Hundreds of people visited Marytown in Libertyville on June 3 to venerate the major relic of St. John Vianney’s incorrupt heart.

Entrusted to the Knights of Columbus by the Shrine of Ars, the small French village where St. John Vianney served, the relic of the saint’s heart will have visited 48 states by the time the tour ends. Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.

The tour, organized and hosted by the Knights, began last fall to mark the 200th anniversary of Father Vianney’s arrival in Ars.

Dominican Father Jonathan Kalisch, director of chaplains and spiritual development for the Knights’ Supreme Council, said St. John Vianney’s great love of the priesthood serves as a model and witness to clergy and laity alike, and his heart is the appropriate reflection of his character.

“Thousands of pilgrims would wait in Ars to have their confessions heard by him. He would sit in the confessional between 13 and 18 hours a day,” Kalisch explained. 

Incorrupt means the organ, along with St. John Vianney’s body, has not — without any chemicals or preservation — disintegrated. St. John Vianney is the patron saint of priests.