Saint Who?
Saints Who Battled the Devil
Saint John Vianney
Priest († 1859) Feast: August 4
“If I were to become a priest,” little John Marie Vianney told his mother, “I would like to win many souls.” The Curé of Ars grew up in a peasant family in France. He spent most of his time helping the family, and at age seventeen he was still illiterate. He was however very devout, diligent, and eager to conform himself to God’s will in everything.
John was ordained a priest in 1815. Two years later, he became pastor in the small village of Ars, where he would work wonders of conversion. “The priesthood,” he said, “is the love of the heart of Jesus.” He heard up to a hundred hours of confessions every week, and attracted penitents from many miles away. His successes were marked by the vehemence of the devil in attacking him from all sides: from destroying his rest to temptations to despair, and even setting his bed on fire. It is said attacks were often worst before a great sinner came to the confessional.
Undeterred, John nicknamed the devil the “grappin” (a grappling hook), joking that they were “almost chums,” so frequent were their encounters. And he used the attacks to prove the reality of the devil to his flock. In an encounter with a possessed person, a demon was to tell John: “If there were three such priests as you, my kingdom would be ruined.”
Good Father, grant us the powerful
protection of holy priests.
