Description
A man does not just emerge on the world's scene like a great ice glacier. Nor can he be described that way. Unless he is viewed against the backdrop of the times in which he lived, he becomes just like that glacier, frigid and iso- lated from the sometimes beautiful, sometimes harsh shore of reality. This holds true when one writes the life of a saint, any saint, even if he be just a peasant priest from the country town of Ars.
The 18th century French climate was like a pressure-cooker near the exploding point. No sooner had John Vianney been born, than the French Revolution began. The Church was persecuted in that age, as in every age. "Constitutional priests" were placed at the head of each parish and so, devout Catholics had to sneak into damp cellars, risking prison, to assist at the Mass of a fugitive loyal priest.
ISBN:0819814121
