In the middle of the 19th century, Ars was a rural village so small(only 230 inhabitants) that it is not even on the map. But around 1830 it became the destination of huge pilgrimages, from all parts of France, people of every class set off to Ars with the singe objective of meeting the parish priest of this very small village and receiving from him, through his ministry, the absolution for all their sins. The parish priest that these people went to meet in Ars was called John Mary Vianney. His life was extremely simple, and he was very committed to his ministry, which he carried out with total dedication. In the last years of his life, he used to hear confessions for fifteen hours a day, asking the confessional a place of welcome, where all sorts of miseries arrived. He was "confined" in Ars because his superiors considered him a simple priest, who barely scraped through the exams necessary for ordination. They certainly could not imagine that he would become in ten years one of the most popular priests of France. Passages, like small pearls of wisdom that make this book precious, are taken from the collection of his sermons.