The Cure of Ars Today is the memorial of Saint John Vianney, the
Cure of Ars. He was born into a world in 1786 where the Church
was soon under attack by the first of the totalitarian regimes,
Revolutionary France. His family remained loyal to the Faith,
and helped priests on the run from the State. Young John saw
these brave men as heroes as well as priests, and soon wished to
join their ranks. He was hampered by his ill education and the
fact that he simply wasn’t a very good student, no matter how
hard he tried. He was ordained more as an act of Christian
charity, and a recognition that he had a good heart and would
try his best to be a good priest, than because of any success in
his studies. He was assigned to be the cure of the village of
Ars, a town of only 230 people. The church was almost deserted,
with most of the population of the town consisting of fallen
away Catholics. He immediately began doing acts of reparation
for the sins of his parishioners, and eventually won them back
to the Faith through