Ann Ball - Modern Saints Book 1: Their Lives and Their Faces

Modern Saints

Their Lives and Faces

Ann Ball

Copyright 1983, Ann Ball

DEDICATION

Blessed Mother of Sorrows, here at last is your book. In the midst of your sorrow at the insensitivity of the world, may you find joy in the lives of these faithful friends of your Son. This book is yours, and was written for you and for the Catholic students and educators of the United States.

The Canonization of St. Bernadette Soubirous in St. Peter's Basilica. (Photograph courtesy of The Catholic University of America.)

"To the honor of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith and for the spread of the Christian Religion, by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and by Our own, after mature deliberation and having often implored the Divine assistance, on the advice of Our venerable brethren the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, the Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops, We define and declare the Blessed Marie-Bernarde Soubirous a Saint, and We enroll her in the catalogue of Saints, ordaining that her memory shall be piously celebrated in the Universal Church on April 16th of each year, the day of her birth in Heaven. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."

Pope Pius XI, December 8, 1933

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

DECLARATION OF OBEDIENCE

In loving obedience to the decrees of several Roman Pontiffs, in particular those of Pope Urban VIII, I declare that I in no way intend to prejudge Holy Mother Church in the matter of saints, sanctity, miracles, and so forth. Final authority in such matters rests with the See of Rome, to whose judgement I willingly submit.

the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When she left for college in 1962 to study journalism, Ann Ball told her mother that teaching school was "the last thing I'll ever do." Since her graduation she has taught almost every grade from first through twelfthfull-time for seven years and part-time for all the other years. Her motto is "Never say 'Never.' " She studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, and holds a B.S. in education from the University of Houston, where she was president of the education honor society and a member of the all-school honorary.

Ann Ball is the mother of two children who attend parochial schools in Houston. She currently teaches English and agriculture at Marian Christian High School, a parent-owned and operated school, where she also supervises the school farmvegetable garden, a burro, goats, and several breeds of rabbits and chickens. She has worked as a private investigator, and is currently the director of public relations and corporation secretary-treasurer for a private security company.

Writing is Ann Ball's hobby. She became interested in researching the lives of modern saints while teaching in California in the late 1960's. She was startled by her students' surprised reactions when she showed them a photograph of St. Therese and saw that they had not realized the saint was a real human being. Ann Ball has researched Modern Saints for ten years. By her desk in the family den stands a metal file cabinet which contains folder after folder of information about modern saints and candidates for canonization. The information is in a number of languages, including Chinese. Ann herself speaks only English and some Spanish, but she has been fortunate in finding translators to help her. She regrets that she was not forced to study languages more in college.

Of her active life, Ann Ball says, "Being a mother and a teacher are my vocations; security is my job. I love all three, and also my hobby of writing."

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A complete list of all those whose help and encouragement have made this book possible would fill many pages. Those persons listed on the bibliography pages under "Correspondence" have all contributed information. In order to locate these people, however, I have had recourse to many others who directed me to the proper addresses.

At the beginning of my research, Miss Marie Buehrle and Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P. both took pity on my inexperience in research and directed me to a number of invaluable sources. Several other authors, including Mr. Leo Knowles, have assisted me in my search for sources, as have three bishopsMost Rev. John Morkovsky, Most Rev. Bernard Ganter, and Most Rev. Raphael Ayala. My correspondence over the past ten years has been phenomenal. During one summer I received so many letters from overseas that my postman finally asked for an explanation. Told of my work, he now often greets me with a comment about the arrival of a new saint.

Postulators and Vice Postulators of individual causes and of entire orders have been generous in taking time to answer questions and make suggestions. Some letters have sadly reported an inability to help, but all have encouraged me in this project. Never has anyone refused my requests for help. From the archivist of the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints to the neighbors on my street who have given rough translations of letters in foreign languages, from bishop to postulant, the response has always been positive and helpful. I am most grateful to all who sent the pictures which have made this book possible.

In particular, I wish to thank Mr. Doug Descant and Mr. Jim Cirincione for their help in copying some of the photographs used in this book; St. Mary's Seminary, for the use of the seminary library; Miss Anna Bobak for her translations from Polish; Mr. Gene Decker of the University of Houston, for his translations from French; and Rev. Stephen Mandry for his translations from Italian, Latin, and several other languages, as well as for his advice on theological matters and canonical regulations.

Special thanks go to my relatives and my friends, and particularly to my family who put up with my research and enthusiasm. And to all those not specifically named, I leave your reward and thanks in the hands of Our Blessed Mother.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

The idea for this book was conceived because of the reactions of a group of my students to a photograph of St. Therese of Lisieux. After making many references throughout the year to her and to her "little way," I brought to class a photo of St. Therese in her wheelchair. Comments ranged from "Where are the roses?" to "You mean she was real?"

I had been speaking of Therese Martin, a real person, but the children had visualized only a statue of a nun holding a bunch of roses. After questioning them, I discovered that these otherwise intelligent students had no concept of what sanctity was. And how could I expect them to be interested in or to imitate a plaster statue?

Immediately, I began to search for more photographs to "prove" that the saints were real. Much to my sorrow, I discovered that too many biographers had chosen to illustrate their books with artistic representations rather than true portraits. And artists, like some enthusiastic biographers, often tended to exaggerate the saints' good points and ignore their faults to the point where often a painting bore little resemblance to the person. I believe most of these artists chose this method of illustration in a misguided attempt to show the inner beauty of the servants of God. However, sometimes this very act of loving respect had the effect of performing a disservice to the saint portrayed.

A halo and pink cheeks and lips were added to the only known photograph of St. Gabriel Possenti. Perhaps this improved his pious expression, but looking at that picture it is hard to see a young man brave enough to disarm several drunken soldiers who had been looting and burning buildings, and run them out of town at gunpoint. Other photographs in this book have been altered to include a halo or flowers. In some cases, oil colors were added, distorting the original.