Restless Hearts · Week 1 · Grades 9–12
Guided Notes: St. John Vianney
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
A vocation born underground
John Vianney was born on May 8, blank 1, in Dardilly, near Lyon. He was three when the French Revolution began. Within a few years the state demanded that clergy swear loyalty to a reorganized national church. Priests who refused went into hiding or exile.
The Vianneys attended the secret blank 2 of such priests. John made his First Communion at 13 in a private house. For him, a priest was first of all someone who risked his life so that ordinary people could receive the sacraments.
Under Napoleon the Church could work openly again. John, a farm laborer with almost no education, began studying for the priesthood at blank 3.
A life in one small place
Write what happened in each year.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1786 | Write your answer |
| 1789 | Write your answer |
| 1806 | Write your answer |
| 1809 | Write your answer |
| 1815 | Write your answer |
| 1818 | Write your answer |
| 1859 | Write your answer |
| 1925 | Write your answer |
Sixteen hours a day
Vianney could not master Latin, failed his examinations and was dismissed from the seminary. Father Balley tutored him and vouched for him, and he was blank 4 on the strength of his character.
Ars was religiously blank 5 when he arrived. He prayed for hours before the tabernacle, visited every household, preached bluntly and founded La Providence, a home and school for girls.
Then the penitents came. Catholics believe that in blank 6 Christ forgives sins through the priest. By the 1850s about 20,000 people a year travelled to Ars, and Vianney sat in the confessional up to 16 hours a day. Several times he tried to leave for a monastery. Each time he came back.
Apply it
A friend says only brilliant people can do great things for God. Which fact about Vianney answers best? Circle one.
- A He secretly excelled at theology and Latin
- B He failed exams, yet thousands sought him out
- C He said education was a waste of time
- D He was famous before he ever reached Ars
Why is that the right answer?
Apply it
“I look at him and he looks at me.” Which habit comes closest to what the farmer of Ars described? Circle one.
- A Listening to a prayer podcast while gaming
- B Posting a Scripture verse for your followers
- C Asking an AI to summarize the Sunday readings
- D Ten silent minutes in church with your phone off
Why is that the right answer?
Take a side
People crossed France to be heard by one tired priest. Today an AI chatbot will listen to anyone, at any hour, with endless patience. Resolved: an AI that listens can meet the human need to be heard.
My side: ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree
- What exactly did the people in line at Ars want: advice, attention, forgiveness, or something else?
- Does it matter that listening cost Vianney something and costs a chatbot nothing?
- Can you be known by something that does not know you exist?
- For a lonely person at 2 a.m., is an AI listener better than no listener?
- Catholics believe confession gives God’s forgiveness, not only a hearing. What part of that, if any, could a tool provide?
My strongest reason, with evidence from the slides:
The best argument for the other side, and my response:
Let us pray
Lord Jesus, you look at us with love and wait for us.
Teach us to look at you, and to listen to one another.
Bless our priests, and call new shepherds for your people.
St. John Vianney, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Go and listen
A failed seminarian became the patron of parish priests by staying put and paying attention. His feast day is August 4.
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of St. John Vianney shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: Each day this week, give one person ten minutes of undivided attention: no phone, no earbuds, no half-listening. Notice what you hear.