One hundred years ago, on May 31, 1925, Pope Pius XI raised to the glory of the altars a simple country priest, unknown to the world but immensely known to Heaven: Jean-Marie Vianney, the holy Curé of Ars. This centenary, far from being a mere historical memory, is the occasion for an exceptional jubilee in the small village of Ars-sur-Formans, which will welcome the faithful from all over the world to honor the man who became the patron saint of all parish priests.
Today, in a world where the figure of the priest is so attacked, misunderstood, or distorted, rediscovering the model that was the Curé of Ars is salutary. Here was a man who gave everything to God. Unremarkable by worldly standards, slow to learn Latin, simple and poor… and yet, Heaven chose him to reconcile thousands of souls. He spent up to 17 hours a day in the confessional, slept barely at all, prayed unceasingly, and preached with a fire that came directly from his union with Christ.
And it is no coincidence that it was in 1925, when modernism was already gnawing at the Church, that Rome wanted to propose Jean-Marie Vianney as a universal example. He embodies the faithful priest, uncompromising, completely given over, burning with love for God and for souls. Not a manager-priest, not a parish facilitator, but a true spiritual father—poor, humble, prayerful, firm, gentle.
This centenary is a providential reminder. In a Church where so many want to reinvent the priesthood, deconstruct the liturgy, or water down the Gospel, we are given a beacon once more. The Curé of Ars is not a relic of the past; he is the eternal standard.
We must also understand the meaning of this jubilee: it is not an empty commemoration. It is a door of grace, a call to conversion, to hope, to prayer for priests, for their holiness, for their fidelity in a world that has become so hostile. It is also an opportunity to ask God, through the intercession of the holy Curé, for the renewal of the Church—not a renewal in the fashionable, vague, and inclusive synodal style, but a true renewal through prayer, penance, and Catholic truth.
The Urgency of a Return to the Sources
In the videos I post, I often speak of those priests who dare to speak the truth, those who live from the Eucharist, who hear confessions, who are there in their parishes, faithful. They are the future of the Church. And it is for them that this jubilee is important. To support them. To tell them: hold fast, continue, you are on the right path. The holy Curé shows you the way.
And for us, the faithful, this jubilee is a way of reminding us that there is no salvation without the sacraments, without prayer, without priests. Without Christ. There is no comfortable Catholicism. No à la carte faith. The Curé of Ars is there to recenter us. On the Mass, on the confessional, on adoration, on evening prayer. In short, on God.