Celebrating Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the "Cure D'Ars"

Celebrating our Relic of

Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney

on his Feast Day!

The way we came to possess an actual relic from Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney ( The "Cure D'Ars" or "Priest of the town of Ars") is a fun tale to tell today since August 4th is his Feast Day on the Catholic Calendar. We have a beautiful Saint JMBV medal that is actually more of a locket than a medal and inside the locket is a piece of Saint JMBV's robe under glass. It is a great treasure and we have kept quiet about how we discovered it, that is, until now. ...

Since 1987, when I first began hunting for Saint medals, I have been to many cities, states and countries looking for unique Saint medals. Naturally, Rome, Italy, is the best place to go to find Saint medals since the Vatican is located there. I love going to Rome and hunting for medals and am planning to go again this fall. But last year I came up with yet another brilliant idea, a "sure-fire" plan to unearth many different Saint medals to add to the http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ collection. The plan failed miserably, as many of my plans (some might call them "schemes" but let's not go there today...) often do in the end, but finding the relic from Saint JMBV was a fantastic consolation prize! So, like always, things worked out perfectly in the end.

After having been Saint medal hunting in Rome several times, I concluded there must be other great places to find Saint medals and that's what led me to France. The Vatican was located in Avignon, France, during the 13th Century so it seemed quite logical that a trip to Avignon would yield lots of great new Saints medals to paint and write stories about. So, a trip to Southern France was scheduled. I was very excited about collecting a cache of Saints to add to my collection and could not wait to get to Avignon.... We stayed in Provence, in a little town called Loumarin, which is south of Avignon. I wish I had paid more attention during the journey but because I was so obsessed with Avignon and finding Saint medals the towns we visited are vague in memory.

The drive to Avignon took us throughout Provence and when we finally arrived I could hardly wait to start collecting medals. Before we got to the former Vatican, I started going into small shops to sort of get an advanced peek at the medals I would be finding. It was funny that the first store I went into did not have any medals but I was undeterred. The second store did not have any Saint medals either but that was fine because there were many other quaint shops and we had not even gotten to the ruins from the 13th Century Vatican. Ruins.

Ruins. Hmmmm. Ruins. A smart person would have probably paid attention to the word ruins. Avignon is a city of ruins. The people of Avignon do not celebrate religion or religious icons like the people of Rome. If you're looking for feudal Lord figurines, swords, and masks, Avignon is the place to go. If you're looking for religious iconography, trust me on this: you'll be sorely disappointed. Throughout the city of Avignon and inside the ruins of the Papacy I did not find one single, solitary Saint medal. Zip. Nada. None. There were a few crosses here and there and one store had a handful of Rosaries for sale but I could not find one Saint medal. My "brilliant" plan to add different Saints from Avignon was a complete, utter, total failure. You live, and you learn.

The region of Provence is beautiful. The little towns are set apart in locations that make it possible to visit 2 or 3 or 4 little cities in a day and each has its own unique charm. But the town I loved best was Saint Remy and it's not because of its name. After our trip to Avignon we decided to do "day trips" and try and visit the towns on the days when they held their outdoor markets. Since looking for Saint medals had not worked out too well, looking for things to decorate our house that was being rebuilt after the flood seemed like a good plan and a welcome diversion. We found great fabric for curtains, and a beautiful lithograph of a street scene that reminded us of a small town we had biked through in Belgium. We found great gifts and we happened upon a street fair that was very much like a yard sale with lots of recycled treasures at bargain prices. Since I have never been able to kick my habit of going to yard sales, I was in a bit of heaven to be at a "yard sale" in St. Remy. It was my favorite part of our trip.

But when you travel with others you have to make some concessions. And since there were lots of places to go and things to see, I was prodded a bit to "hurry up" through the street sale. Left to my own devices I probably would stay at a yard sale or a thrift store all day long, or at least until I found something truly spectacular to my mind. But my friends wanted to move along so when I came across a vendor who was selling some Saint medals, I did not really take the time to sift through what was for sale and instead, bought every medal that was for sale, for a total of about 2 Euros, or 3 dollars.

On our way to the next town, while we were in the car, I took the Saint medals I bought out of my pocket and started looking at the Saints I found. I was very happy to see a round Saint Rocco (Rock, Roch) medal, the patron of dog lovers, as it/he is one of my favorites. I liked the others too and then noticed a medal that was thicker than the rest. It was a Saint Jean Marie Baptiste medal and I recognized him because my dear friend from college, Debbie "Rowdie" Woessner, a schoolteacher in Florida, had ordered his medal package recently and I recalled writing his story for her. As I looked at the medal it started to fall apart! It seemed to, anyway, but then I realized the medal was not a medal and was instead, a locket. Cast on the front of the medal is an image of Jean Vianney and the letters

" SAINT J.B. VIANNEY CURE D'ARS P.P.N."

On its back, the medal has inscribed:

" LINCE AYANT APPARTENU AU SAINT CURE D ARS ."

Inside the Saint medal/locket is a piece of glass and behind it is a small piece of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney's robe.

It is fitting we tell our story of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney and his relic today, on his Feast Day. Jean Vianney was a great priest of the town of Ars. He always wanted to be a priest but many felt he did not possess the intellect necessary. He failed in his studies and he failed again. But he never gave up and he eventually succeeded and became the priest he always wanted to be. He is perhaps best known as a most dedicated confessor. He would work tirelessly bringing people back to the Church through Reconciliation. Saint Jean would hear Confession for 12 hours a day in winter and up to 16 hours a day in summer. He brought many back to the Church. http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ will never, ever, come close to measuring up to the successes of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney but we will keep following his lead, trying to bring people "lapsed" in their Faith, back through the doors of the Church. And "lifting spirits, one saint at a time."

EPILOGUE:

We still have the relic of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney. It is a treasure. But we also realize that we cannot keep it and that it must be passed on to a group or entity closely associated with the life and vision of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney so that many can enjoy its beauty. We welcome advice and suggestions about the appropriate placement of this Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney's relic as we know that some things are meant to be shared, not kept.

Thank You!

Thank you's...

Thanks to:

* http://www.catholicanalysis.blogspot.com/ and its founder, Oswald Sobrino, for including and recommending http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ in the August 2, 2007 edition of the blog! We are honored to be included.

* http://www.sqpn.com/ , ( "The Best in Catholic Podcasting ") and "The SaintCast with Paul Camarata" for mentioning us in Podcast # 63, titled, "Saint Anne."

* http://www.CatholicBlogs.blogspot.com/ for adding us to their impressive roster of blogs.

* http://www.pewsitter.com/ for designing a great advertisement for us and putting our link on their front page.

* And most especially, y o u ... for visiting this blog and helping to spread the word about http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ , the home of hand-painted saint medals and serenity stories.

All the best,

rob clemenz, founder

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/

"The saints are the sinners who keep on trying." Robert Louis Stevenson

New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees Makes Dog's Day!

Drew Brees Meets and Greets his Canine Fans!

The New Orleans Times-Picayune staff photographer Chris Granger took a great photograph of New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees as he was spending some quality time with a four legged fan/friend, "Ellie," a pomeranian. Ellie went to the Saints training camp recently and like, the dog pictured here, "Mookie," Ellie was dressed in a Saints jersey. Ellie's human, Jay Crosthwait, of Jackson, Mississippi, gave Ellie a boost and Brees gladly signed her Saints shirt. The photograph of Ellie, Drew, and Jay clearly shows that our New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees is "dog's best friend."

Bereavement...

On Death and Dying...

Yesterday afternoon we got another one of "those calls." It was from Jessica, a long-time member of the "saintsforsinners.com family." She asked for a saint Elizabeth Ann Seton http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_elizabeth_ann_seton_medal_story.htm medal package, so I suspected she was looking for comfort after the loss of a loved one, and sad to say, I was right. A 4 year old boy had died and Jessica wanted Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton because she thought Saint Elizabeth could help a Mom grieving the loss of her child. I agreed with her wholeheartedly. The Roman Catholic Church does not yet proclaim Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton as a Saint who can help with bereavement but at http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ she is most definitely our "go to gal" for help with dealing with tragedy.

Elizabeth Ann Seton is the first American born saint. She enjoyed a life of wealth; her father was a doctor and professor at Kings College ( now known as Columbia University ) and her grandfather was an Episcopalian Minister. Elizabeth married and had 5 children but her daughters, Anna and Rebecca, died long before Elizabeth. She obviously knew what is was like to lose a child. Her mother died when Elizabeth was 3 years old so she knew what it was like to lose a Mom at a very young age. Her husband died when Elizabeth was only 29. Her father also died early in her life. Elizabeth Ann Seton experienced many tragedies early in her life. And she faced rejection and ostracism when she chose to become a Roman Catholic.

Through all of her tragedy and sadness, Elizabeth found the will to persevere. She carried on and did many remarkable things. Elizabeth founded the Daughters of Charity of Saint Joseph and was a brilliant educator, though not only through "book" learning. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton also teaches all of us by the example of her storied life. She always carried on and put her best foot forward in the many faces of adversity that were continually being presented.

If you go to our testimonial page you can read a lovely, heartbreakingly candid story from another saintsforsinners.com family member who has been able to "channel" some strength from the life of Elizabeth Ann Seton. And if you ever find yourself in the difficult position of needing to comfort someone as they endure the loss of a child, or if you experience this tragedy yourself, try to rely on saint Elizabeth Ann Seton for help, guidance, and perseverance. Should you wish to touch her image and grasp her strength with her medal, simply ask for one and it will be on its way to you without delay.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Jessica and her family today and we know saint Elizabeth Ann Seton will soon be doing her important work, helping those who must endure painful tragedies in life.

Saint Agatha Visits Nora Roberts to Offer Comfort

Saint Agatha visits Robin Roberts

Saint Agatha, the Saintly Patroness invoked for help with cancer issues, has gone to ABC News anchor Robin Roberts, in an effort to help her find peace and comfort during a difficult time. Saint Agatha, known specifically for her association with those recovering from breast cancer, said "Robin Roberts can prevail through her ordeal, and in doing so, help millions of others in similar situations." Ms. Roberts has a tie to the home base of http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ , since her sister, Sally Ann Roberts is a television anchor at WWL TV on Rampart Street in the historic French Quarter. Saint Agatha will be looking after both Roberts sisters as well as the rest of their family. Two other ladies are also going to join this battle to help Robin Roberts. They are two lovely ladies named Our Lady of Prompt Succor ( "Quick Help" and Our Lady of Perpetual Succor ( "Constant Help"). All of us at www.saintsforsinners.com , as well as our communion of saints will be praying for the Robin Roberts family, her friends, and her colleagues. Saint Agatha asks that you too, say a prayer for Robin and her family.

Saint Margaret's Mission

Saint Margaret takes on Challenging Mission

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ 's dear sweet saint Margaret of Antioch http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_margaret_medal_story.htm is packing her bags to begin several months of miracle work in California. At the most recent saint Monopoly Tournament, after 657 years, it turned out that the finalists were "saint" Clare, the patroness of television, "saint" Gabriel, the Arch Angel and saint Margaret, the fertility/safe pregnancy saint. It was a slow moving final game since Clare owned the green "Pennsylvania properties" along with the hostel-like Mediterranean and Baltic Avenue properties near "GO" and Gabe and Margaret pretty evenly split up the rest of the board except for Broadway & Park Place, which were split between Clare and Margaret and thus,not a factor.

At some point Clare was talking about the new TV shows coming out and said she was enjoying "John from Cincinnati." Margaret asked if God was on that show and Clare quickly changed the subject and began listing the recently canceled shows. When she said "The Simple Life" was ending its run, Gabriel said he was happy since "Nicole is in a family way." Margaret was quite surprised to hear Nicole Richie had gotten pregnant since there were no safe pregnancy prayers on her roster coming from the Richies. Gabriel explained that was because they were praying to a new saint for safe pregnancy, Philomena, and also to the Arch Angel Raphael, for happy news. Although Margaret was hurt and felt left out, she admitted that Nicole was in good hands with Philomena and Raphael. Until Philomena called the Monopoly Tournament asking to speak to Margaret! Moments later, Margaret started playing erratically; she traded all her properties to Clare to get Park Place and quickly built motels. But she kept landing in places where she could not afford to stay and was soon the 3rd place finisher, whereupon she announced, "I am going to California with Philomena and Raphael."

It turned out that Nicole had disregarded Philomena's instruction to lie low during the pregnancy and instead went on television with Daine Sawyer of "Good Morning America" to tell the world she and her baby's father, rocker Joel Madden, were going to be parents. This alarmed her appointed saints and they came running to the Mother of safe pregnancy help, Saint Margaret, for help. The three of them will be staying with Nicole and Joel until the baby is born and then the patrons of Moms, Gerard and Ann, will both stay with Nicole for as long as it is necessary for the family to thrive.

Saint Margaret said the baby boy would likely be named Lowell and he is tentatively scheduled to be born near the escalators at the Beverly Center on New Year's Eve Eve. She also acknowledged she heard Mr. Madden humming Paul Anka's "(You're) Having My Baby" during commercials at ABC. Mr. Anka, upon hearing the news said, "That song definitely has one more # 1 hit left in it."

Saint Martin of Tours Celebrates NHL Hockey Player Patrick Kane!

Saints Martin of Tours and Saint Sebastian

Celebrate NHL Hockey Player Patrick Kane!

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ 's big time partying saint, Martin of Tours, patron of wine lovers and bartenders, has been holding a week long celebration inside the Pearly Gates of Heaven. The reason? One of his esteemed students from his Saint Martin of Tours school in South Buffalo, New York, Patrick Kane, has been named the # 1 selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Saint Sebastian, patron of athletes http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_sebastian_athletes_medal_story.htm is also co-ordinating the celebratory events. Saint Martin has raving about Patrick Kane and all the saints are excited to hear this handsome, sensitive fellow will be playing professional hockey for the Chicago Blackhawks as their rookie Right Wing. In a sport known for being rough, physical and painful, Patrick Kane appears to be worthy of breaking the stereotypes and bringing some welcome finesse to the game. This young man is not afraid to be himself, even if his kinder, gentler personality might be atypical. Patrick Kane is a humble and self-deprecating guy. He told a story to writer Michael Schmidt about playing in one of his first big hockey matches as a boy. He said he "I went out on the ice with my skates on." But he couldn't figure out why he "kept falling." He says he eventually realized, "I went out with my skate guards on." Asked about his weaknesses, he freely acknowledged, as a smaller player, his strength may be his biggest weakness. But he is not afraid to throw himself out there. He recently went to see the Chicago Cubs and sang his heart out while performing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the "7th Inning Stretch." He also talked about being "into '90's love songs, like Natalie Merchant's 'Kind and Generous.' " And he also later proclaimed "I like chicklite stuff. I like love songs, and when I saw 'The Pursuit of Happyness," I cried. http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ , our very own saint Martin of Tours, and the communion of all our saints wish the very best for Chicago Blackhawks right wing and promise to look after him throughout the season. Our only request: please continue to be the refreshing, wholesome, kind-hearted man you have become! If you do, we're sure there will be 10,000 Maniacs cheering for you in the stands at every game!

USA Today's Great New Way ...

USA Today's Henry G. Brinton's Notso Manic Monday

Henry Brinton wrote a great article in today's "USA Today" on page 11A http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/07/faith-at-the-of.html and presented a thoughtful column about the "value of integrating religion and work in meaningful ways." Brinton was not preachy in his article; instead he offered that creating an inclusive workplace that taps into the resources of religious traditions could help to foster a better sense of community in the workplace. And he followed up with this crystal clear caveat that "such behavior doesn't mean proselytizing on the job." When I read the article I felt as though Mr. Brinton was speaking for and about http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ .

Although http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ is all about the Old Age Saints, in many ways it is less about Catholicism and religion than it is about history and the concept of trying to help others through sharing the lives of people in history who have stood for something. Folks who tried to do the right thing. It just so happened those folks in history have been declared saints by the Roman Catholic Church, or Holy See. So, naturally Catholics grasp the concept quite readily and revere the saints we have written about as well as their medals we paint so vividy. But, over the years, it seems we have also heard from a great number of people who like the concept of identifying with a saint, yet, are, for whatever reason, less entrenched in the teachings of strict religious principles. I think Mr. Brinton and SaintsforSinners.com share the same ethos, the idea that following "Golden Rule" principles can make us all better people. The hard part is doing it day after day and week after week - not just during an hour a week at Church but also on line at the slow moving toll booth, or while sifting through a voice mail maze at "Most Companys Today," or when encountering a person with a view point and personality entirely different than our own. To make it through those snapshots in time, we all can use a little help.

And that's where the idea of integrating religion and work (and life) seems beauteous! But that's not saying it's easy to do. A saintsforsinners.com case in point, for illustration: Long ago, a member of our saintsforsinners.com family suggested that I should try and get my hand painted saint medals and serenity stories in Cosmopolitan Magazine. It sounded good to me so I practiced due diligence and bought issues of the magazine, lugged them home ( if you carry a few copies of Cosmo around you'll soon develop a newfound respect for any postal worker who has to deliver it on their route every month. It's heavy! ) ane set about reading the articles and figuring out how saintsforsinners.com medals could fit into the pages of the magazine. Some of my friends in the media business offered great tips and soon I was ready to make the call to talk to a real live person at Cosmo. So, I rang her up and amazingly got through on my first try. I spoke to a lovely lady who was polite and cordial, listened to my ideas, and offered encouragement. I felt hand-painted saintsforsinners.com medals would soon be blessing the pages of Cosmo! So, I fine tuned my concept and suggested ways to offer free medal packages to readers as prizes, or in a give-a-way or some sort of contest. Saints Valentine and Agnes, our patrons of love were ready to be sent out of the factory and off to Cosmo. They felt "love" was perfect for Cosmo and I could not find a reason to dispute their notion.

To make this story short, it turned out that many at Cosmo embraced the medals and loved our "serenity for sharing" concept. Pretty soon I was directed to the Editorial Department to make my pitch. And that's where the whole house of cards came falling down for saintsforsinners.com's plan to unite in a project with Cosmopolitan. I was politely told, by a lady whose name was Gloria ( I think ), that Cosmo just did not "do religion." Because it would invariably offend someone so as a general policy rule, religion-type things are typically "passed" at Cosmo. This was where I quickly backpedaled, saying "the saints are not really about religion, they are about serenity for sharing." Gloria was not buying it and my cosmopolitan plan to unite saintsforsinners.com with the biggest magazine in the world fell apart. Butl like Chumbawamba I got up again and our hand-painted medal images were soon gracing the pages of OK! Magazine, Portland Monthly and a host of others. One door closes .... you know the rest.

I like the fact that today, July 30, 2007, Henry G. Brinton has written, in the world's largest newspaper, that "spirituality has begun to move into the workplace." He writes that many companies, like Coca-Cola and Microsoft, are becoming more faith-friendly. He says that people want to "bring their whole selves to work, - mind, body and spirit -instead of having to leave their soul" at the door of the lobby of their office. I think he's right and I fervently hope he's on to something. Because, if he is, you may just see our http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ medals on the pages of a huge Hearst publication some day. One can only hope. And pray. If not, maybe things will go better with Coke!