July 27 to August 4

Each year, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs recites a Novena to Honor St. John Vianney, beginning on July 27 and concluding on his feast day, August 4. All parishioners are invited to participate by choosing the name of a diocesan seminarian and committing to pray for him throughout the nine days of the novena. Sign-up sheets for prayer sponsors will be available in the church, located near the main entrances. A printed four-page novena prayer booklet—containing the prayers and a list of seminarians’ names—will also be provided to guide your participation.

We hope you will join us in reciting the daily novena prayers and asking for the intercession of St. John Vianney to bless our Brooklyn/Queens diocese with good parish priests.

About St. John Vianney: Feast Day, August 4

Saint Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney—patron of priests worldwide and universally known as the “Curé [Priest] of Ars”—was born on May 8, 1786 in the village of Dardilly, France. After serving a short time in the army during the Napoleonic period he entered a seminary to become a priest. He had a difficult time, particularly with Latin. His formation directors and instructors in the seminary had  serious doubts that this man would be suitable for the priesthood. However, John Vianney persevered and was ordained in 1815 and served as a priest in the village of Ars in France. His dedication to his calling to be a priest and to serve his people was strong. He preached in a very simple manner and had a great love of the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Mother and a special devotion to St. Philomena. Through his work as a confessor he brought about a spiritual renewal that touched not only the people of his parish, but all of France. He spent 14 to 18 hours a day in the confessional, surviving on only a few hours of sleep and a diet of boiled potatoes. As the word spread of his extraordinary abilities as a confessor, thousands made the journey to receive his spiritual counsel. He is an example of how God works wonderfully through those who dedicate their lives to him and who seek to do his will. John Vianney, a humble parish priest, is regarded by the Church as one of its great figures simply because he was faithful. John Vianney was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925. (Source: Condensed biography from the St. John Vianney Catholic Church, www.sjvroundrock.org.)

Did you know . . . St. John Vianney is one of the statuettes on the main altar reredos? Read more.

St. John Vianney Novena Prayer Booklet