By the time he dies of stomach cancer at a young age, Bernanos has painted a portrait of what we realize is a genuine saint.
He is an astute observer of the weakness, frailty and fallenness of human nature, especially his own. He has a keen sense of history and his own obscure role to play. The priest loves his flock he visits every home every year, and he prays for them. They gossip about him as a "secret drinker" and a womanizer, both of which are laughable. He describes his parishioners as bored, boring, and petty. He knows he is physically clumsy and socially awkward. The entire novel is a diary in which he confides his doubts and loneliness, his sense of futility, struggles with a sense of vocation ("Keep marching to the end, and try to end up quietly at the roadside without shedding your equipment."), powerlessness in the face of suffering, clashes with clergy colleagues, the history of his own family dysfunction, and even disgust with his own body due to chronic stomach pains and an impoverished diet. From a merely human perspective he is not mistaken. Last year marked the 70th anniversary of Bernanos's powerful tale of a young and earnest parish priest in rural France who feels that he is a total failure. Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest (various publishers, 1936).
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