The Miracles of the Holy Parish Priest of Ars

Saint John-Marie Vianney, known as “the holy parish priest of Ars” during his lifetime, was an exceptional priest. Despite academic difficulties, he made every effort to follow the urgent call of the Lord and become a priest. He lived his vocation with incomparable impetus, never ceasing to bring back the lost sheep to the flock, and he made his parish a home of true Christian life. Filled with faith, the spirit of penance and prayer, he himself said: “I got from God everything I wanted, for myself as well as for others.” His whole life was filled with miraculous facts, healing, and staggering conversions. After his death, graces continue to rain on all those who approach his body or pray to him insistently. To discover more extraordinary facts about the life of the holy parish priest, discover the intuitions of the parish priest of Ars.

Miraculous Healing

One day, a woman came to Ars with her paralyzed son. She waited in front of the church, and no sooner did the parish priest see her that he called out to her, and the woman confessed and forgot to talk about her son. She attended mass with the child and then presented him to Father Vianney to bless him. The parish priest exclaims, “but he is too big to be carried so, put him down” and he sent the woman to pray to Saint Philomene to obtain the miracle. The little one prayed by himself for an hour, then got up and ran to the door in socks. Seeing the rain, he asked for clogs to go play with the other children.

Another time, parents accompanied their sick little boy to see the parish priest of Ars. The mother confessed and communed, but the father, in coldness with the Lord, waited only for the healing of his son. Abbé Vianney invited him and encouraged him to confess, and the man was at first very closed off but, little by little, he was changed by the parish priest's words and opened his heart. When they left Ars, it was a renewed man who left with his healed son.

Multiplications

The holy parish priest had founded an orphanage in Ars, La Providence, with around 60 girls. One day, there was practically no flour left, and the helpless baker came to find Father Vianney, who reassured her: “pray and make your bread”. As she kneaded the dough, it started to swell up until it filled the entire bowl. The parish priest, learning this, simply said, “God is very good”.

Another time, the wheat reserve for orphan girls was depleted. Father Vianney did not have the heart to send the children away, so he made them pray to ask for daily bread. The parish priest gathered the last grains of the attic in a group and placed a relic of Saint Jean-François Régis in the middle, a saint whom he particularly revered. He retired in prayer and waited. After a while, he sent for the wheat. When the young woman arrived, she could barely open the door and the wheat began to flow through the gap. She ran to look for father Vianney and, together, they found that the storeroom was full to the brim with a wheat of a different shade than the old.

Mystical gifts and extraordinary facts

• Like Padre Pio, the parish priest of Ars had the gift of reading souls. In confession, he himself reminded the penitent of sins that had been left out or forgotten.
• The holy priest knows the circumstances of the coming of people without ever having seen them. One day, a mother of sixteen children came to church, and the crowd was so dense that she couldn’t enter the church. Father Vianney suddenly left his confessional, went to look for her, and said: “You, madam, are in a hurry, come quickly”. The parish priest of Ars repeatedly questioned a person in the church, knowing in advance the reason for his coming.
• Father Vianney was constantly tormented by the devil, at night in the presbytery a horrible noise was heard coming from the parish priest's room: knocks on the door, tears, roars, etc.
• Saint Jean-Marie Vianney had the gift of knowing the state of a deceased soul. One day, a lady camme to find the parish priest of Ars, haunted by the idea that her husband was in hell because he committed suicide and lived far from faith. She had barely entered the church when Jean-Marie Vianney approached and said in her ear, “He is saved… yes, he is saved” and he added, “He is in purgatory, and we must pray for him. Between the bridge parapet and the water, he had time to repent”. 
• It is certain that Abbé Vianney had apparitions of Christ and the Virgin Mary. He once confided: “The Blessed Virgin and I know each other well.” And another time, thinking he was alone, he sighed “Still, I have not seen the Lord since Sunday”.
• The parish priest of Ars knew the date of his death in advance. A good Christian woman once came to confess, and the parish priest told her about Saint Jean-François Régis and the pilgrimage dedicated to him to La Louvesc where she went every year. As he left her, he said to her, “Goodbye, in three weeks we will meet again.” Three weeks later, they died almost at the same time.

Discover the prayers and quotations of the parish priest of Ars.

Discover and pray to great saints with Hozana

On Hozana, discover other priests of fire who illuminated their time and all those who approached them: Saint Padre Pio, Saint Charbel, and Saint Anthony of Padua.

Many great female figures have also upset their surroundings with their holiness, the fragrance of which is still spreading today. It is safe to say that Christ lived in them and through them performed miracles: Saint Rita of Cascia, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Gemma Galgani.