Celebrating the Beatification of our Brother Fr. Solanus Casey

CELEBRATING THE BEATIFICATION OF OUR BROTHER

FR. SOLANUS CASEY

The Capuchin friars

invite you to join us for Mass on

Friday, December 1st at 5:15 PM

in the upper church at

St. John the Evangelist Parish

21st South 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

 

Fr. Tom Betz, OFM Cap.,

our Provincial Minister,

will be the guest celebrant & homilist

PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE October 25, 2017

On May 4, 2017 Pope Francis announced that Father Solanus Casey will be elevated to “Blessed” in the Roman Catholic Church, which is the final step before sainthood. A member of the Capuchin Franciscan Order, Father Solanus Casey was born November 25, 1870 and died July 31, 1957.  Father Solanus entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order in 1897 and was ordained a priest in 1904.  Due to his inability to fully complete all academic requirements for priesthood, he was never permitted to preach, hear confessions, or fulfill the usual pastoral work of Catholic priests.  Instead, he was given the humble task of answering the door and talking to the many people who came to the Capuchin friaries in New York and Detroit where he was assigned.

However, Father Solanus had an immense impact for good.  He became famous as a spiritual advisor and a man of prayer.  During the great depression he founded a soup kitchen to feed the poor of Detroit and he was known for his pastoral visits to the sick.  He said that he had two great loves: the sick and the poor.  Many people received healings and other divine favors through his prayers.  He spent 20 years in Detroit and it was there that he achieved his reputation for charity and holiness.  People did not forget him after his death and devotion to his work and legacy continued.  

Because of his holiness, Pope John Paul II declared him Venerable in 1995 and Pope Francis has announced that Fr. Solanus will be beatified at a Mass on November 18, 4pm, at Ford Field, Detroit.

The Capuchin friars are a sixteenth century reform of the religious Order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi.  Capuchins serve in the Philadelphia Archdiocese in the Center City, Chinatown, and Frankford neighborhoods of Philadelphia.  

The Capuchins friars in Philadelphia will celebrate the beatification of our brother, Fr. Solanus Casey, with a Mass on Friday, December 1st at 5:15 PM in the upper church at Saint John the Evangelist Church, 21 South 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.  Father Thomas Betz, OFM Cap, our provincial minister, will officiate. All are invited and welcome to celebrate with us!

 

What is Beatification?
What is Beatification?
After Fr. Solanus received the title of Venerable from Pope John Paul II in 1995, people were then suggested to pray to Fr. Solanus, asking for his intercession to God. The Capuchins have documented hundreds of exceptional favors received which might be acclaimed as miraculous.  Most of these claimed miracles did not have sufficient evidence to support the rigorous standards required for a Vatican declaration of miracle.  However, one miracle was approved thus clearing the way for Father Solanus’ beatification. The case was of a woman who lives outside the U.S. and was visiting Father Solanus’ tomb while on a pilgrimage.  The woman suffered from an incurable and painful skin disease. Her name has not been publicly released.

The woman started to pray for others while at the tomb in Detroit, but a voice in her head said, “pray for yourself.”  The cure was instantaneous.  The medical doctors in her home country, Detroit, and Rome all attested that there was no scientific explanation for the cure.  Based on a thorough study of his life and virtues and in light of this approved miracle, Solanus Casey is acknowledged as one who is in heaven, in union with God, and is given the title of “Blessed.”  The next step is to attain the title of Saint. Another miracle is required and it will have to be investigated and approved in the same manner as above to attain sainthood canonization.

 

For additional information, call Father Francis Yacobi, Capuchin provincial secretary, or Father Thomas Betz, provincial minister, at 412 682 6011.

For more information on Fr. Solanus visit: solanuscasey.org