EPISTLES

St. John Marie Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, is my spiritual father. I even named my eldest child after him—not out of mere admiration, but because he led me to take my faith seriously: to study it, to live it, and to practice it as God intends, not as the world prefers.

The world promotes a comfortable, lukewarm religion—one that tries to please both God and the world. But as St. John Vianney shows us, such a faith saves no one.

Like many great saints, he speaks with clarity, firmness, and urgency. He does not soften the truth. In particular, he presents Judas Iscariot as a warning: a man who repented, but not enough—a soul who felt sorrow, yet refused true conversion.

The following excerpts, taken from four of his sermons, reflect his uncompromising teaching on repentance, despair, perseverance, and the Holy Mass.

Sermon On Delaying One’s Conversion

St. John Vianney warns against presuming last-minute repentance. While some point to examples like the good thief, these are rare exceptions. Mere sorrow for sin is not enough—true conversion requires a real change of life. Judas repented emotionally but lacked true trust and conversion, leading to his condemnation.

But you will tell me, there are many who were converted at the hour of death: the good thief was totally converted at that moment. The good thief, first of all, my children, had never known God.
When he did knew Him, he gave himself to Him: but let it be noted that this is the only case that Sacred Scripture presents to us, and it is so that we do not despair completely at that hour. But there are also others who were converted, in spite of having lived a long time in sin. Be careful, my friend, for I think you are deceiving yourself: tell me that there are many who have repented; but to be converted is another thing. Here is what you will do, and what you have already done in your infirmities: to call for a priest, because you were afraid of the evil you were suffering. Well then, with all your repentance, have you been converted? No doubt you have become even more hardened. Alas, my brethren! Such repentance means little. Saul repented well, for he mourned for his sins [1 Kings 25:14-30]; and yet he is condemned. Judas repented, since he went to return the money, and so great was his sorrow [that in his despair he distrusted the forgiveness and friendship of Christ] that he hanged himself [Mt 27:3]. If you ask me now where such repentance lead, I will answer you… to hell. And I will always come to my conclusion that if you live in sin and die in it, you will be damned; but I hope it will not be so: it will not come to this.

Sermon On Hope

Despair is a grave sin because it denies God’s mercy. No matter how great one’s sins, forgiveness is always available to those who sincerely turn to God. Even Judas could have been forgiven if he had trusted in Christ instead of despairing.

Despair is a greater sin than any sin we may have committed, for by faith we know that God will not deny us forgiveness, if we come to Him in sincerity. The magnitude of our sins should not engender in us the fear of being denied forgiveness, for all of them, compared to the mercy of God, are less than a grain of sand next to a mountain. If Cain, after having killed his brother, had asked God for forgiveness, he could be sure of obtaining it. If Judas had thrown himself at the feet of Christ, to beg forgiveness, Jesus Christ would have forgiven him his guilt as He did to St. Peter.

Sermon on Perseverance

The Christian life requires vigilance and reliance on God. Even the greatest beings have fallen, so no one should be overconfident. However, temptation can be overcome through prayer, avoiding occasions of sin, trust in God, and devotion to the Blessed Virgin. If we fall, it is often because we fail to use the means God gives us.

We read in history that a holy priest found a Christian called for his unceasing fear of succumbing to temptation. “Why do you fear?”, the priest said to him “Alas, my father,” he replied, “I fear to be tempted and to succumb and perish. Have I no reason to tremble when so many millions of angels succumbed in heaven, when Adam and Eve were defeated in the earthly paradise, when Solomon, who is held to be the wisest of kings and who had reached the highest degree of perfection, stained his gray hairs with the most dishonorable and shameful crimes, when this man, after having been the admiration of the world, became the opprobrium and disgrace of mankind; when I consider a Judas succumbing in the company of Jesus Christ himself; when such great luminaries are extinguished, what am I to think of myself, who am nothing but sin?, who shall be able to enumerate the souls who are in hell, and who, but for temptation, would be in glory? O my God, who shall not tremble, who can hope to persevere?” – “But, my friend,” said the holy priest to him, “do you not know what St. Augustine tells us, that the devil is like a chained dog: he harasses and makes much noise, but only bites those who come within his reach? Trust in God, flee from the occasions of sin, so that you will not succumb. If Eve had not listened to the devil, if she had fled at the very moment when he proposed to her the transgression of the precepts of God, she would not have succumbed. When you see yourself tempted, reject the temptation at once, and, if you have the opportunity, devoutly make the sign of the cross; think of the torments that the reprobate must experience for not having known how to resist temptation; raise your eyes to heaven, and you will see there what is the reward of the one who struggles; call to your aid the guardian angel: Cast yourselves promptly into the arms of the Blessed Virgin, imploring her protection: with that you have the certainty of emerging victorious over your enemies, whom you will see at once full of confusion”.
If we succumb, my children, it is because we do not want to avail ourselves of the means that God sends us to fight. It is necessary, above all, to be well convinced that, on our part, we can do nothing but lose ourselves; but, with a great trust in God, we can do everything.

Sermon on the Holy Mass

Many attend Mass without true devotion, imitating those who mocked or ignored Christ at Calvary. The Mass is the re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice, yet many dishonor it through indifference or irreverence. Only a few truly participate with sorrow, reverence, and love.

Most of the worldly people hear the Mass imitating the Pharisee, the evil thief or Judas. We have said that the Holy Mass is the commemoration of the death of Jesus on Mount Calvary; and for this reason Jesus Christ wants us to celebrate the Mass in his memory as often as we celebrate it. But, unfortunately, we can say that, while we renew the memory of the sufferings of Jesus Christ, many of those present reproduce the crime of the Jews and of the executioners who nailed him to the cross. And in order that you may better discern whether you belong to the number of the wretched who so dishonor our Holy Mysteries, I will make you observe how. Among those who witnessed the death of Jesus on Calvary, there were three classes of persons: some, more insensitive than inanimate creatures, only paraded before the cross, without pausing or giving place to feelings of true pain. Others approached the place of the torture and considered all the circumstances of the Savior’s Passion; but this was only to mock, making a jest of it and outraging Him with the most horrible blasphemies. Finally, a few shed bitter tears, seeing the cruelties committed upon the body of their God and Lord. And I will not speak to you of those who hastily go to hear Mass in some parish where they have other business, nor of those who attend only half the time, spending the other half in drinking with a friend in a tavern; let us leave that aside, for they are people who live as if they had no soul to save; they have already lost their faith, and consequently all is lost.

St. John Vianney teaches that salvation requires true conversion, firm hope in God’s mercy, perseverance against temptation, and sincere participation in the Holy Mass—not mere outward religion or emotional repentance.