The Secret of the
Curé de Ars

Compiled, Partially Rewritten, and Arranged
by Pauly Fongemie

SOURCES USED:
Secrets of the Saints, Henri Ghéon, 1944;
From the Housetops Magazine, Vol. XXIV, No. 3, Serial No. 53;
and The Life of the Curé de Ars, Abbé Alfred Monnin, 1861


THE SAINT'S DEVOTION TO ST. PHILOMENA

He had finally restored the choir and the altar; now he set about erecting several small chapels, not only for the purpose of enlarging the church, but to assist the devotion of the faithful. The first chapel was in honour of his patron, St. John the Baptist, who, according to a tradition, appeared to him in the early days of his priesthood there, and revealed to him that he desired to be especially honoured in that church, and that by his intercession many sinners should there be brought back to God. Some days after this chapel had been opened and blessed, M. Vianney said to his parishioners:

 "Were you but to know what has passed in this chapel, you would not dare to set foot there. If it shall so please God, He will make it known to you; as for me, I will not utter another word about it."

Nothing more was ever known.

"It was," says M. Monnin, "one of those half-revelations which seemed to escape him unawares, and the imprudence of which (as he accounted it) he hastened in his humility to repair by endeavouring to efface the remembrance of them. Certain, however, it is, that the chapel of St. John was always especially dear and venerable in his eyes; it was the scene of his life-long labour for souls, and from thence, by the slow martyrdom of his confessional, he passed to his reward."
 
A remarkable circumstance occurred just after the completion of the chapel of St. John. The holy priest had exhausted all his funds, and was perplexed how to pay the workers. As always he turned to Our Lady, who never failed to come to his assistance. Taking a turn in the fields with his rosary in his hand, and scarcely passed the bounds of the village, he found himself being greeted respectfully by a stranger on horseback, who inquired after his health.

"I am not ill," replied he; "but I am in a good deal of trouble."
 
"Do your parishioners cause you uneasiness?"

"On the contrary, they are far better to me than I deserve; but the fact is, that I have just built a chapel, and have not the means to pay my workmen."

The stranger, after seeming to reflect for a moment, took from his pocket twenty-five gold pieces, which he placed in the hand of the Saint, saying:

"M. le Curé, this will pay your workmen. I recommend myself to your prayers."

He then raced off, without giving M. Vianney time to thank him. This was the first, but by no means the last, time that he received unexpected and mysterious assistance such as this.

The second chapel erected by the holy Curé was dedicated to his chosen patroness, St. Philomena:

"The relics of this virgin Martyr had been discovered at Rome, in the cemetery of St. Priscilla, on the 25th of May 1802. On the entrance of the tomb which contained them were carved the symbols of virginity and Martyrdom,---an anchor, three arrows, a palm, and a lily,---with the legend,

[Fi]lumena, pax tecum. Fi[at.]
(Philomena, peace be with thee. Amen.)

"Within appeared the relics of the Martyr, with an urn still bearing the traces of the blood shed for Jesus Christ. These precious remains were afterwards translated to Mugnano, in the Neapolitan territory, where many signal miracles were wrought at the shrine of the young Martyr. The devotion spread from Italy into France, where new wonders attested her power with God, Who chose, as the agent for promoting the glory, of His Saint, the humble Curé of an obscure village.

Mysterious and wonderful is the sympathy which thrills through the communion of Saints, unbroken by distance, undimmed by time, unchilled by death! The child went forth from her mother's arms to die for Christ; the lictor's axe cropped the budding lily, and pious hands gathered it up, and laid it in the tomb; and so fifteen centuries went by, and none on earth thought upon the virgin Martyr, who was following the Lamb whithersoever He went, till the time came when the Lord would have her glory to appear; and then He chose a champion for her in the lonely toil-worn priest, to whom He had given a heart as childlike, and a love as heroic, as her own; and He gave her to be the helpmate of his labours, and bade her stand by him to shelter his humility behind the brightness of her glory, lest he should be affrighted at the knowledge of his own power with God.
 
"The love of the Cure of Ars for his dear little Saint, as he called her, was almost chivalrous. There was the most touching sympathy between them. She granted every thing to his prayers; he refused nothing to her love. He set down to her account all the graces and wonders which contributed to the celebrity of the pilgrimage of Ars. It was all her work; he had nothing whatever to do with it." [Monnin]

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