Catherine Odell - Solanus Casey: The Story of Father Solanus, Revised

Revised
By Catherine M. Odell

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, IN 46750

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Copyright 2007 by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. Published 2007

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Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
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ISBN: 978-1-59276-181-4 (Inventory No. T232)
LCCN: 2007927217
Cover design by Monica Haneline
Cover photo by James E. Jeruzal (Huntington, IN), c. 1952
Interior design by Sherri L. Hoffman

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

To my wonderful mother,
Marcella Rose Anthony (19112005).
Like Fr. Solanus,
she showed those around her the joy and holiness
of being thankful.

Statue of Fr. Solanus outside the Solanus Casey Center, Detroit.

Several days after the death of Fr. Solanus Casey, O.F.M. Cap. in Detroit, Michigan, on July 31, 1957, his Capuchin brothers went to his small room at St. Bonaventures Friary to collect his things. What they discovered was after eighty-six years of life, including sixty years as a religious, he had very little which could be called personal effects.

Altogether, the brothers found a black-brimmed winter hat; a brown skull cap; some family photos and letters; a trunk; some books; a pair of wire-rimmed glasses; a pair of shoes; a winter overcoat; a second pair of sandals; some underclothes and nightshirts; a breviary; a violin with bow; several pictures of the Blessed Virgin; a rosary; two worn habits; and the red stole he used each Wednesday at the 3:00 P.M. healing service.

The collection was a poor mans holdings, but a much larger legacy of the man did, in fact, exist. It was the kind that couldnt be counted or evaluated in terms of dollars and cents.

Some years ago I was in utter despair and just wanted to die, confessed a tearful woman at the Capuchins wake. I spoke to him and began to live again.

Fifteen years ago, my son was dying of polio, a parent reported. Fr. Solanus blessed him, and today he is in the best of health.

There were hundreds even thousands of such stories. They all had a common theme: Fr. Solanus had prayed, and things were never the same again. Many times, things changed for the better. People with cancer, paralysis, blindness, emotional illness, and tumors were among those who claimed healings through this priest. Others realized that Solanus was preparing them to accept death, the loss of a loved one, or continued suffering. But no matter the outcome, all felt blessed.

Fr. Solanus was ordained a simplex priest in 1904; in this capacity, he was denied the faculties to hear confessions or to give doctrinal sermons. Instead, this priest was given the job of friary porter, or doorkeeper; his job was to answer the door and take messages. Gradually, however, friary visitors found something spiritually magnetic about the kind, bearded priest. They began to tell him of their problems and their hopes. He reminded them of the goodness of God. He promised to pray for their needs and did so, even into the loneliest hours of the night.

Into this humble vessel, this doorkeeper, great spiritual gifts began to be poured. When Fr. Solanus prayed for others, his prayers were answered with unexplainable frequency. He was able to foresee future events and often shared his visions with others. In todays light, it seems evident that Fr. Solanus had the gifts of miracles, prophecy, healing, discernment, and other gifts of the Spirit described by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. Fr. Solanus also had mighty gifts of faith, hope, and love that overflowed into all that he said and did.

His was a life that changed others, often after no more than a momentary meeting. His closeness to the Lord was so apparent that people of all ages, creeds, economic backgrounds, and cultures were drawn to him. An investigation of his cause for beatification and canonization is currently under way. As a result, he may one day be named as the first native-born American male canonized as a saint. Fr. Solanus himself would probably have blushed at the prospect. Throughout his life, he constantly asked his friends to pray for his own conversion and salvation.

Fr. Solanus Casey is an awesome and yet accessible model for our modern times. His virtues and story translate especially well for todays American Christians. The son of Irish immigrants, he was a Midwesterner from a big family. He could shoot a fair game of pool and loved baseball and hot dogs with onions. He was also a pilgrim in modern times and knew all about telephones, TVs, the Cold War, and consumerism. The special blessing of Fr. Solanus to American Catholics and all Christians is that he showed others that a life-giving faith and love of God could be so simple yet so powerful.

In 1976, Cardinal John Dearden, then Archbishop of Detroit, officially initiated the diocesan investigation into the heroic virtues of Fr. Solanus (Bernard) Casey, O.F.M. Cap. Since then, those who knew Solanus and those who have learned about him have been patiently praying and waiting for the day when they can freely call him St. Solanus.

In Detroit, an impressive Solanus Casey Center, built in 2002, has become a pilgrimage site that annually draws 150,000 visitors from around the world. Pilgrims learn not only about the life of Solanus Casey but also about other saintly Christians who, like the doorkeeper, boldly lived the Christian Beatitudes and the works of mercy.

Are beatification and canonization imminent for this American Capuchin priest, the son of Irish immigrants? Br. Leo Wollenweber, O.F.M. Cap., Vice Postulator for the Solanus Cause since 1974, is a naturally hopeful man. There are plenty of reasons to believe that that great day is not too far away.

Dont worry. Gods in charge, one can almost hear Solanus Casey playfully reproaching his impatient supporters. God knows the best way to get things done.

One day, during the Detroit days of Fr. Solanus, a small boy with a cast on his arm sat in the front waiting room of St. Bonaventures Friary. After dozens of others moved ahead to ask the bearded Capuchin for a blessing, the boy finally moved to the porters desk with his mother. He had heard of the wonderful healings accomplished through this priests prayers. Suddenly, to the mothers surprise, the boy began to tug anxiously at the cast encasing his arm.