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

""180 THE CUR OP ARS.enjoy this privilege the rest knelt on the staircase, in the;court, and even in the market-place, praying and weeping.When M Vianney was asked, in the formula of theritual, whether he believed in all the truths of our holyreligion, he replied, I have never doubted them whe;"ther he pardoned his enemies, I have never, thankto anyone."God, wished illThe next day the Cure of Fareins said Mass at thealtar of St. Philomena. At that very time the patientfell, for the first time, into a peaceful slumber, which wasthe precursor of his perfect recovery. It was a generalreport at Ars, that St. Philomena had then appeared tohim, and revealed to him things which, to the end of hislong life, were a subject of joy and consolation to him.The following is the testimony of M. Pertinant, theschoolmaster of Ars, who had been his affectionate andassiduous nurse throughout his illness :"Ourholy cure, finding himself at the last extremity,begged that a Mass might be said in honour of St. Philomena, to whom he had consecrated himself by a specialvow. The Mass was said by a neighbouring priest, andall in Ars, whether residents or strangers, assisted at it.Before the holy sacrifice began, M. le Cure seemed to meto be labouring under a kind of terror. I observed something extraordinary about him a great anxiety, an unwonted disturbance. I watched his movements with redoubled attention, believing that the fatal hour was come,and that he was about to breathe his last. But as soon asthe priest was at the altar, he became suddenly more tranquil he looked like a man who was gazing at something;pleasing and consoling. The Mass was hardly over, whenhe said :My friend, a great change has taken place in*me ; I am cured/ Great was my joy at these words. I