Visiting Ars

Town of Ars, located near Lyon, in France.

A visit to Ars is a truly wonderful experience. Ars remains a small village north of Lyons, France, with the Parish Church and Presbytery having been well preserved. A small chapel contains the heart of St. Jean Vianney and the Presbytery contains many of the items which existed in the time the Saint lived there, including the bed that was set alight on a number of occasions when he was being tormented by Satan. The church is much the same, including the separate confessionals for men and women, as was the norm at the time.

If you are accompanied by a priest, he will be able to celebrate Mass in the parish church using St Jean Vianney’s very own paten and chalice (as did Fr. Andrew when he visited Ars) and you will, no doubt, be able to share in the Precious Blood from his chalice.

When St. Jean-Marie Vianney’s remains were exhumed, as is the norm with the canonisation process, it was found that his body was incorrupt. Together with a number of other saints such as Sts. Catherine Laboure (Miraculous Medal), Vincent De Paul, and Bernadette (Lourdes), it is completely and miraculously preserved.

St. Jean Vianney lies in a reliquary above the main altar in the original Parish Church at Ars in France