Msgr. Roger J. Landry
The Anchor
Editorial
July 4, 2025
One month from today, something historic will take place that may and should have an enormous impact on the present and future of the Diocese of Fall River.
Bishop Edgar da Cunha and the priests of the Diocese, during solemn Evening Prayer, will consecrate themselves to the patron saint of parish priests, Saint John Mary Vianney (1786-1859). The consecration will take place on Vianney’s feast day, August 4, within the ongoing celebrations of the centenary of his canonization.
Consecration is a form of entrustment that goes beyond merely asking for God’s or a saint’s help and prayers. It’s an act of belonging, a lasting commitment, what Pope Benedict XVI used to call essentially a transfer of ownership by which someone gives himself in permanent openness to the intercessor’s guidance.
The consecration of and by the priests of the Diocese to St. John Vianney is a key part, perhaps the most pivotal of all, of the ongoing “Stronger Priests, Stronger Parishes, Stronger Church” initiative. As Bishop da Cunha wrote the priests of the Diocese on May 30, the day before the centenary of St. John Vianney’s 1925 canonization, the initiative is an opportunity for priests to rededicate themselves to “growth in holiness, the foundation without which none of our pursuits will bear fruit.”
He stated that the Church proposes the humble Curé (pastor) of Ars as a “spiritual father” and “model of what priestly parish ministry ought to look like. His unwavering devotion to Christ, his tireless zeal for souls, and his profound prayer life serve as a beacon,” he said, for priests “to renew and strengthen our priesthood.” He announced that on August 4, the priests would convene to “celebrate our consecration to Saint John Vianney” and urged all the priests of the Diocese to prepare for it by re-reading the life of St. John Vianney and bringing his writing to their prayers. “This moment of consecration will be a time of renewal and commitment, entrusting our priesthood to his intercession so that we may become ever more faithful shepherds of God’s people.”
What would be some of the characteristics of a sincere consecration to the Curé of Ars?
It would first be a commitment to priestly holiness. God never calls any man simply to be priest. He summons them to be a holy priest through the sacrament of holy orders, a sign and means of the universal call to holiness among all God’s sons and daughters that his ministerial priesthood serves. Just as St. John Vianney became an efficacious instrument of sanctity for the people of Ars, so every priest, by words and especially example, is meant to be a credible summons to God’s people to the fullness of the Christian life to which they’re called.
A consecration to St. John Vianney will likewise involve a commitment to priestly prayer. St. John Vianney was, Pope Benedict once said, “the model of an existence made prayer.” He used to make vigils before Jesus in the tabernacle begging for the conversion of his parishioners. He would pray and sacrifice for the needs and petitions his parishioners brought to him. He saw prayer as his first form of service to his people. Sometimes parish priests can succumb to the temptation to try to serve the Lord Jesus like Martha of Bethany through the many tasks involved in administering parishes, while Jesus wants them, like Mary of Bethany, to choose the better part, the one thing necessary, and prioritize sitting at his feet in prayer.
Third, consecration to the Curé of Ars means to live a Eucharistic life and Eucharistic priesthood. His whole life was oriented toward the Eucharistic Jesus and toward helping his flock learn how to make the Eucharistic Jesus the true focal point of every day. The way he celebrated Mass left no doubt that he believed what the Church professes, that after the consecration, the same Jesus who was in Mary’s womb for nine months becomes present sacramentally on the altar. The way he knelt before the monstrance and tabernacle likewise proclaimed the truth of the Lord’s real presence. Sometimes he would preach by simply pointing to the tabernacle and repeating, with grateful tears, “He is there! He is there! He is there!”
Fourth, a Viannine entrustment involves a commitment to the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. St. John Vianney is the most famous confessor in the history of the Church, hearing confessions for 16-18 hours a day for the last three decades of his life. His confessional became a great hospital for souls as people from all over France used to travel to Ars and wait an average of eight days to have their confession heard. His first decade as pastor was a martyrdom of waiting, as he patiently prayed and preached parishioners into the confessional and spent hours each day in an empty confessional. Eventually those in Ars returned to God’s mercy and soon after all of France. Not every priest will have Vianney’s gift for reading and guiding souls, but every priest can model his commitment to making the sacrament of mercy available.
Fifth, consecration to Vianney means a commitment to Catholic schools and to the formation of young people in the faith. The Curé dedicated his entire familial inheritance to build a Catholic school and orphanage in Ars. He visited the school every day, to catechize the children and encourage their instructors. Some of his most famous miracles happened because of prayers for the children. He recognized, especially after the French Revolution and its secularizing emphases, that Catholic schools were essential incubators for forming good Catholics and so he willingly sacrificed all he had for the one he founded and helped his parishioners, likewise, to see the importance of a Catholic education.
Sixth, entrustment to the Curé of Ars involves a renewed commitment to pastoral charity. Vianney cared for the poor of Ars with a special love, using the donations given to him not just to care for the many homeless who would come to the Church but also helping 30 families annually pay for their farms. He gave people clothes from his own closet and once exchange shoes with a beggar whose shoes were full of holes. He saw everything he had simply as a depository God had placed in his hands and he regularly withdrew those deposits to care for anyone who needed it. He knew occasionally that some tried to take advantage of his generosity, but replied that God would hold them accountable for what they did with the alms but would hold him responsible for whether he sought to care for Christ in the person of the poor.
Seventh, a consecration to Vianney involves a love for the priesthood, for priests and priestly vocations. He regarded the priesthood as the love of the heart of Jesus, a special means by which Jesus the High Priest and Good Shepherd cares for his beloved flock. He had a strong priestly identity — the priesthood was his life, not his job! — and he prayed and fasted for his brother priests and future priests, because he knew that the salvation of his people, not to mention the world, depended on the work Christ wills to do through them.
Finally, a consecration to Vianney means a determined focus on helping his people become saints and fulfill God’s plans for them. The day of his 1818 arrival in Ars was marked by thick fog. He found a boy in the fields and asked to be pointed in the right direction of the village. After the boy obliged, his new pastor said, “You have shown me the way to Ars. I will show you the way to heaven,” and that’s what summarized his next 41 years, incessantly striving to get his people to fix their gaze on the heavenly Jerusalem and on the narrow way that leads to eternal life.
The faithful of the Diocese of Fall River needs, indeed deserves, priests with these priestly priorities. These are the priests that God, too, wants them to have.
Once, through a possessed man Vianney was about to exorcise, the devil snorted, “If there were three of you, my kingdom would be destroyed.” It’s an interesting theological question whether one can, or should, believe anything the “father of lies” says, even though we see in the Gospel that the evil one occasionally said very true things about Jesus’ holiness. If the devil were speaking truthfully, however, he was declaring that he feared three Vianneys in the world more than he fears — to use today’s numbers of priests worldwide — 406,997 other priests who were just good.
Imagine if the Diocese of Fall River had one St. John Vianney. Imagine three. Imagine 100 or more.
That’s what faithful of the Diocese should be praying for over the upcoming month, as Bishop da Cunha and priests prepare to make this consecration on August 4.