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"Without Contradiction, the most perfect model of sanctity that God has given to His Church in our times is the Venerable John Mary Vianney, so well and so universally known, by the name of the parish which he sanctified and made a place of pilgrimage from all parts of the world, as the Curé of Ars.

One of the great means of sanctification which God has provided for souls is the devotion to His holy Mother. Mary is the intermediary between her Son and the souls who desire to come to Him. They who seek Jesus find Him in her arms; she presents Jesus to the simple and humble, as she presented Him to the Shepherds who came to adore Him in the stable of Bethlehem; she presents Him also to the learned and noble, as she presented Him to the magi, who came from the far East.

As therefore the Curé of Ars was distinguished for his holiness, we naturally expect to find in him a special love and devotion for the Blessed Virgin. And when we come to read his life we find it almost in the very first lines. He learnt it from his pious mother, who even before his birth had dedicated him to serve God in the priesthood, and the practice of it began on the very day of his birth (in the month of May), when he was baptized and received our Lady's name in addition to that of John.

He had hardly learned to speak when he already began to pray. Even at the age of three years old he joined in the prayers that were said by the family, and when the Angelus rang he was the first to kneel down and say it.

The first present that he received from his mother was a wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin. To him, who was already so serious and prayerful, this statue was more than a plaything; it was an object of pious veneration as well. Sixty years afterwards he would speak of it. "Oh, how I loved that statue !" he said. "Day or night I would never separate myself from it. I should not have slept in peace if I had not had it by my side in my little bed."

A priest once asked him how long he had loved the Blessed Virgin. He replied, "I loved her almost before I could know her. . . . When I was very little I had a pretty rosary. My sister wanted to have it, and this was one of my earliest sorrows. I went to speak to my mother about it; she advised me to give it up for love of God. I did so, but it cost me many tears."

When he was seven years old the little John Mary Vianney was sent to the fields to take charge of his father's sheep. He was accustomed always to take with him his little statue of the Blessed Virgin. When his sheep were in safety, and he could without danger relax his watchfulness over them, he would make a little altar with sods, and on it he would enthrone his statue. Then he would gather his companions - young children occupied like himself - around it, and would recite with them the Hail Marys of the Rosary, and then he would preach to them gravely in moving and expressive terms. He never lacked a congregation on these occasions; his piety was not disagreeable to his companions, on the contrary it made him amiable and winning; they were disappointed if he happened to be absent, and welcomed him with joyful shouts when he arrived amongst them. Nothing pleased him better than to have his companions join with him in some such pious exercise, but when he was alone he did not regret his solitude. He would place his little statue in the hollow trunk of some tree, and there he would pass long hours absorbed in prayer. Sometimes his companions would mind his sheep for him in order to give him time for prayer, in which, as they knew, he took so much delight.

As he grew older he was employed in more laborious work in the fields, but even in this his devotion to our Lady accompanied him and helped him. Before beginning his work he used to place an image of our Lady some distance before him, and then work on towards it, praying all the while that the Blessed Virgin would help him to keep up with his brother, much older and stronger than he, who was working close by. Then, when he had reached the statue, he would take it up and place it some distance further on, and work on towards it, and so he would continue till the day's labour was over. His brother was compelled to own that the Blessed Virgin had indeed helped John Mary, and had enabled him to do as much work as he had been able to accomplish himself.

We cannot doubt that this special devotion to our Lady obtained for John Mary Vianney many interior graces, and powerfully helped him on in the path of sanctification. But, besides this, there were some special favours that evidently seemed to come in answer to his prayers to his holy Mother. The whole of his life hinged on his escape from military service. It was during the wars of the first Napoleon, when every effort was made in order to secure young men for the army. John Mary was at this time an ecclesiastical student, and as such was exempted from service, but by some mistake his name was included in the list of those liable to serve, and he was drawn at the conscription. It was a terrible blow to him, for all his desires were to be a priest. Nevertheless, he submitted, and took his way to Bayonne, where he was to join his regiment. He thought of deserting, and certainly he would have committed no sin had he done so, for the law itself exempted him, and but for an unfortunate mistake he would have been left free to continue his studies for the priesthood. But he did not dare to desert. A strict search was made for such as did so, and they were treated with the greatest severity; not long before he had himself seen deserters brought back in chains, and the idea of being treated in the same fashion filled him with horror.

Filled with these gloomy thoughts of his frustrated vocation, he pursued his way to join his regiment. He had recourse to the Blessed Virgin for consolation, and in order to obtain it from God through her intercession he recited his Rosary. No sooner had he done this than an unknown individual accosted him, and asked him what made him so sad. John Mary told his story. Without further discussion, the unknown bade him follow him, telling him that from him he had nothing to fear, and that he would take him to a place of safety. John Mary followed his guide across the country, over hills and through woods, scarcely ever passing by a public road or an inhabited house, until at last he brought him to a remote village, where he remained undiscovered though not unsearched for. He never knew who his guide was; but he looked on him as a messenger sent by heaven in answer to his Rosary.

When, later on, he had been ordained priest, and the parish of Ars had been confided to his care, he was not unmindful of the graces which he had received through the devotion to our Blessed Lady and her Rosary. At this time, Ars was far from being edifying by the piety and virtue of its people. He adopted two means for their reformation; the one was the devotion to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and the other the devotion to His holy Mother. He encouraged the former by bringing his people to frequent Communion, and to frequently visiting the Blessed Sacrament; the other he promoted by means of the Rosary. He remembered, too, that the confraternities the most encouraged by the Church are those of the Blessed Sacrament and the Rosary, while they are also the most ancient and the most universal, and he therefore resolved that these two confraternities should be established in his parish, and that through them he would reform his people. From the beginning, he established the practice of reciting the Rosary in public every night in the church; meanwhile he waited an opportunity of establishing his confraternity.

That opportunity soon came. One Sunday evening several young people, who were far from being the most fervent of his parishioners, remained in the church for confession. The holy Curé noticed them, and said to himself, "Now I have got them! My confraternity is found!" He went towards them, and said, "My children, if you like, we will say the Rosary together, to ask of the Queen of Virgins to obtain for you the grace to do well what you are about to do." The conversion of several of these young persons dates from that moment. The Curé of Ars looked upon this as his first conquest; it was followed by many more, until at length the parish was completely transformed.

The holy priest was not ungrateful to her through whose prayers he acknowledged that he had obtained this signal grace. He always caused the feasts of the Blessed Virgin to be devoutly celebrated at Ars; on these days the communions were always numerous, and the attendance of people large. Everywhere in the village her image is to be seen, from the front of the church to the interior of the poorest cottage. He loved to speak of this good Mother. He used to say,"The heart of Mary is so full of tenderness for us that the hearts of all mothers put together would be but a lump of ice compared to hers. I think that at the end of the world the Blessed Virgin will be at rest, but as long as the world lasts she will be bothered on all sides."

His own great resource when he was in any special difficulty was to walk out into the country, with his beads in his hand, saying the Rosary. On one such occasion he was greatly troubled by the want of money with which to pay the workmen who were engaged on his new chapel of St. John Baptist; he had nothing, for he had given away all he had to the poor. On the day of which we are speaking he had got but a very short distance from the village, when he was met by a gentleman on horseback, an entire stranger to him, who stopped, raised his hat respectfully, and inquired after his health. "I am not amiss," replied the good priest, "but I am in great trouble." "What!" said the gentleman, "do your parishioners give you pain ?" "On the contrary," was the reply,"they have much more consideration for me than I deserve. That which troubles me is that I have just been building a chapel, and that I have no money with which to pay for it." The unknown seemed to reflect for a moment, then took twenty-five gold pieces from his pocket, and gave them to M. Vianney. "Sir," he said, "this will pay your workmen. I recommend myself to your prayers." He then disappeared at a gallop, without leaving the priest time to think where he was.

On another occasion he had bought from one of his parishioners a considerable quantity of corn. This was for the use of his "Providence," as he called the house where he maintained a large number of orphan girls. He had not the means of paying for this corn, and he therefore begged his creditor to give him a little time, and this was willingly granted him. However, the time stipulated approached its close, and he was still without means. He therefore went out into the country, and recited his Rosary, recommending his poor little orphans to the Mother of the poor. His prayer was heard without delay. A woman came up to him suddenly, and said, "Are you the Curé [parish priest] of Ars ? "Yes, my good woman." "Here is some money that I have been told to give to you," she continued. "Is it for masses?" he asked. "No, sir," was the reply; "your prayers are asked for the giver." Thereupon the woman emptied her purse into his hands, and he never knew who she was, or from whom she had come.

For many years before the death of the Curé of Ars scarcely any good work of importance was undertaken in France without being submitted to him, and receiving his blessing. Thus it happened that when the Perpetual Rosary, which had for many years almost fallen into disuse, was being revived, the work was submitted to the holy priest. As soon as he had understood the nature of the devotion he cried out, "Oh, this work is beautiful, very beautiful! It is a divine work, and it is destined to produce great fruits in men's souls and in the Church. I unite myself to it with all my heart, and I wish to be united in intention to all the hours of prayer, both by day and night."

Some time after this, the registers containing the names of those who had been enrolled in the Perpetual Rosary up to that time were presented to him that he might bless them. He did so, saying, "I bless all the names that are inscribed, and those that shall be inscribed; I unite myself in intention to all the hours, in this world and in the other, if God gives me the grace to receive me into this happy eternity."

The holy Cure of Ars died in 1859, on the 4th of August, the feast of St. Dominic, to whom our Lady revealed the devotion of the Rosary."

Source: The monthly magazine of the holy rosary; under the direction of the Dominican fathers, Vol 5. 1877 p155