‘Tomorrow will be a wonderful day’

Father Solanus Casey’s journey toward canonization

Vestments, chalice, paten and pillow used by Blessed Solanus at his first Mass, July 31, 1904. (Courtesy Photos/solanuscasey.org)

By Maria Joyce

For the ICR

Maria Joyce is a teacher at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Boise and the great-grandniece of Blessed Solanus Casey. This is the fifth and final article by Joyce introducing the virtuous life of her great grand-uncle to ICR readers.

“Tomorrow will be a wonderful day,” Father Solanus Casey declared to his provincial, Father Gerald Walker, OFM, Cap., on July 30, 1957. Indeed, the next day he passed into eternal life at 11:00 a.m.

His funeral Mass on Aug. 3, 1957, drew people from all walks of life, Jewish and Protestant ministers, doctors and his beloved poor. However, death did not deter his faithful friends from seeking his intercession. Devotees slipped through the side gate of the monastery cemetery and quickly wore a path to Father Solanus’ grave.

Within six years of his death, the laity urged the Capuchins to begin the steps toward Father Solanus’ canonization. They were inspired by the humble friar’s holy life and the stories of divine intervention.

Collecting his story

In early 1958, Provincial Father Gerald Walker OFM Cap., sent a report to Rome detailing the virtuous life of Father Solanus Casey. The report was happily approved. Two years later, Clare and Dan Ryan founded the Father Solanus Guild with the permission of the Capuchins. within a relatively short time, The Guild’s “greater audience” became the world.

At the request of the Guild, James Patrick Derum wrote a biography of Solanus in 1968, The Porter of Saint Bonaventure’s: The Life of Father Solanus Casey, Capuchin. Much of the early recollections of Father Solanus’ life come from his brother, Monsignor Edward Casey, who spent a week traveling with James Derum, during which they visited the Casey family homes at Oak Grove, Trimbelle and Burkhardt, Wisc.

Within six years, the Guild made progress in collecting first-hand accounts of healings attributed to the intercession of Father Solanus.

After numerous reports of divine “favors” from the Guild and others, the Capuchins took the lead for the Cause of Canonization and began their work in earnest by sending a report to Rome.

In 1976, Detroit’s Archbishop John Cardinal Dearden requested all of Father Solanus’ writings. Bound together, they fill four volumes. After reviewing the material during the canonization process, two theologians determined that his writings were free of doctrinal errors.

Servant of God

Rome officially recognized the Cause when Pope John Paul II declared Father Solanus Casey a Servant of God in 1982. This allowed the Archdiocese of Detroit to officially open the Cause of Canonization.

On Sept. 23, 1983, Detroit’s Archbishop Edmund C. Szoka opened the diocesan investigation into the life and virtues of Servant of God, Father Solanus Casey. The inquiry included 53 witnesses who testified to the sanctity of Father Solanus.

Exhuming the body

Part of the canonization process requires that the mortal remains of the candidate for sainthood be identified and verified, as the future saint’s relics will be venerated worldwide. Father Solanus’ body was exhumed on July 8, 1987. He was clothed in a new habit, and his body was re-interred in the north transept of St. Bonaventure’s Church in Detroit. Sister Anne Herkenrath, SNJM, a witness, recalls that his body was intact and recognizable. She noted that someone commented on his blue eyes.

The Positio

In 1987, The Capuchin province asked Father Michael Crosby OFM, Cap., to investigate Father Solanus’ life, writings and virtues. Father Michael interviewed his brother Capuchins and others who had knowledge of Father Solanus’ holiness. After five years of intense research and reflection, Father Michael’s work comprised three volumes that became the “Positio,” an official document providing evidence for a person’s canonization.

Sent to the Vatican in 1992, the Positio was so convincing regarding Father Solanus’ practice of the virtues that in just three years, Father Solanus Casey was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II on July 11, 1995.

In the Positio, Capuchin Blasé Gitzen attested, “I know of no one individual who ever excelled this man in the practice of virtue—there might have been others who were better speakers, or more intelligent in solving difficult problems—but not in the practice of virtue. Father Solanus, in everything he did, reflected Christ.”

Father Solanus’s own words near the end of his life say it best: “I looked on my whole life as giving, and I want to give until there is nothing left for me to give.” 

The first miracle

After proving the genuine holiness of an individual who has been declared Venerable, the Church seeks a miracle to confirm his or her sanctity.

In Father Solanus’ case, the miracle came to Panamanian Paula Medina Zarato, a woman with an incurable genetic skin disease, ichthyosis vulgaris. While visiting her Capuchin friends in Detroit at the Solanus Casey Center, Paula visited the tomb and, like others, went to her knees and prayed for 14 individuals. As she got up, she heard a voice ask, “And what about you?” Immediately, she returned to her knees and asked Father Solanus to help her with her skin disease. She knew she was being healed as her dried skin fell from her legs, returning them to a healthy condition.

After a thorough investigation by her Panamanian dermatologists and the Archdiocese of Detroit’s own investigation, it became apparent that the favor came directly through the intercession of Venerable Solanus Casey.

The miracle was sent to the Vatican, where seven medical professionals thoroughly examined it. To validate the “favor,” five of the seven medical examiners needed to find no medical explanation for the healing. The miracle was validated.

Paula’s case then moved forward to the team of theologians who were tasked with determining whether the “favor” was directly linked to the intercession of Venerable Solanus. They determined that the healing was to be attributed to Solanus.

The case again moved forward, this time to Pope Francis, who declared on May 4, 2017, that Venerable Solanus was now elevated to the status of Blessed.

Beatification

Father Solanus’ beatification ceremony took place on Nov. 18, 2017. A crowd of 70,000 people gathered at Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions football team, to witness the event at which their local “Holy Priest” was declared “Blessed.” Additionally, it is said that 250 million people watched the beatification ceremony on EWTN.

Awaiting the second miracle

Blessed Solanus needs one more miracle on his journey to sainthood. Many are praying for the cause of Blessed Solanus’ canonization. One such group is a gathering of women who come each week to the Solanus Guild to embroider third-class relic badges, which are sent out all over the world.

May everyone be blessed for their part in the canonization process!