Saint John Vianney (1786-1859; ordained in 1815) was a saintly priest who was unjustly persecuted by way of slander and false accusation. In the biography The Cure' D'ARS: Saint Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney (Tan) by Father Francis Trochu, a story is told concerning a painful time in the life of Saint John Vianney in which he was viciously attacked by slanderers and gossip mongers:

"...At times God allows the purest souls to become the victims of the vilest calumnies, nor are the ministers of the altar immune from such trials. On the occasion of a village scandal--a wretched girl, having lost her honor, had become a mother in a house close to the presbytery--some criminals sought to tarnish the reputation of the servant of God. It was but a rumor, utterly baseless, for it was not possible to detect in his conduct anything that could have risen to the veriest shadow of a suspicion'' (cited in Catherine Lassagne, Proces de L'Ordinaire, 521). Nevertheless, his front door was splashed with dirt, and for the space of eighteen months a miserable creature stood, night after night, under his windows, insulting and reproaching him as if he had been guilty of leading a disorderly life. Apparently, he was to be spared no humiliation, no anguish, of mind. In 1823 the diocese of Belley was re-established, and Ars ceased to form part of the Archdiocese of Lyons. M. Vianney was a stranger to Mgr. Devie, his new Bishop. Anonymous letters full of venom having reached the prelate, he deemed it his duty to send the cure' of Trevoux, M. Vianney's dean, to make investigations. We do not know how this inquiry was conducted, but it is certain that it silenced the slanderers. Was our saint thinking of those most bitter trials when, towards the end of his life, he one day remarked: "If on my arrival at Ars I had foreseen all that I was to suffer there, I should have died on the spot?" Those were indeed hours of agony. We are informed by a contemporary that at one moment "he felt so depressed by reason of the wicked gossip that was circulated about him that he decided to quit the parish. This plan he would assuredly have carried into effect if one of his intimate friends had not succeeded in convincing him that by doing so he would give a measure of plausibility to those infamous rumors." So he abandoned himself yet more completely into the hands of God, and whilst his heart sickened at the ignominy-for his honor as a priest was at stake-he forgave the guilty ones; nay, he went so far as to bestow on them marks of friendship."

Had he been in a position to shower benefits upon them he would have done so. Thus, for instance, he relieved a certain family that had grievously wronged him, when misfortune befell them. One member of that household died in a mental hospital. Though he knew the persons concerned, he never uttered their names; on the contrary, he seized every opportunity of doing them a good turn. "We must pray for them," he kept repeating to Mayor Mandy, who was full of indignation at the conduct of those wretches. To a priest who complained of being the butt of evil tongues he gave the following advice: "Do as I did; I let them say all they wished, and in this way they ended by holding their tongues" (cited in Proces apostolique in genre, 432).

A holy soul "turns all bitterness into sweetness," says Saint Therese of Lisieux. Here is the testimony of an eyewitness: "I know that M. Vianney not only endured these indignities with patience, but that his heart felt a wholly supernatural joy in the midst of his sufferings. Later on he called this period the happiest time of his life. He would have wished that the Bishop, believing him guilty, would remove him from his parish, so that he might have time to weep over his 'poor life' in quiet retirement" (cited in Frere Athanase, Proces de l'Ordinaire,662). In February, 1843, he made the following amazing statement in the hearing of several persons: "I thought a time would come when people would rout me out of Ars with sticks, when the Bishop would suspend me, and I should end my days in prison. I see, however, that I am not worthy of such a grace" (Catherine Lassagne, Petit memoire, premiere redaction, 116; The Cure of Ars', 173-174). Father Trochu's book also reveals that the Cure of Ars had several defenders one of them being an unbeliever named Dr. Thiebaut: "A physician of Trevoux, Dr. Thiebaut, who was eventually converted, had seen M. Vianney and knew perfectly well the cause of his physical exhaustion. He was chivalrous enough to defend him publicly in a cafe of Trevoux against the gibes of some free-thinkers who sought to cast doubts upon the holiness of the cures life" (176).

In conclusion, Saint John Vianney reached, as all saints do, the highest degree of humility. He attained the spirit of detachment and his sufferings in many ways mimicked the sufferings and humiliations of Jesus. God permitted him to suffer in order to shape him into a saint. As Father Trochu wrote: "God molded his soul even as the sculptor carves a statue by means of chisel and mallet" (174-175). Saint John Vianney experienced what is called in the spiritual life "Perfect Joy". Saint Francis of Assisi described perfect joy as when your best efforts are misunderstood, perfect Joy is when you do good, and your reward from others is punishment/persecution.