Post #6200

SAINT JOHN BAPTIST MARY VIANNEY, PRIEST AND CONFESSOR John Mary Vianney, born on the 8th of May 1786 to pious peasants in the village of Dardilly, in the diocese of Lyons, gave many signs of holiness from childhood. At the age of eight while he was tending the sheep, he now used to teach by word and example to recite the Rosary to children kneeling before the image of the Mother of God; now, having left the care of the flock to the sister or someone else, to withdraw to a more hidden place to give oneself more freely to prayer before the effigy of the Virgin. Very fond of the poor, he delighted to lead them to his father's house and help them in every way. To be instructed in letters, he was entrusted to the parish priest of the village of Ecully; but being dull in wit, he encountered almost insurmountable difficulties in his studies. With fasting and prayer he implored divine help, and to ask for ease of learning, he made a pilgrimage, begging, to the tomb of Saint Francis Regis.