Recollections from Fr. John's Visit to France

by Fr. John Granato  |  08/04/2024  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

Today is the feast day of St. John Vianney, also known as the Cure of Ars. He was born in 1786, immediately before the French Revolution, and lived until 1859. He is also the patron saint of parish priests, due to his remarkable career as a pastor in Ars, France. St. John Vianney was also a friend of the early Marists (the Society of Mary) and became a member of the Third Order of Mary.

With France being in the news as of late with the Olympics (the actual sporting events and the controversial opening ceremony), I am reminded of the time I visited France in 2004. Before I made my perpetual vows (poverty, chastity and obedience) with the Marists, they sent five of us to France to make a pilgrimage to the founding sites of the Society of Mary. We flew into Paris and spent a few days there visiting with the Marist community in Paris and doing some sightseeing. I visited many wonderful sacred sites (chapel of the Miraculous Medal, St. Sulpice, Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame Cathedral) and other historical sites (the Eiffel Tower, Napoleon’s tomb, the Arc of Triumph.) We also made visits to some noteworthy cemeteries where some noteworthy figures of history are buried (Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin, Moliere, Abelard and Heloise, Balzac, and Simone de Beavoir and Jean-Paul Sarte).

The only tomb I really had any desire to see, though, and the one that I insisted we had to visit, was the tomb of Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors. From Paris we traveled to Lyon, where the beginnings of the Society of Mary were. Outside Lyon, which for my money was a much more beautiful city than Paris, we visited the smaller villages (Belley, Cerdon, Fourviere and Ars). Except for Ars, the other three villages/towns were instrumental in the beginnings of the Marists. Like St. John Vianney, the early Marists were born into a world rocked by the French Revolution. The Catholic Church has still not fully recovered from the destruction that occurred in that revolution, which was only a few years after the American Revolution.

As we see in France today, especially in Paris, Catholicism is being slowly eradicated and the hatred for anything Catholic or even Christian is increasing. The celebration of paganism and the influx of Muslims will eventually create a powder keg. Many people think that Catholicism is intolerant of homosexuals, but what they don’t understand as they continue to push the LGBTQ rights in France is that they will not have a friend in Islam. Not only is Islam not tolerant of homosexuality, but once they are the majority in Paris (which is happening and will be a reality if nothing changes), there will be persecution and killing of those who don’t convert to Islam and of those who the Muslims will view as sexually immoral. France, and in particular Paris and Lyon, has provided the Catholic Church with many saints.

Let us pray for France that she once again finds the Way, the Truth and the Life who is Jesus Christ. God bless.