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The Cure Of Ars: The Story of St. John Vianney - Patron Saint of Parish Priests
“So you’ve decided to give in to the Devil,” said the priest. John Vianney started back in dismay—"No, Father!" "But you just told me you were giving up your studies for the priesthood," responded Father Balley. This book tells what took place next, along with the many adventures that met young St. John Vianney and his fights with the Devil when he set out to become a priest, and ended up one of the Church's most glorious saints.
Mary Fabyan Windeatt was known as “the storyteller of the saints.” In the 1950’s and 60’s she wrote over twenty historical fiction novels on the saints, bringing to life these holy men and women for young readers across the world. By artistically rendering familiar stories, the Windeatt books help readers see that the saints are real people whom we can emulate.
Ideal for all children, especially those enrolled in TAN Academy in kindergarten through third grades for easy reading literature.
Mary Fabyan Windeatt was known as “the storyteller of the saints.” In the 1950’s and 60’s she wrote over twenty historical fiction novels on the saints, bringing to life these holy men and women for young readers across the world. By artistically rendering familiar stories, the Windeatt books help readers see that the saints are real people whom we can emulate.
Ideal for all children, especially those enrolled in TAN Academy in kindergarten through third grades for easy reading literature.
222 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
8 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Mary Fabyan Windeatt
105 books25 followersMary Fabyan Windeatt was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1910. Interested in music as a child, she received a degree in music from Toronto Conservatory of Music at the age of fifteen and a further degree in music from Mount Saint Vincent College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1927. This same year she moved with her family to San Diego, California, graduating from San Diego State College in 1934 with a degree in business.
She moved to New York to seek employment in the field of advertising but was unsuccessful. With time on her hands, she began to write and in 1934, she sent a story, which was accepted for publication, to a Catholic magazine. She continued to write while pursuing her studies, graduating in 1940 with a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Miss Windeatt eventually contributed verse, book reviews, short stories, and articles to thirty-three different publications and wrote numerous biographies of saints for children. The first biography, Saints in the Sky, The Story of St. Catherine of Siena, was published in 1941. Considerable research went into her books; for example, she traveled to Peru in the summer of 1941 prior to publishing Lad of Lima, The Story of Blessed Martin de Porres in 1942. (St. Martin de Porres was canonized a saint in 1962.) In addition to her biographies, she also wrote the text for twenty-eight Catholic coloring books and was a regular contributor to the monthly Dominican magazine The Torch in which many of her books originally appeared in serial form. A third-order (secular) Dominican, she has been called the “storyteller of the saints”—especially Dominican saints.
Later in life, Miss Windeatt moved near St. Meinrad’s Abbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana with her mother. She died on November 20, 1979.
Under their original titles, the series of saint biographies that Mary Fabyan Windeatt wrote in the 1940’s and 1950’s are currently out of print. However between 1991 and 1994, Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. republished twenty of these saint biographies.
Rich in Roman Catholic culture and doctrine, these books illustrate to both children and adults how the Faith was lived every day by the saints; they inspire us to know, love, and serve God as the saints did. Mary Fabyan Windeatt had the ability to relate much factual information about each saint while seasoning the narrative with the doctrinal truths they lived. While each saint shines forth in these books, these writings also reveal to us Ms. Windeatt’s own strong Catholic beliefs; her faith too lives on.
She moved to New York to seek employment in the field of advertising but was unsuccessful. With time on her hands, she began to write and in 1934, she sent a story, which was accepted for publication, to a Catholic magazine. She continued to write while pursuing her studies, graduating in 1940 with a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Miss Windeatt eventually contributed verse, book reviews, short stories, and articles to thirty-three different publications and wrote numerous biographies of saints for children. The first biography, Saints in the Sky, The Story of St. Catherine of Siena, was published in 1941. Considerable research went into her books; for example, she traveled to Peru in the summer of 1941 prior to publishing Lad of Lima, The Story of Blessed Martin de Porres in 1942. (St. Martin de Porres was canonized a saint in 1962.) In addition to her biographies, she also wrote the text for twenty-eight Catholic coloring books and was a regular contributor to the monthly Dominican magazine The Torch in which many of her books originally appeared in serial form. A third-order (secular) Dominican, she has been called the “storyteller of the saints”—especially Dominican saints.
Later in life, Miss Windeatt moved near St. Meinrad’s Abbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana with her mother. She died on November 20, 1979.
Under their original titles, the series of saint biographies that Mary Fabyan Windeatt wrote in the 1940’s and 1950’s are currently out of print. However between 1991 and 1994, Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. republished twenty of these saint biographies.
Rich in Roman Catholic culture and doctrine, these books illustrate to both children and adults how the Faith was lived every day by the saints; they inspire us to know, love, and serve God as the saints did. Mary Fabyan Windeatt had the ability to relate much factual information about each saint while seasoning the narrative with the doctrinal truths they lived. While each saint shines forth in these books, these writings also reveal to us Ms. Windeatt’s own strong Catholic beliefs; her faith too lives on.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 21, 2015
Probably my favorite saint after reading this book. St. John Vianney was an unusual priest and man in an unusual time. The events that took place during his life and within his personal life, group together into a story that must be heard regardless of what you believe.
July 1, 2010
Great book.
January 14, 2011
I good read for a high schooler and grade schooler. It's short and to the point.
August 22, 2025
why am I not able to read it here
October 10, 2017
This is a simply written biography of the Curé d'Ars, written in a manner that allows young people to enjoy it without being too basic for adults. This book follows the Curé's brief military career, his failures as a scholar, his success as a pastor, and his trials from the Devil. This book is not only spiritual reading, but also a very enjoyable story of a religious man during a troubled and unreligious time.
January 30, 2015
This was a great book.
July 10, 2019
Mary Fabian gives a nice description on how he lives his life.
September 17, 2023
Wonderful book. Truly every Catholic young and old should read Mary Fabyan Windeatt’s whole series on saints.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews