St. Ignatius Loyola Parish
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| The year of the priest proclaimed by his holiness pope benedict xvi 2009 ~ June 19 ~ 2010 Patron of parish priests – st. john vianney This year is the 150th anniversary of St. John Vianney's death in 1859 and Pope Benedict is using this occasion to declare a year dedicated to the mission of the priest. St. John Vianney is a great model and example of the importance of holiness in the life of a priest. He was born in France at the time of the inception of the French Revolution, a time when there was great hatred for the Church. Churches were being destroyed and priests and religious sisters were being massacred. He sought to become a priest but his father discouraged him. At the age of twenty, however, he was finally able to pursue his studies for the priesthood. At the seminary he found his studies very difficult and was about to be dismissed. The Vicar General of the diocese allowed him to continue by asking the Rector: "Is Monsieur Vianney good?" The Rector replied, "He is a model of goodness." The Vicar General said: "Let him be ordained. The grace of God will do the rest." In 1815 he was ordained, and at the Mass the Vicar General said, The Church wants not only learned priests, but, even more, holy ones." That perception of the young priest proved to be so true, for this humble priest was assigned to the small village of Ars to serve as pastor of 230 people. His life of great penance and prayer resulted in his becoming a great apostle of the confessional, sometimes as much as 18 hours a day seeing many people from far and wide. The small, little town of Ars became famous throughout France and eventually throughout the world because of the holiness of this pastor. Pope Benedict sees the need of such priestly holiness and asks the world to pray especially for priests during this special year, which begins on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Reflecting on this upcoming Year of the Priest, Cardinal Claudio Humnes, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, wrote: "May this year be an occasion for a period of intense appreciation of the priestly identity, of the theology of the Catholic priesthood, and the extraordinary meaning of the vocation and mission of priests within the Church and in society with the warm participation of our Catholic people who undoubtedly love their priests and want to see them happy, holy, and joyous in their daily apostolic labors." |
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