Saint John Vianney's prayer to Jesus

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Saint John Vianney's prayer to Jesus" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Saint John Vianney's prayer to Jesus" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Part of a series on
Devotions to Jesus in the Catholic Church
Christ in Majesty
Devotions
Holy Wounds Sacred Heart Holy Face Divine Mercy Eucharistic adoration Holy Name Holy Hour Acts of Reparation Stations of the Cross Precious Blood Infant of Prague
Prayers
Anima Christi Shoulder Wound Morning offering Sacred Heart prayer Sacred Heart Consecration You are Christ Vianney's prayer Perboyre's prayer Montfort's prayer Crucifix prayer
Catholic Church portal
v t e

Saint John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, composed his prayer to Jesus in the 19th century. The prayer reflects Vianney's deep religious feelings, which were praised by Pope John XXIII in his encyclical Sacerdotii nostri primordia in 1959: "The thing that keeps us priests from gaining sanctity"—the Cure of Ars used to say— "is thoughtlessness. It annoys us to turn our minds away from external affairs; we don't know what we really ought to do. What we need is deep reflection, together with prayer and an intimate union with God." The testimony of his life makes it clear that he always remained devoted to his prayers and that not even the duty of hearing confessions or any other pastoral office could cause him to neglect them. "Even in the midst of tremendous labors, he never let up on his conversation with God."

The prayer is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Words of the prayer

I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life.

I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You.

I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally...

My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath.

Notes

References