Ars-sur-Formans is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Geography

Vialatte - AMBERIEU - Gare des Tramways de Cerdon et Ars

The village is in the south-western part of the Ain department 33 km north of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and 10 km east of

Villefranche-sur-Saône Villefranche-sur-Saône (, ; frp, Velafranche) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the river Saône, and is around north of Lyon. The inhabitants of the town are called ''Caladois''. ...

in the heart of the Dombes region - known for its many lagoons. Ars-sur-Formans is on the Dombes plateau while to the west it borders the fertile hills of the Val de Saône. A small river, the Formans, runs from east to west across the commune just south of the village to join the

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name ...

river near Saint-Bernard. The commune covers . The D44 road from Savigneux west to Beauregard forms much of the northern border of the commune. Access to the village is by road D904 going west from Savigneux and continuing to join the D934 west of the commune. The road D888 also runs south-east of the village to Rancé.Google Maps
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Toponymy

The name of the commune comes from ''Arsa'' meaning "burnt". Long known simply as ''Ars'', the commune changed its name to ''Ars-sur-Formans'' by a decree of 12 October 1956 published in the Official Journal on the 18th of the same month.

History

The name ''Ars'' appeared as early as the year 969. In the 11th century Ars was one of the many strongholds of the Lordship of Villars and his mansion was located next to the church. In 1226 Jean of Ars sold his land to the monastery of Île Barbe but Villars retained sovereignty. In the 14th century, the protection of the castle was divided between the Lord of Villars and that of Beaujeu. The village was burned by the troops of Viry in 1409 and was obliged to submit to the consequences of the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

throughout the following century. The parish of Ars belonged to the Principality of Dombes and the Châtellenie of

Trévoux Trévoux (; frp, Trevôrs) is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. The inhabitants are known as Trévoltiens. It is a suburb of Lyon, built on the steeply sloping left bank of the river Saône. History In AD 843, the treaty ...

before being absorbed with all of the Dombes, into the Kingdom of France in 1762. In 1790 Ars was made a commune of the Ain Department. It was part of the canton of Trévoux until 1984, when it was attached to the canton of Reyrieux. In 2015 it became part of the canton of Villars-les-Dombes. Since the mid-19th century, the name of Ars is associated with its canonized parish-priest, Saint

Jean-Marie Vianney John Vianney (born Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney; 8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859), venerated as Saint John Vianney, was a French Catholic priest who is venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint and as the patron saint of parish priests. He is oft ...

. Well before his 1925 canonisation by Pope Pius XI there were many pilgrimages. On 6 October 1986, Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

travelled to the village of Ars-sur-Formans, during his third visit to France.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Mayors of Ars-sur-Formans

Twinning

Ars-sur-Formans has twinning associations with: * Freihalden (Germany) since 1977.

Population

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has many sites that are registered as historical monuments: *The Park on the Chemin de Chateau *The Girls' School and Orphanage of Providence (1827) *A House at Rue des Ecoles (19th century) *A School at Rue des Ecoles (1906) *A House at Rue Jean-Marie Vianney (19th century) *The Town Hall / School at Rue Jean-Marie Vianney (1840) *The Sainte-Philomène Garden at Rue Jean-Marie Vianney *The Chateau des Garets Park *The Sainte-Anne Farmhouse at Champ du Chateau (19th century)

Religious heritage

The commune has several religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: *The Croix des Combes (Combes Cross) (1853) *The Monumental Cross of the 1847 Jubilee (1847) *The Croix Micholet (Micholet Cross) (1612) *The Croix Tonneau (Tonneau Cross) (18th century) *The Presbytery for the Priest of Ars (18th century) *The former Church and

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

(12th century) *The Garnier des Garets family Tomb (1856) *The Presbytery (1886) *The Presbytery of Saint Curé d'Ars (18th century) The Presbytery and the chapel containing the relic of the heart of Saint Curé are now a museum and open to visitors. The reception desk and the spiritual activities of the sanctuary are organised by the priests of the sanctuary: the congregation of

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nuns called the Tyburn Nuns and the ''Brothers of the Holy Family of Belley''. The year 2009 marked the Jubilee of the 150th anniversary of the death of Saint

. On the occasion of the sacred international year for priests 2009-2010 the sanctuary hosted nearly 600,000 pilgrims including 35,000 priests. The ''Historial du Saint-Curé-d'Ars'' revives the decor of the period and reconstitutes in 17 scenes and 35 wax figures the history of the Curé of Ars. Ars is part of the Association of sanctuaries in France, and holds the title "tourist village of Ain". *The Parish Church of Saint-Sixte (11th century) The Basilica of Ars, partly built in 1862 by the Lyon architect Pierre Bossan and his successor Sainte-Marie-Perrin, forms an extension to the old church. It houses the remains of Saint

, the parish-priest of Ars and the patron saint of all parish priests. This place of pilgrimage hosts more than 500,000 people each year. *The Tomb of the heart of Jean-Marie Vianney (1932) The commune has a very large number of religious items that are registered as historical objects.

Local life

Religious communities

*Several religious communities are present in Ars: the ''Working Missionary Sisters'' (Providence House), the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Sisters (Saint-Jean House), the Carmelite Sisters, the Benedictines of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, the Brothers of the Holy Family of Belley (Guardians of the Sanctuary), the priests of the Jean-Marie Vianney Society (John Paul II Sacred Hall for the reception of priests and for International Seminar for the training of priests). File:Entrée de l'escalier conduisant à l'église souterraine de Notre-Dame-de-la-Miséricorde.JPG, Entrance to the underground Notre-Dame-de-la-Miséricorde File:Église souterraine de Notre-Dame-de-la-Miséricorde (Ars-sur-Formans) - escalier.JPG, Staircase to the underground Notre-Dame-de-la-Miséricorde

Events

*On the second Sunday in February: Feast of the arrival of the Saint (evocation of the arrival of the Saint at the Meeting Monument, procession, solemn Mass, adoration of the blessed Sacrement,

vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , meanin ...

with catechism) *the Sunday following Easter Sunday:

Divine Mercy Sunday Divine Mercy Sunday (also known as the Feast of the Divine Mercy) is celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter, which concludes the Octave of Easter. The feast day is observed in the Roman Rite calendar, as well as some Anglo-Catholics of ...

(Mass, education, Solemn Vespers ... *Every Wednesday in June: Groups of children at home (visit, Mass, games) *in May or June, Mass and Procession of Corpus Christi (feast) in the village; *4 August (anniversary of the death of the Saint): Festival of the Saint Curé (Lauds, Solemn Mass, Procession, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Vespers, spiritual concert *8 December: feast of the Immaculate Conception, lighting the village and entertainments ;Event at the Carmel of Saint Curé of Ars founded in 1939 *In 1986 and 2007 the movie-art-recreation association made two films about ''Carmel of the Holy Curé of Ars'' in the movie series "Relief of France: the monasteries" and a paper on

during his meeting with the

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

on 6 October 1986.This archived document is visible in the video: ''Dialogue at Carmel of Saint Curé of Ars'' o
cine-art-loisir.com
by Jean Claude Guerguy, Director

Personalities

*The commune is the homeland of Saint Curé of Ars -