Days 1-3 St. John Vianney Novena | Patron of Parish Priests, Seminarians, Confessors

#StJohnVianney #PatronOfPriests #Seminarians #Confessors FEAST DAY: August 4 DAYS 1-3 Novena PATRON OF: Parish Priests, Confessors, Seminarians, Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney, Archdiocese of Dubuque, Archdiocese of Kansas City First Day “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) O revered Curé of Ars, nothing came easy for you in your quest for the priesthood, but you knew that to suffer was to suffer with Christ on Calvary, and so, if walking in the footsteps of our Lord meant taking up His cross, you lovingly bent to the task. You lived by the motto that life was loving while suffering and suffering in order to love. You were undaunted, O good and faithful servant of the Lord, and your strong faith brought you closer to Jesus every day of your life. O Saint John Vianney, you are the patron of all priests, religious, seminarians and of our parish. You know that each of us must trust in the Lord with our whole heart and if we are to serve Christ we too must take up our cross and follow Him even when it means following Him to Calvary. By your prayers gain for us hearts full of courage and strength. Intercede for us before the Lord that we may love and serve one another as you so willingly did for the pilgrims of your ministry. Pray that we may do the will of God and be His hands and voice to all His people. Recite the novena prayer: O holy Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney, you loved God and faithfully served Him by serving His people as their priest. Now, as you are with our Father, you can continue to serve Him by presenting our petitions to Him directly. Remember the vulnerabilities, fears, and anxieties that surround us and intercede for us in all our needs, especially….(here mention your own personal request). O Priest of Ars, pray for us in a special way during this novena, we ask in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen Saint John Vianney, pray for us. Second Day “Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth.” (Judith 13:18) O revered Curé of Ars, as a child you were seen building a shrine to the Blessed Mother. You dedicated your life to her, entrusting your priesthood to her care. You begged the pilgrims that flocked to your doorstep to pray the rosary to honor Mary, our Mother. You told them and us of your great love of our Lady by saying: “We have only to turn to the Blessed Mother to be heard. Her heart is all love”. O Saint John Vianney, you had to struggle against many barriers to become the esteemed priest that you were. Help us in our struggles to pattern our lives after that of our heavenly Mother, to be full of love for God and for our neighbor. Inspire priests, religious and seminarians to consecrate their lives to their Mother in heaven. May priests throughout the world never desert Christ, but remain, as Mary did, at the foot of the cross. Third Day “Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you….Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 6:53, 56) O revered Curé of Ars, your greatest joy in this world was the real presence of Jesus in the tabernacle as you prayed for hours in His presence. You said that….”when our Lord sees them coming eagerly to visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament, He smiles upon them”. You, who each day, with great love, received the Lord in Holy Communion, help me develop a fervor like yours and a longing each day for Jesus in the Eucharist. O Saint John Vianney, may your example enkindle in me a love for adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Help me to approach the Lord as a little child calling “Abba” as I lay my innermost thoughts before His Sacred Heart. Keep our priests and our parish under your continual protection that we may be supported by your example and be faithfully devoted to serving Him by being His hands and His voice and never being afraid to call others to His real presence in the Blessed Sacrament.