Day 9
“To love the good God with our whole heart is to prefer Him to everything…to love nothing that is incompatible with the love or God. To love the good God with our whole mind is to think of Him often, and to make it our principle study to know Him well…To love the good God with all our strength. is to employ our possessions, our health, and our talents, in serving Him and glorifying Him. It is to refer all our actions to Him, as our last end..”– St. Jean Vianney
O Holy Priest of Ars, your precious remains are contained in a magnificent reliquary, the donation from the priests of France. But this earthly glory is only a very pale image of the unspeakable glory which you are enjoying with God. During the time you were on earth, you used to repeat in your dejected hours, ‘one will rest in the other life.” It is done, you are in eternal peace, and eternal happiness.
I desire to follow you one day. Until then, I hear you saying to me:
“You should work and fight as long as you are in the world.”
Teach me then to work for the salvation of my soul, to spread the good news and good example and to do good towards those around me in order that I will receive the happiness of the Elect with you.
O most holy Saint John Vianney, you were a priest who was outstanding in pastoral zeal. May priests today be filled with that zeal, faithful to their calling, refreshed in their labors by the Holy Spirit, supported by their fellow workers and appreciated by those whose lives they touch. Dear Curé of Ars, pray for us, but especially for all priests!
Holy Priest of Ars, I have confidence in your intercession. Pray for me during this novena especially for grace to accept the Apostolic governance that our Lord established for his Church, that I might empty myself of all my fears and apprehensions of what this estrangement of priest and bishop might entail for the cause of life, and to be filled with the peace of the Holy Spirit, which surpasses all understanding. Through your intercession, may we all draw closer to our bishops and our priests, those who make this cause a priority, and those whose focus is on other, equally essential, causes for the People of God.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.
