GIOVANNI MARIA BATTISTA VIANNEY, saint. — B. at Dardilly near Lyons on 8 May 1786; d. at Ars on 4 Aug. 1859. Raised in a religious family environment, in his youth he was a shepherd and farm labourer. Having begun his studies in the period following the Revolution, under the guidance of the parish priest of Ecully, and being inclined toward the priesthood, he entered the Seminary of Verrières, where he became noted for profound piety. Returning in 1813 to Ecully, where he studied theology, he subsequently entered the Seminary of Lyons, where he was ordained priest on 9 Aug. 1815.
He was curate at Ecully for three years, and in 1818 became parish priest at Ars, a humble village of the former principality of Dimbes, where for forty-one years he was a faithful minister of God and a great benefactor of souls. The fame of his virtues soon spread beyond the boundaries of the parish, and persons of every condition flocked to him from all quarters to receive counsel and spiritual direction. He spent the greater part of his time continually in the confessional, and was also occupied with the explanation of catechisms and Sunday homilies. A model for parish priests by reason of his simple humility and apostolic zeal, he was beatified by Pius X on 17 Apr. 1904 and canonized by Pius XI on 31 May 1925. He was proclaimed patron of parish priests by Pius XI in the apostolic letter Anno Iubilari, of 23 Apr. 1929 (AAS, 21 [1929], pp. 312–13).