Life of St John Vianney.pdf - the Catholic Kingdom!

"My"158 THE cuiiri or ARS.to great inconvenience to see phenomena, which are oftennot worth the trouble. This is the greatest and rarest ofphenomena, for it is sanctity in full action. You cannot,in your quality of historian, be dispensed from observingit. Do not fail, then, to go to Ars, and that withoutdelay, for the Cure of Ars will not last much longer.friend was right I felt ; it,and resolved to follow his advice. Instead, therefore, of proceeding direct toLyons, I stopped at Villefranche. I had hardly got intothe town when, just as I was on the point ofascendingthe steep street leading to the church, which seemed wellworth visiting, the clouds which had been collecting in thesky (I notice this circumstance purposely) poured downsuch a deluge of water as compelled me to take shelter inthe office of the carriages which the growing celebrity ofthe abbe had caused to run between Villefranche and Ars.At the appointed hour we set off the ; heavy rain con tinned;not a person was to be seen on the road ; it had rained frequently during the whole day and the preceding day also.Well, said I to myself, there will be no crowd around theCure of Ars. I shall lose the sight of the people eagerlyflocking to see him ;but I shall be able to approach himeasily, speak to him, and set off without much delay.As I was making these reflections we arrived at Ars.The carriage set us down at a good village-inn, where youare well treated, and not, as yet, imposed upon the ; cure,I was told, forbade it.Knowing how difficult it is to moderate the charges of innkeepers, especially at a place ofpilgrimage, this was to my mind a strong indication of themastery exercised by this holy man over the hearts of hispeople. Without further delay we now hastened to thechurch, where we were told that we should find M. leCure. On the way I arranged matters in my own mind.