The Beautiful Hands of a Priest

~Happy Feast Day of St. John Vianney, Patron Saint of Parish Priests~

What a great reminder to pray for our beloved priests.  Our family will be dedicating the month of August to praying extra prayers on their behalf.  There are 100 beautiful prayers for priests at this website.  Many of these can also be found on the iPieta App if you have an iPhone or Android.  (This App is one of my favorites)!
I found this poem on the iPieta that I just love:


The Beautiful Hands of a Priest
We need them in life's early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek them when tasting life's woes.
At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness;
Their dignity stands all alone;
And when we are tempted and wander,
To pathways of shame and of sin,
It's the hand of a priest that will absolve us,
Not once, but again and again.
And when we are taking life's partner,
Other hands may prepare us a feast,
But the hand that will bless and unite us
Is the beautiful hand of a priest.
God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress;
When can a poor sinner do better
Than to ask Him to guide thee and bless?
When the hour of death comes upon us,
May our courage and strength be increased,
By seeing raised over us in blessing
The beautiful hands of a priest.

We made these fun Priestly Brownies and posted at Catholic Cuisine!
I also wanted to share this great article from Cardinal Dolan on Priestly Assignments.
St. John Vianney, please pray for us and the beautiful hands of our priests.

Stop, Drop And Love

Life is a mile a minute sometimes...How often do we forget to stop, drop to our knees... and love?

St. John Mary Vianney's feast day (August 4th) reminds us of a man's love that was so big, his heart remained incorrupt after his death.  What a miracle of love! Last summer we were blessed with a visit and real presence of this relic at a nearby parish.  I just love the prayer that was printed on the holy cards (pictured above) made for the pilgrimage of St. John Vianney's heart:

"I love you, O my God,

and my only desire is to love you until the last breath of my life.

I love you, O my infinitely lovable God,

and I would rather die loving you, than live without loving you.

I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally."


This is the perfect prayer as we are getting ready to send Dear husband and Mer-man off on their pilgrimage to World Youth Day (WYD) in Spain ...They leave in less than 1 week!  I made these cupcakes for one of their last preparation meetings with the symbol of WYD.  I love all of the symbolism and meaning behind the logo...

The logo has a cross that reflects the theme for World Youth Day, "Rooted and built up in Christ and established in the faith." The color red of the crown forms the letter M... this stands for Madrid and the M for Maria. The joining of the crown evokes youth coming together. The crown also represents The Virgen de la Almudena the female patron of Madrid. According to the creator of the logo, the orange, red, and yellow symbolize Spains warmth and the warmth of God. (We only used red icing on the cupcakes:)

 The World
The designer, Jose Gil-Nogués, said “The [logo] has a spontaneous and strong stroke, as the youth of the twenty-first century. It’s close, friendly, open, cheerful, casual and positive…The use of a palette of warm colors (red, orange and yellow) transmits an unmistakable warmth and heat, identity of a city like Madrid, Spain as a country. These colors are also a reflection of the warmth of God, ‘Trinity of Love."

WYD (World Youth Day) in Spanish is JMJ (Jornada Mundial de la Juventud). JMJ also stands for the Holy Family~Jesus, Mary and Joseph


The rest of our family, here at home, will hold down the fort and finish our school planning and preparations while our pilgrims are across the waters for 12 days!  We do have a little trip planned (with Grandma and Grandpa) to the lake. It will be a nice distraction from missing Dad and brother! It will also be our last "hurrah" before our school year kicks off very soon.

Back to stop, drop and love, we like to begin our school year on a Marian Feast Day as we strive to be closer to Christ.  After all, no one leads us quicker to Jesus than His very own Mother and our heavenly Mother, Mary.
"Let us live as the Blessed Virgin lived: loving God only, desiring God only, trying to please God only in all that we do."
~St. John Mary Vianney~
‎"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving the world and its pleasures." - St. John Vianney-

Last year I believe we started our school year on The Assumption of Mary. This year we are aiming for the Queenship of Mary!
"Because the Virgin Mary was raised to such a lofty dignity as to be the mother of the King of kings, it is deservedly and by every right that the Church has honored her with the title of 'Queen'"
~St. Alphonsus Ligouri~
I am praying that I can pull everything together in time for our school start date...Trying to breathe remember to stop, drop and love!

Litany in Honor of St. John Vianney

Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.

Saint John-Mary Vianney, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, endowed with grace from thine infancy, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, model of filial piety, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, devoted servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, spotless lily of purity, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, faithful imitator of the sufferings of Christ, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, abyss of humility, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, seraph of prayer, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, faithful adorer of the Most Blessed Sacrament, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, ardent lover of holy poverty, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, true son of St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, exemplary Franciscan tertiary, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, tender friend of the poor, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, penetrated with the fear of God's judgment, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, fortified by divine visions, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, who was tormented by the evil spirit, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, perfect model of sacerdotal virtue, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, firm and prudent pastor, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, inflamed with zeal, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, faithful attendant on the sick, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, indefatigable catechist, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, who didst preach in words of fire, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, wise director of souls, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, specially gifted with the spirit of counsel, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, enlightened by light from Heaven, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, formidable to Satan, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, compassionate with every misery, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, providence of the orphans, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, favored with the gift of miracles, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, who didst reconcile so many sinners to God, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, who didst confirm so many of the just in the way of virtue, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, who didst taste the sweetness of death, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, who dost now rejoice in the glory of Heaven, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, who givest joy to those who invoke thee, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, heavenly patron of parish priests, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, model and patron of directors of souls, pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

V. Pray for us, blessed Jean-Marie Vianney, R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray

Almighty and merciful God, Who didst bestow upon blessed John Mary Vianney wonderful pastoral zeal and a great fervor for prayer and penance, grant, we beseech Thee, that by his example and intercession we may be able to gain the souls of our brethren for Christ, and with them attain to everlasting glory, through the same Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.

Amen

The True Heart of a Saint

Our summer was blessed by a visit from the true heart of a saint....

~St. John Mary Vianney~
"The interior life is like a sea of love in which the soul is plunged and is, as it were, drowned in love.  Just as a mother holds her child's face in her hands to cover it with kisses, so does God hold the devout man."~St. John Vianney~

About a month ago, our diocese welcomed the true Heart of St. John Vianney!

We thought it would be fitting to share some photos of our visit with St. John Vianney's incorrupt heart, in honor of his feast day~August 4th~

I pray that you find these pictures beautiful, respectful, and reverent of the remains of this holy saint, in the presence of Our Lord.

Oh what a treasure to behold the presence of this relic!

We learned that the word "relic" comes from the Latin (relinquo)word, meaning "I leave."  Relics are the physical remains (or objects associated with them in life) of the saints.  They are gifts left behind by the saints to help us to be open to the grace of the sacraments.

Having the opportunity to venerate the incorrupt heart (relic) of St.  John Vianney was a definite reminder of God's intervention in our life!

My dear friend Kim took these photos during our visit to venerate the heart of St. John Vianney and Adore our beloved Jesus in our very own diocese. We took our kids who found the experience "fascinating" and "amazing." I doubt that any of them will forget this pilgrimage, nor will I.

"The eyes of the world see no further than this life, as mine see no further than this wall when the church door is shut.  The eyes of a Christian see deep into eternity."~St. John Vianney~

St. John Vianney's heart radiated pure love...
"Love of our neighbor consists of three things:  to desire the greater good of everyone; to do what good we can when we can; to bear, excuse, and hide other's faults."
~St. John Vianney~

"We must never lose site of the fact that we are either saints or outcasts, that we must live for heaven or for hell: there is no middle path in this.  You either belong wholly to  the world or wholly to God.  If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number of Christians would go to heaven."~St. John Vianney~

"You must accept your cross; if you carry it courageously it will carry you to heaven.  God commands you to pray, but he forbids you to worry."~St. John Vianney~

"The more we pray, the more we wish to pray.  Like fish which at first swims on the surface of the water, and afterwards plunges down, and is always going deeper; the soul plunges, dives, and loses itself in the sweetness of conversing with God."~St. John Vianney~

"...When Our Lord sees pure souls coming eagerly to visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament he smiles on them.  They come with the simplicity that pleases Him so much"~St. John Vianney~

"To decorate the houses with religious pictures is a custom as old as Christianity itself, for a true Christian has always considered his home as nothing less than a Temple of God, and the religious pictures as means to extend and preserve the spirit of Christianity in the home."~St. John Vianney~

"Our home is--Heaven.  On earth we are like travelers staying at a hotel.  When one is away, one is always thinking of home."~St. John Vianney~

"Mary seeks for those who approach her devoutly and with reverence, for such she loves, nourishes, and adopts us as her children."~St. John Vianney~


Almighty and merciful God, Who didst bestow upon blessed John Mary Vianney wonderful pastoral zeal and a great fervor for prayer and penance, grant, we beseech Thee, that by his example and intercession we may be able to gain the souls of our brethren for Christ, and with them attain to everlasting glory, through the same Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.  Amen
~St. John Vianney, please pray for us!~


Resources:
The Cure of Ars for children
Relics
St. John Vianney's Incorrupt Heart
Coloring Page by Waltzing Matilda
 I gleaned all of the quotes from the book "Quotable Saints" by Ronda De Sola Chervin