ST. JOHN VIANNEY - PART 3

“We must love while we suffer, and we must suffer if we love” (Catechism on Suffering)

…Upon John’s return to his studies from his pilgrimage to the shrine of St. John Francis Regis he found school as difficult as before the pilgrimage but the bouts of self-doubts were gone. The following year he was confirmed and it was then that he took the name of Baptist. But a larger cloud loomed on the horizon for although his name, John Mary Vianney, was entered on the roll as an “ecclesiastical student” John Vianney received a notice of conscription into the French army. Despite attempts by his superiors and his father to correct this error John was ordered to report to duty on October 26, 1809 but fell ill upon his arrival at Lyons. This illness caused him to miss his deployment to Spain but he was ordered to catch a new deployment at the town of Renaison. With nothing but a knapsack and the clothes on his back (not so much as a uniform) John Mary set out for Renaison to report for duty. The trip proved to be a laborious one and while resting on the approaches to the mountains of Le Forez a stranger suddenly appeared, grabbed his knapsack and ordered him to follow. Unsure of what was amiss John followed the stranger who turned out to be a deserter and a member of a group of deserters that were hold up in neighboring mountains and forests. John being a man of conscious realized that this predicament would only lead to grief and reported himself to the local mayor a certain M. Fayot who turned out to be a humane and just official. While technically John Mary was a deserter Fayot realized that he was in the situation that he was in by no fault of his own and instructed him to take refuge in his hayloft until it all settled down. John remained in the loft for fourteen months during which he narrowly escaped capture many times, once feeling the point of a sword between his ribs as it was thrust into the hay. Yet even during this time he spent hours practicing his Latin and in giving religious instructions to the children of Les Noes.

God’s will would not be stifled however. In March of 1810 the emperor married the Archduchess Marie-Louise and as a gift to his country the emperor proclaimed an amnesty for all defaulters and deserters. Early the following year John’s brother volunteered to join up before his time as a substitute for his older brother thus the path was cleared for John Mary Baptist Vianney to return to Ecully and his ecclesiastical studies…

Next month, John Mary enters the religious life.