There is a lesson of great importance for us that is very worth taking note of in the accounts of his tremendous persecutions, assaults which manifested themselves in a variety of ways for decades.
Such Satanic attacks were common for St. John Vianney. He was taunted and harassed spiritually, tangibly, and audibly. There are reports of his bed having been moved about, fires starting spontaneously, and disturbing noises at night. All these events were attempts to stop or impede the work of his priestly ministry.
According to Bishop Thomas J. Olmstead, ". . . Fallen angels, also known as devils and evil spirits, try to hinder all of us in our pursuit of holiness. Their ordinary ploy is by means of temptations, which God allows so that we can make good use of our freedom in resisting them and thus growing to fuller maturity in Christ.
"In
addition to these ordinary ploys, demons resort to other extraordinary
acts, on rare occasions, with the same intention of thwarting the plan
of God and undercutting our filial trust in Him. These harassments can
be of three kinds: infestations, obsessions and possessions. "With infestations, the devil makes use of noises, outcries, rattling, apparitions and other extraordinary outbursts of some sensible nature aimed at terrifying people, intending to undercut their confidence in God. He used these repeatedly on the Cure of Ars, sometimes to keep him from getting badly needed sleep, at other times to disturb his peace of mind and to try to shake his trust in God. All these were aimed at disrupting the effective ministry of this holy priest." 1
Early on, Fr. Vianney became aware that these infestations were most outrageous just before an outstanding action of grace was about to occur through his priestly ministry, usually the conversion of a sinner. He even remarked that the worst assaults of the devil took place when he was on the verge of “landing a big fish,” by which he meant welcoming back a baptized person who had fallen far into the darkness of despair. With this insight, Fr. Vianney calmly ignored the infestations, and looked forward with joyful hope to the next victory of grace about to occur through the Sacrament of Penance.
Fr. Roger Landry provides additional insight in The Grappin and the Gros Poissons. He shares the story of what occurred in 1826 when Fr. Vianney and most of the priests in the area were helping out during a parish mission in Saint-Trivier. The priests heard loud noises coming from Fr. Vianney's bedroom on the first night, and concluded that he had caused them. When they were informed by him that it actually was "The grappin," who was angry because of all the good that was being done there, they did not believe him.
The next night Fr. Vianney's fellow priests heard a loud noise that sounded like a heavy cart moving about along with other terrifying noises coming from his room. One of the priests even believed that he was being murdered. They ran to his room and found that his heavy bed had been moved to the center of the room. Fr. Vianney told them, "It is the grappin who has dragged me here!" He apologized to them, saying, "I'm sorry I forgot to warn you adequately beforehand." Then, he delivered his powerful conclusion: "It is a good sign, however. There will be big fish tomorrow."
"Gros poissons," or big fish, was the way Fr. Vianney referred to inveterate sinners, guilty of some of the worst mortal sins, who had not been to confession for years. Fr. Vianney had already recognized that the nocturnal molestations were most severe whenever a "big fish" was to appear the following day. It was then that the devil most wanted to throw Fr. Vianney off his grace-filled game, so that he might decide to take a rest the following day and not be available to reconcile to God someone whom the devil had long held captive." 2
Fr. Landry goes on to say that the priests still did not believe the explanation that the assaults were instigated because of the Sacrament of Penance and the reconciliation of notorious sinners. Some of them even decided to spy on Fr. Vianney's confessional to see if those "big fish" actually showed up! Late in the day, a scandalous nobleman entered the church and asked Fr. Vianney to hear his confession. The man had neglected his religious practices and also flaunted his sinful behavior throughout the village. He left a new man, and the skeptical priests no longer doubted what Fr. Vianney had told them.
"At the beginning I felt afraid," he said to a priest who asked about the history of his encounters with the devil. As bothersome as all of the molestations were, however, he eventually learned how to take joy in them when he realized that there was a link between what was going on in his bedroom and what was going on in the confessional. "I did not know then what it was, but now I am quite happy. It is a good sign: there is always a good haul of fish the next day." "He would speak often about this connection. "The tumult is greater and the assaults more numerous if, on the following day," he said, "some big sinner is due to come."
"After a particularly bad night he came into the Church and stated, "The devil gave me a good shaking last night. We shall have a great number of people tomorrow." Such advertising led him to begin to look at the devil almost as a collaborator. "The grappin is very stupid," he told a group of penitents. "He himself tells me of the arrival of big sinners!" For that reason, 'the grappin and I are almost comrades.' "2
His advice: "I turn to God. I make the sign of the cross. And I address a few contemptuous words to the devil." When speaking to children, he added, "The devil is very clever, but not very brave. A sign of the cross puts him to flight." He told them he would often get the devil to stop harassing him by threatening to tell the children about his behavior so that instead of fearing him, they would despise and reject him.
"The devil also seeks to divert us from our vocations. Once, when Fr. Vianney was ill, a young philosophy student was going to confession to him in his bedroom. When he was about half way through, the whole room began to shake and the kneeler he was using started to rock violently. Frightened, the young man stood up and was about to flee. The Curé grabbed his arm and guided him back to the kneeler, "It is only the devil," he said. At the end of the confession, Fr. Vianney told him that if the devil was so desirous of disrupting his confession, he must have the vocation to be a priest. Denis Chaland took that advice and the whole experience to his prayer. He did indeed end up becoming a priest, but the harrowing occurrence scared him away from ever again confessing to the Curé of Ars! 2
Do not be distracted from your own mission of living in imitation of Christ, and when the persecution begins or begins anew, put your trust in God and also rejoice, for you have been called to serve as a fisher of men. +
God is at work in you!
Highly Recommended reading:
Abbe' Francis Trochu, The Cure' D'Ars: St. Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, 1977), 586 pages.
St. John Vianney, Translated by Una Morrissy, The Sermons of the Cure' of Ars (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, 1995), 195 pages.
St. John Vianney, Compiled and Arranged by W.M.B., Thoughts of the Cure' D'Ars (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, 1884), small booklet, 79 pages.
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Sources:
1. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop Olmsted on the Devil and John Vianney, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2320765/posts and Part Two: The Devil's Attacks, http://www.catholicsun.org/bishop/082009bishop.html
2, Father Roger J. Landry, The Grappin and the Gros Poissons, http://www.catholicity.com/commentary/landry/00824.html.
Fish symbol photo courtesy of Photoxpress.