MERRICK, N.Y.-
In life, St. John Vianney was a revered 19th-century French clergyman who was said to be blessed with the ability to read the hearts of worshippers. In death, his own heart has become an object of worship.
For reasons unknown, Vianney’s body never decayed after death, and his heart and body have been encased in separate glass reliquaries in France for more than a century.
The heart is being brought to the U.S. for the first time this weekend to help Long Island’s Cure of Ars church celebrate its 80th anniversary. Pastors from some of the Roman Catholic parishes around the country that also bear Vianney’s name are flying in for the occasion, and thousands of worshippers are expected.
The Rev. Charles Mangano said hosting the relic at his American parish–the first named in Vianney’s honor–was a “historical moment for our country, our diocese, our church.”
Vianney served in the French village of Ars, where he died in 1859. When his body was exhumed in 1904 because of his pending beatification, it was found intact. Except for one time in 1925, when the heart was taken to Rome for Vianney’s canonization, it has never left France.
“It’s an actual heart, 3-D, not in any kind of gel or formaldehyde,” said Mangano, who first saw the heart last year while on a retreat to Ars. “It’s brownish color. When you get really close to it, the center is still pinkish-red. Everything else around it is all like browned with age.
“It’s really extraordinary.”
After five days of services beginning Saturday, the heart will be taken to a Boston parish before returning to France.
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