Theater Play on the Life of St. Jean/John Vianney

I have access to a very impactful play of the life of St. Jean Vianney. The play is truly Catholic and features multiple, actual homilies from this saint addressing many core beliefs in our Faith. It is meant for a cast of around twenty, so would be best served as a high-school, college or theater group play.

There are so few truly Catholic plays out there, this is one.

Along with Vianney's beautiful sermons it highlights his mysticism as well as his confrontations with the devil. Everyone can take something spiritual away with them from this play.

If you are interested in getting a copy of this play for consideration, please contact me through the comment link on this post, and include your e-mail contact information. I will not publish your comment, but send a copy of the play to you for your use free of charge.

Favorite Quote from a Specific Saint

Today is the feast day of St. Jean Vianney, one of my favorite saints and a holy priest who infuriated the devil by never giving in to demonic temptations despite even physical assaults. He is a great role model for modern our times.

He was the 19th Century's version of Padre Pio. His incorrupted body lies this very day on display in Ars, France, 150 years after he died.

In keeping with my "Favorite Quotes from Specific Saint" series, here are some of my favorites from the Cure of Ars:

"When we handle something fragrant, our hands retain the perfume to whatever they touch. Let our prayers pass through the hands of the Holy Virgin, as her holiness and purity will perfume them whild presenting them to God."

"You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions… You either belong wholly to the world or wholly to God."

"To suffer lovingly is to suffer no longer..."

The "Missing" Farmer

Here is one of St. Jean Vianney's favorite stories that he would often tell in his homilies on the power of attending Eucharistic Adoration:

"A few years ago there died a man who belonged to this parish. Upon entering the church in the morning to pray before setting out for the fields, he left his work tools at the door and then became wholly lost in the presence of God while praying before the sacrament. A neighbor who worked close to him, and thus used to see him in the fields, worried at his unusual absence. On his way home he found the missing man’s tools outside the church, then entered the church to see if the missing man was ill inside. He did find him in the church. The man had been praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament all day. His friend in disbelief that he had missed his whole day asked him, “What have you been doing here all day?” The missing man replied, “I have been looking deeply into the good God’s face and He has been looking deeply into mine.”

Cure of Ars, Pray for Us!

The Temperaments of God

I often noted, and very much over the years tried to reconcile, the difference in temperaments between the God in the Old Testament (Yaweh), and the same God in the New Testament (God the Father).

Yaweh was a very stern God who would strike down your enemies down and let you wander 40 years in the desert if you made a mistake. The kind God in the New Testament - - who was the same exact God -- was a loving Father, and through his Son told us to love our enemies. He was a God who allowed what was most dear to Him to be sacraficed for our mistakes.

I once had a college professor try to offer an explanation. He said that in the Old Testament we were in our infancy stage with God and he treated us as such, like toddlers. Don’t touch the outlet, don’t go in the street, you will be severely punished and have to sit on the couch if you do what you are thinking. He said by the time the New Testament came along, we had grown up and our relationship with God advanced lovingly to where our parent became more of a trusted friend and confidant.

This made somewhat sense to me, but once again the words of St. Jean Vianney brought me closer to what was the true answer. He directed me to the exact beginning of the New Testament for the time when God’s temperament changed.

He said God’s anger was "hanging over our heads like a sword ready to strike us down, [but] as soon as the Holy Virgin appeared upon this earth, his anger was appeased." He saw the level of perfection that his creation could achieve, a creature than would never disobey, betray or disappoint Him; there the Virgin Mother stood in front of Him. Once again, His anger was "appeased." His temperament was changed.

Vianney tells of the special relationship that the Trinity has with this perfect human creation:

God views the Blessed Mother as the masterpiece of his creation that He made with his own hands. He takes great pride in her because it is His work done to absolute perfection.

The Son takes pleasure in the heart of Mary, from which He drew his mortal blood (the Blessed Mother provided the mortal makeup to Christ). He used this blood He received from her to "ransom" it for us so that we might be reconciled to the Father.

And The Holy Spirit considers the Blessed Mother His temple, a place of His dwelling, because He conceived with in her.

These beautiful insights from St. Jean Vianney really reinforces why we venerate the Blessed Mother, and why she will never be refuse any request she makes on our behalf in the presence of God.

So the next time you are watching The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston and see Yaweh striking down Israel’s enemies in the Red Sea, venerate Our Blessed Mother. Because of her we were not next.

What's in a Name?

I have always been fascinated on the words that come out of someone’s mouth who know they are facing death. Their words are not controlled by filters or pretense, they’re not concerned about backlash from what they say or being politically correct, absolutely nothing left to hide or protect. They are speaking what they believe as truth from their hearts through their last moments of their mortal existence.

Moreover, and more notably, there can be found a lifetime of wisdom in these statements when they come from Saints. Those who lived not of this world; but now are leaving it.

It was reported that Pope John Paul II said during his last moments, “ I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you.” I remember thinking that this comment was beautifully directed to the huge crowds outside his Vatican apartment who kept steadfast vigil. This failing Pontiff, who once tirelessly searched for anyone and everyone who would listen to his message in every corner of the globe, now acknowledged the outpouring of love that his flock returned.

A few years later, my biased understanding of this was shattered when I read a deathbed comment from St. John Vianney. Known as “The Cure of Ars”, Vianney was a French mystic priest, an incorruptible and one of my favorite saints.

Vianney said, “And how kind the good God is! When I cannot go to him any longer, he comes to me! But my body now is not much to present to Our Lord.”

These phrases were too similar to be different. It was a realization moment for me that both these ‘saint’s’ comments were directed solely to God.

Two 20th century priests who, I believe, will follow the same trail to sainthood are Blessed Miguel Pro, a Jesuit priest from Mexico, and Cardinal Ignatius Kung, a Chinese priest who suffered through 30 years in a communist jail because he would not deny the Papacy.

In 1927, after being railroaded through a fixed trial, Fr. Pro faced the firing squad without a blindfold at his request. He outstretched his arms as if being crucified in unison with Christ, forgave his executioners, then emptied his heart by screaming the creed that was most dear to him.

In 1955, then Bishop Ignatius Kung, was brought in handcuffs and pajamas by the Chinese Government in front of a microphone at an outdoor stadium to renounce his Faith before tens of thousands of Chinese. Understanding that this was in all probability his last moment of life if he would not appease the Communists and deny his Faith, Cardinal Kung released from his heart the same exact words as Miguel Pro said decades earlier.


"Vive Chistus Rex!/Long Live Christ the King!” I can think of no better name for a blog.