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The Sermons of the Cure d'Ars: For all the Sundays and Feasts of the Year
St. John Vianney, the Cure d’Ars, though he was not thought competent to preach or hear confessions, became one of the greatest preachers and confessors of his age.
The 19th century was one of optimism for French Catholicism, but, following the horrors of the French Revolution, there was also a feeling of lukewarmness and an approach to the moral life that felt sin could not be all that bad.
St. John Vianney, on the other hand, would not suffer to see souls be damned for lukewarmness. His preaching permeates with the love of God first and foremost, and clear prescriptions for leading his flock to heaven.
Reprinted exactly from the 1901 Wagner edition and unabridged, the Sermons of the Cure d’Ars are arranged for every Sunday of the year according to the 1962 Calendar, as well as the principal feasts of the year.
The 19th century was one of optimism for French Catholicism, but, following the horrors of the French Revolution, there was also a feeling of lukewarmness and an approach to the moral life that felt sin could not be all that bad.
St. John Vianney, on the other hand, would not suffer to see souls be damned for lukewarmness. His preaching permeates with the love of God first and foremost, and clear prescriptions for leading his flock to heaven.
Reprinted exactly from the 1901 Wagner edition and unabridged, the Sermons of the Cure d’Ars are arranged for every Sunday of the year according to the 1962 Calendar, as well as the principal feasts of the year.
426 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1901
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About the author
John Vianney
32 books25 followersSt. Jean-Marie Vianney was born in 1786 at Dardilly, France. After being drafted, leaving the army, and opening a school for village schoolchildren, he joined the minor seminary of Verrieres in 1812 and was ordained a priest three years afterward.
He is often referred to as the "Curé d'Ars". He became internationally notable for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish because of the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings due to his saintly life, mortification, his persevering ministry in the sacrament of confession, and his ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to Saint Philomena.
St. Vianney died at Ars-sur-Formans, France, in 1859, and was declared a saint by Pope Pius XI in 1925. His feast day is celebrated on the fourth of August.
He is often referred to as the "Curé d'Ars". He became internationally notable for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish because of the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings due to his saintly life, mortification, his persevering ministry in the sacrament of confession, and his ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to Saint Philomena.
St. Vianney died at Ars-sur-Formans, France, in 1859, and was declared a saint by Pope Pius XI in 1925. His feast day is celebrated on the fourth of August.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 27, 2024
Ethics and agnosticism don't often mix. Agnostics see life as little more than a continual struggle, while Christian moralists see life as a series of points on an ascending gradient.
Either way, life is bleak once we awaken from our naive shells.
And once our pleasures dwindle in advanced age, life can often be an open-ended moral vacuum. That feeling incited my writing of this review.
If your ethics arise from your religious beliefs, you're in for an ongoing drubbing once your critics sense your weaknesses.
Drub away, say the saints, if they're beyond caring! But that kind of perfection is rare.
So, should WE care?
No.
But we DO, cause it hurts.
When the great mystery writer Agatha Christie was a little girl, she and her mother shared the same soulspace. But her Mom had been broken when HER Mom gave her up to her sister - Agatha's great aunt - to raise when she was little.
And incredibly, Agatha Christie in turn SYMPATHETICALLY suffered for that turn of events to her grave.
Why? Because:
Love bites
Love bleeds -
It's bringing me
To my knees.
Certainly Saint John Vianney was not yet at at that point of forgiving and forgetting, either, here when he delivered these scathing homilies. They reveal the soul of a man who tried to entrench himself in absolutes to shield himself from all the mudslinging.
But nowadays we don't have that luxury. The Void lives in all our closets. There is no place to hide.
You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
A hard life indeed, publicly calling yourself Christian!
Yikes.
You're a pincushion. If you're a member of the religious right, you fight back.
I can't - I'm Canadian. And Canadian socialism has had even the politest of moralists against the ropes for years. And put the boots to them. More than that, in my seventies much of the fire has gone from my heart.
No, the agnosticism in most climes has grown old and embittered, too. But yet I have the consolation of peace.
So is St. John right?
Should we "kick (back) against the pricks?"
No, said St. Paul.
We must go calmly through the storms of life with a quiet vision of Heavenly Peace guiding our Steps...
For that vision itself is the End of our Grievous Struggle.
Believe it... or NOT!
Either way, life is bleak once we awaken from our naive shells.
And once our pleasures dwindle in advanced age, life can often be an open-ended moral vacuum. That feeling incited my writing of this review.
If your ethics arise from your religious beliefs, you're in for an ongoing drubbing once your critics sense your weaknesses.
Drub away, say the saints, if they're beyond caring! But that kind of perfection is rare.
So, should WE care?
No.
But we DO, cause it hurts.
When the great mystery writer Agatha Christie was a little girl, she and her mother shared the same soulspace. But her Mom had been broken when HER Mom gave her up to her sister - Agatha's great aunt - to raise when she was little.
And incredibly, Agatha Christie in turn SYMPATHETICALLY suffered for that turn of events to her grave.
Why? Because:
Love bites
Love bleeds -
It's bringing me
To my knees.
Certainly Saint John Vianney was not yet at at that point of forgiving and forgetting, either, here when he delivered these scathing homilies. They reveal the soul of a man who tried to entrench himself in absolutes to shield himself from all the mudslinging.
But nowadays we don't have that luxury. The Void lives in all our closets. There is no place to hide.
You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
A hard life indeed, publicly calling yourself Christian!
Yikes.
You're a pincushion. If you're a member of the religious right, you fight back.
I can't - I'm Canadian. And Canadian socialism has had even the politest of moralists against the ropes for years. And put the boots to them. More than that, in my seventies much of the fire has gone from my heart.
No, the agnosticism in most climes has grown old and embittered, too. But yet I have the consolation of peace.
So is St. John right?
Should we "kick (back) against the pricks?"
No, said St. Paul.
We must go calmly through the storms of life with a quiet vision of Heavenly Peace guiding our Steps...
For that vision itself is the End of our Grievous Struggle.
Believe it... or NOT!
December 25, 2023
What can I say? The Curé of Ars (St. John Vianney) is amazingly insightful and instructive for someone with limited education. He knows the truth and teaches it despite not being as “learned” as the intellectuals of his day (or the Father of the Church, for example).
This slim volume goes through various major feast days and occasions, beginning with All Saints Day and ending with the 1900 Jubilee. A particular favorite of mine was his homily to First Holy Communicants. My younger daughter will be receiving her First Holy Communion this spring so I’ll have to keep his advice to them in mind as we prepare her.
I highly recommend this series of homilies for spiritual reading! Enjoy!
This slim volume goes through various major feast days and occasions, beginning with All Saints Day and ending with the 1900 Jubilee. A particular favorite of mine was his homily to First Holy Communicants. My younger daughter will be receiving her First Holy Communion this spring so I’ll have to keep his advice to them in mind as we prepare her.
I highly recommend this series of homilies for spiritual reading! Enjoy!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews