12.

The Crowds Come to Ars

- His reputation as a holy priest became so
widespread that in 1827, pilgrims started
to come. They came in the hope of seeing
a saint…or of confessing to him their sins
- From 1830–1859, a daily average of some
400 travelers arrived at Ars.
- visitors were standing, in great numbers, in
the old churchyard and even in the
adjoining streets, waiting for their turn
- Pilgrims who could not find a fine lodge or
hotel in Ars camped out all night in the
fields found the village just to wait for their
turn to see or confess to him
13. Mass and Catechism
Classes
- When he celebrates the Holy Eucharist,
he never took more than 30 mins.
- He acquired the best liturgical vestments
possible and used them with delight in
his masses
- He would become completely lost in
God, sometimes he would cry
- The collection of his catechism and
preachings was published in 1864
- He had a simple and natural eloquence
(sample sermons are found in the book)
14. In the Confessional
- For about 30 years, the Cure
d’Ars almost literally shut
himself up inside the
confessional
- He possessed the gift of
reading into the souls and
giving them the best possible
advice for their sins…
- He was both strict to the
hardest of sinners, and kind to
those truly repentant ones
 15 - 16. The Last Twenty Years

- He longed to leave the parish

once for all: More than once he
asked his bishop’s permission to
retire into a monastery: either
Trappist or Carthusian
- On Sept. 11, 1843, he attempted
to leave the place, only to retrace
back his steps after he had
travelled for more than 20 miles
already!
- Providence had ceased to
be an orphanage and
became a formal school
reserved for village girls
- He put up a foundation and
also an Association for lay
mission work: “Association
for the Propagation of the
Faith”
- His Bishop made him
honorary canon of his
chapter
- On August 11, 1855, he
was nominated to the rank
of chevalier in the Imperial
 17. The Human Side of the Cure D’ Ars

- He was a little priest, his

shoulders rather bent, had
blue eyes, his face had deep
wrinkles and set in a frame of
long white hair
- He was a very polite human
being
- He retained his naturally good
personality: charming
expressions and a sense of
humor
- Although he possessed a
certain gift of reading the
depths of one’s soul, he was
also keenly observant in
spotting the weaknesses
and defects of everyone he
met
- He also had a special
affection for children and at
times, he was like Jesus
being surrounded by these
innocent and small human
beings
 18. The Saint
There were countless evidences and witnesses to the
sanctity of the Cure d’Ars:
- His last doctor, Jean Baptiste Saunier, who
visited him from 1842 to 1859, considered
him the “perfect model of all the virtues”
- A parish priest of a neighboring town said of
him “I have never seen a truer copy of the
divine Master”
- He possessed virtues to a heroic degree: he
practiced during his lifetime all his duties as
a priest in an outstanding fashion
- It was his love of God and his enthusiasm
for the glory of God that inspired in him
such a devotion for souls and such
compassion for sinners
- His life was truly spent in long hours of
crushing ministry without interruption
- Although he was being admired as a
celebrity, he never became proud of it: “I
am the last of men!” he’d say
- He mortified his senses to maximum
- His meals were spartan in austerity: boiled
potatoes eaten cold or even when spoiled
- he was wearing round his waist an iron chain
an inch thick with spikes sticking out of it; he
also wore iron bracelets with sharp spikes on
both his arms
- He wore a hair shirt which he never took off
(as evidenced by the sore it gave him)
19-20. Miracles in the Life of the Cure D’ Ars

- His miracles included cures, supernatural

intuitions and mystical experiences,
instantaneous transformation of guilty souls,
immediate cure of the crippled and the sick
- He was able to probe deep into the person’s
conscience and revealed their secrets, foretold
the future and pierced with his gaze into the
mysteries of the next world
- On many occasions, he would mention the
name of someone whom he never met before
and tell him his sins or his future or his present
ordeal and its solution
- One night, a girl who was coming to consult him
in the sacristy about a very serious problem, saw
him in ecstasy;
- on a similar scenario, a priest saw him being lifted up in
his kneeler while reciting the evening prayers, his face
was transfigured and his head was surrounded by a
halo.
 21. Death and Glorification

- The Curé himself foretold the day of his own

death
- Days before his death he was still hearing
confessions, albeit suffering from occasional
suffocations due to an overcrowded church
- At 2 am, August 4, 1859, Thursday, he
passed away peacefully
A multitude of pilgrims, admirers and
parishioners gathered on the morning of
Saturday, Aug.6, to escort the saint’s
coffin to its last rest: 6,000 thousand lay
people, 300 priests
The entire Church knew that a saintly
priest had just died
 - Nov. 21, 1862 – March 6, 1865:
Click to edit Master text styles Ordinary’s Process (the diocese
Second level established a committee to
● Third level
inquire into the life, virtues,
miracles and writings of the
● Fourth level
Curé d’Ars
● Fifth level
- Feb. 6, 1866: start of “Apostolic
Process” (the diocesan level of
enquiry into his life, virtues, miracles
and writings)
- Oct. 3, 187: he was Declared
Venerable by Pope Pius IX
- June 17, 1904: his body was
exhumed and was covered with
a slab of marble
- Jan. 8, 1905: declared blessed
by Pius X and gave him as
patron to all the parish priests of
France and the French colonies
- May 31, 1925: declared a saint
by Pius XI, together with St.
Click to edit Master text styles
Second level
● Third level

● Fourth level

● Fifth level

April 23,
1929:
declared by
Pius XI
“patron of all
the priests in
Ars was to become the supreme place
of pilgrimage for priests and even
bishops that they may gain new
strength to practice the virtues and
show the spirit of their calling.
 The End

Feast Day:
Patron Saint of Parish
August
Priests 4