John Vianney

Life events

1. Born — 1786

   Jean-Marie Vianney was born on 9 May 1786 in Dardilly, France, near Lyon, the fourth of six children of Matthieu and Marie Vianney; he was baptized the same day.

2. Educated — 1806

   At age 20, Vianney left the family farm to study at a presbytery school in Écully conducted by the Abbé Balley, where he was taught arithmetic, history, geography, and Latin; his earlier education had been disrupted by the French Revolution.

3. Other — 1809

   Vianney was conscripted into Napoleon's armies in 1809; after falling ill and losing his draft unit, he sheltered for fourteen months among deserters in the Forez mountains village of Les Noes, assuming the alias Jerome Vincent and running a school for local children.

4. Tonsured — 1811

   Vianney was tonsured in 1811 after returning to Écully under the imperial amnesty of March 1810, and entered the minor seminary at Verrières-en-Forez in 1812.

5. Ordained — 1815

   Vianney was ordained a priest on 12 August 1815 at the Couvent des Minimes de Grenoble, having received the subdiaconate on 2 July 1814 and the diaconate in June 1815; Abbé Balley persuaded the vicar general that Vianney's commitment offset his academic deficiencies.

6. Other — 1818

   Following the death of Abbé Balley, Vianney was appointed parish priest of Ars — a town of 230 inhabitants — in 1818, where he would serve for the rest of his life, transforming the community through preaching, confession, and founding La Providence, a home for girls, with Catherine Lassagne and Benedicta Lardet.

7. Died — 1859

   Vianney died on 4 August 1859 at the age of 73; his funeral was presided over by the bishop with 300 priests and more than 6,000 people in attendance.

8. Other — 1925

   Vianney was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925; in 1929 Pius XI designated him patron saint of parish priests worldwide, and in 1928 his feast day was inserted into the General Roman Calendar.

Relationships

Documented claims

• During the last decade of his life, Vianney spent 16 to 18 hours a day in the confessional; by 1855, pilgrims traveling to Ars numbered 20,000 a year. (likely)
• During his fourteen months hiding among military deserters in Les Noes (1809–1810), Vianney used the alias Jerome Vincent and taught school for village children under that name. (likely)
• Vianney yearned for the contemplative life of a monk and ran away from Ars four times, the last time in 1853, each time returning to the parish he had served since 1818. (likely)
• Pope Benedict XVI declared 19 June 2009 to 19 June 2010 a Year for Priests to mark the 150th anniversary of Vianney's death, citing him as 'a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ's flock.' (certain)
• Vianney's feast day was inserted into the General Roman Calendar in 1928 on 9 August, moved to 8 August in the 1960 revision, and fixed on 4 August — the day of his death — in the 1969 revision. (certain)