all who came to him for advice or blessing. St. John Mary Vianney, pray for us.
Bro. Rene