Solanus Casey — born Bernard Francis Casey (Oak Grove, 1870 — Detroit, 1957) — was an American Capuchin priest, one of the great figures of North American holiness in the 20th century.[1][2] The son of Irish immigrants and the sixth of sixteen children, he was judged too weak in Latin and German to become an ordinary priest: he was ordained a priest simplex, without the right to preach doctrinal sermons or hear confessions.[3][4] From this limitation, God forged a path to glory.
For half a century, this “handicapped” priest served as a monastery porter — in New York, Yonkers, Harlem, and then for some twenty years in Detroit[5]. Sitting at the door of St. Bonaventure’s friary, he welcomed countless visitors — according to the estimate of a friary colleague reported by Franciscan Media, one hundred fifty to two hundred people on average came to see him each day at the front office for a blessing, advice, or healing.[6] Thousands of favors and healings were attributed to him during his lifetime; he meticulously recorded them, with a humble self-distrust, in seven “Favor Notebooks” connected to the Seraphic Mass Association.[7][8]
His spirituality can be summed up in a famous formula attributed to him: “Thank God in advance.” Even before knowing how God would answer, Solanus Casey gave thanks — certain that every plan of God is merciful.[9][10] Co-founder of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen during the Great Depression, he died on July 31, 1957, whispering these words attributed to him by witnesses in their complete form: “I am offering my suffering that all might be one. [...] I give my soul to Jesus Christ.”[11] Twenty thousand people filed past his coffin.[12][13]
Declared Venerable by John Paul II in 1995, beatified in Detroit on November 18, 2017 before sixty to seventy thousand faithful, he is, at that date of November 2017, the second priest born in the United States to be raised to the glory of the altars, after Blessed Stanley Rother, beatified in Oklahoma City on September 23, 2017.[14][15]
The Sixth of Sixteen Children: An Irish Catholic America (1870–1891)
Birth in Oak Grove, Wisconsin (November 25, 1870)
Bernard Francis Casey was born on November 25, 1870, in Oak Grove, Pierce County, Wisconsin, and baptized on December 18 of the same year.[16] He was the sixth of sixteen children of Bernard James Casey and Ellen Elizabeth Murphy, two Irish immigrants who fled poverty to build a farm in the American Midwest. The family, deeply Catholic, prayed together, worked the land, and lived in the dignified poverty of pioneers.
In 1878, a diphtheria epidemic claimed two of his siblings and left young Bernard with a permanently damaged voice — a consequence that would later affect his studies and preaching.[17] Several moves followed: Hudson, then Burkhardt, following the availability of farmland. Schooling was sporadic; Bernard left early, in the fall of 1882, to help support the family.
A Youth of Hard Labor
By 1887, the teenager took on some of the hardest jobs of working America: lumberjack, hospital orderly, guard at the Minnesota State Prison, and finally streetcar conductor in Superior, Wisconsin.[18] He experienced the world of workers, the poor, and the marginalized — the very people he would serve all his life. His faith, inherited from a devout mother, remained strong; but the call to the priesthood had not yet clearly imposed itself.
The Defining Scene: The Drunken Sailor and the Woman on the Ground
According to biographical accounts, one day, while driving his streetcar, Bernard had to stop abruptly: on the tracks, a drunken sailor, knife in hand, reportedly stood over a bleeding woman.[19] The brutal violence of the scene, as reported, shook him deeply. He saw in it the face of a world without God, and the urgent need to bring Christ there. This shock completed the long-delayed decision within him: to become a priest, not for glory, but to bring healing.
The Long Ordeal of Studies (1891–1904)
The Seminary and Failure in Latin and German
In January 1891, Bernard entered the minor seminary of Saint Francis, near Milwaukee.[20] The trial began: classes were taught in Latin and German, two languages that resisted him, especially since his schooling had been irregular and his voice weakened. His results remained mediocre. His teachers, without malice, concluded that he would not be able to follow the demanding curriculum of the diocesan clergy and advised him to enter a religious order.
Far from being a mere anecdote, this academic failure was the key to his entire life. The holiness of Solanus Casey would arise precisely from what men had taken as a disqualification. Aleteia aptly summarizes the paradox: these limitations, “rather than discouraging him, fostered a greatness and holiness that he might never have had otherwise.”[21]
“Go to Detroit”: Entry into the Capuchins (1897)
Hesitating between several orders, Bernard prayed long before a statue of the Virgin Mary. According to biographical accounts, he reportedly heard an inner, simple, and clear word: “Go to Detroit.”[22] There he applied to the Capuchin Friars Minor, sons of Saint Francis known for their austerity and love of the poor. He was accepted on January 14, 1897.
Brother Solanus, the Violin, and Saint Francis Solano
Upon receiving his habit, he was given the religious name Solanus, in honor of Saint Francis Solano (1549–1610), a Franciscan missionary in South America and a violin player like himself.[23][24] Throughout his life, Brother Solanus would scrape his violin—often Irish tunes—with more fervor than talent, sometimes alone at night before the tabernacle, to sing to God and the Virgin. He pronounced his vows on July 21, 1898.
Ordination on July 24, 1904: A Simplex Priest
On July 24, 1904, at the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Milwaukee, Bernard—now Brother Solanus—was ordained a priest by Archbishop Sebastian Messmer.[25] But due to his insufficient results in moral theology and preaching, his superiors ordained him a priest simplex (sacerdos simplex).
Ordained with restricted faculties, he may celebrate Mass and give blessings, but may not publicly preach doctrinal sermons nor hear confessions for absolution: this is the status known as priest simplex.[26][27][28] A point of dating: in 1904, the 1917 Code of Canon Law did not yet exist — it would only be promulgated in 1917 and enter into force in 1918. This status therefore stemmed from the discipline then in use, not from an application of that Code. It was a “diminished” priesthood in the eyes of the world. Yet, at his ordination, one of his superiors reportedly prophesied:
“To the people, he will be a kind of Curé of Ars.” — prophecy reported at Solanus Casey’s ordination[29]
He celebrated his first Mass on July 31, 1904 in Appleton, Wisconsin, in the presence of his family.[30] From then on, the priest who could neither preach nor hear confessions would have only one weapon: the convent door, and the endless listening to the poor.
The Doorkeeper of God (1904–1945)
Twenty years in New York, Yonkers, and Harlem
For twenty years, Fr. Solanus served in the Capuchin convents of the State of New York: at the Sacred Heart convent in Yonkers, at Saint John’s Church in Manhattan, and then at Our Lady Queen of Angels in the impoverished neighborhood of Harlem.[31] Everywhere, he was entrusted with the humble duties of sacristan and doorkeeper—the one who opens the door. It was precisely there, at the monastery’s threshold, that his apostolate would take shape.
The Seraphic Mass Association and the “Favor Notebooks”
In Harlem, Fr. Solanus became the promoter of the Seraphic Mass Association (today the Solanus Mission Association), a ministry through which the faithful arranged for Masses to be celebrated—especially for missions and the deceased—entrusting their intentions to God.[32][33] He registered the sick, the desperate, and families in distress, promising them the prayers of the Church.
In 1923, the provincial, Fr. Benno Aichinger, asked him to keep a record of these intentions and the graces received. Solanus bought a notebook and wrote at the top:
“November 8, 1923… The Father Provincial wishes that special favors reported by the Seraphic Mass Association be noted.” — the first of Solanus Casey’s Favor Notebooks[34]
Until 1956, he filled seven of these “Favor Notebooks” with more than six thousand entries: healings, conversions, regained jobs, reconciliations, and graces of all kinds.[35][36] Himself cautious, he never saw these as proof of his own power, but as the fruit of the Church’s prayer and the faith of those who asked.
Detroit, Saint Bonaventure: the door open to all
In August 1924, Fr. Solanus was sent to the Saint Bonaventure convent in Detroit, where he would remain for some twenty years — twenty effective years, from August 1, 1924 to July 23, 1945 according to the official chronology of the Solanus Casey Center, a figure several secondary sources round to “21 years”.[37] It was there that his reputation exploded. Known as “the doorkeeper” (The Doorkeeper), he stood at the door from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., always ready to listen to “anyone, at any hour.”[38][39]
According to Franciscan Media, citing the estimate of a friary colleague, one hundred fifty to two hundred people on average came to see him each day at the front office: the sick, the unemployed, couples in crisis, worried mothers, sinners seeking peace.[40] He blessed them, prayed with them, registered them with the Seraphic Association, and whispered to them to thank God in advance. On Wednesday afternoons, he held a service for the sick, drawing crowds. The priest once judged incapable of preaching had become one of the greatest spiritual directors in Catholic America.
The Capuchin Soup Kitchen (1929)
When the Great Depression struck Detroit in 1929, throwing tens of thousands of auto workers into the streets, the Capuchins opened a soup kitchen (Capuchin Soup Kitchen) to feed the hungry. Fr. Solanus was one of its inspirers and founders.[41][42]
For Solanus, concrete charity and trust in Providence were one and the same. The Capuchin Soup Kitchen still exists in Detroit today and continues to feed thousands—directly inheriting the legacy of the humble doorkeeper brother.
"Thank God in advance": a spirituality of gratitude and trust
The entire holiness of Solanus Casey can be read as a school of anticipatory gratitude. He did not just ask people to thank God after receiving grace, but before—as an act of pure faith in God's goodness.
Thank God in advance
His most famous phrase sums up his entire spiritual doctrine:
“Have faith in God, shake off excessive worries, and thank God in advance!” — formula attributed to Blessed Solanus Casey[43]
And again, in a more developed formulation he liked to repeat:
“God knows what is best; and while still hoping for a happy surprise, we can hardly do better than not only resign ourselves to all that God permits but thank Him in advance for His designs full of mercy and love.” — words attributed to Blessed Solanus Casey[44]
Bless God in all His designs
Solanus’s trust was not naive optimism: it rested on the certainty that nothing God permits is without love. Hence the other great motto of his life:
“Blessed be God in all His designs.” — motto attributed to Blessed Solanus Casey[45]
Faced with illness, grief, failure, he always invited people to seek not first deliverance, but the design of love hidden in the trial—without ceasing to hope for a miracle.
“This poor sinner Solanus”: humility
Overwhelmed with requests and surrounded by healings, Fr. Solanus carefully avoided any self-congratulation. He wrote himself warnings:
“Beware of congratulating yourself for the graces worked through your intercession.” — note attributed to Blessed Solanus Casey (personal notes cited by Franciscan Media)[46]
He willingly referred to himself as “this poor sinner Solanus”, and asked that prayers be offered for his own conversion:
“Say a little prayer for the conversion of poor sinner Solanus, who makes so little progress in faith, hope, and charity.” — prayer attributed to Blessed Solanus Casey[47]
Appreciating God’s gift
No word was dearer to him than appreciate. He repeated: “If only we appreciated God’s gift to us…”, convinced that ingratitude is the root of sadness, and gratitude the gateway to joy.[48] His spirituality, without grand system or treatise, thus joins the childhood path of Thérèse of Lisieux: to receive everything as a gift, to give everything back as thanksgiving.
Healings and the Church’s discernment
Crowds at the friary door
During his lifetime, Fr. Solanus was regarded as a miracle worker: countless physical and spiritual healings were attributed to him. Franciscan Media reports the estimate of a friary colleague: one hundred fifty to two hundred people on average came to see him each day at the front office for a blessing, advice, or healing.[49] But he absolutely refused to be considered a miracle worker: he simply registered the sick with the Seraphic Mass Association, had them promise a work to please God, and sent them back to faith and patience.
“Do something to please the good God.” — usual advice attributed to Solanus Casey by his visitors[50]
The prudence of the brother and his superiors
The Church, as always, exercised prudence. Solanus’s superiors ensured that his reputation did not turn into personality cult or sensationalism. He himself attributed everything to God, to the Virgin, to the Masses celebrated, never to his own person. It was this steadfast humility, more than the favors reported, that impressed the investigators of his cause: a man surrounded by wonders who took no glory from them.
The healings themselves were sifted through the natural before any supernatural judgment: for the miracle retained for beatification, the diocesan inquiry of Detroit examined the healed woman in 2015, with biopsies, finding no medical explanation[51]. The inquiry, validated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in October 2015, then passed each Roman stage: the medical experts in September 2016 (opinion of September 22, relayed by Catholic News Service), the theological consultors — the theologians tasked with examining the file for the dicastery — in January 2017 (opinion of January 19, relayed by the same source), then the ordinary session of the Congregation — the plenary meeting of the cardinal and bishop members of the dicastery — on May 2, 2017[52][53]. Only at the end of this process did Pope Francis, in audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato, recognize the miracle on May 4, 2017[54][55]. In the documentation consulted, no named public opponent rose against the cause: the critical examination passed through the medical and canonical procedure itself, faithful to the prudence Solanus already practiced in his lifetime.
Further reading.
Death and Glory (1945–2017)
Final Years and Illness
In 1945, weakened, Father Solanus left Detroit; he stayed at the Brooklyn convent, then in 1946 was sent to the Saint Felix Novitiate in Huntington, Indiana, for health reasons—he was suffering from severe eczema and erysipelas.[56] Despite his illness, he continued to pray through entire nights before the tabernacle, play the violin, and receive those who sought him out. In 1956, seriously affected by his skin condition, he was hospitalized in Detroit.
“I Give My Soul to Jesus Christ” (July 31, 1957)
Readmitted one last time to Saint John’s Hospital in Detroit on July 2, 1957, Father Solanus passed away on July 31, 1957, at the age of 86, taken by erysipelas.[57][58][59] His sister Martha had prayed the rosary with him. His final words, worthy of a life of complete surrender, have come down to us in this complete form, reported by Brother Richard Merling, director of the Solanus Casey Guild, at the opening of the beatification Mass:
“I am offering my suffering that all might be one. [...] I give my soul to Jesus Christ.” — last words of Solanus Casey, July 31, 1957, in their reported complete form (the ellipses mark the middle cut as reported)[60]
Remarkably, he died on the anniversary of his first Mass (July 31, 1904) and on the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.[61] His liturgical feast is set for July 30.[62]
Twenty Thousand People Before His Coffin
News of his death sparked an immense popular outpouring. Approximately twenty thousand people filed past his coffin at the Saint Bonaventure Convent before his funeral.[63][64] The “simple porter” had become, without seeking it, the most beloved priest in Detroit. He was buried in his monastery; his remains were exhumed and transferred in 1987 to a chapel in the convent, then again in 2017 for the collection of relics.[65]
Venerable (1995) and the Miracle of Paula Medina Zárate
The cause for beatification was opened in Detroit as early as 1976.[66] After the examination of a positio — the voluminous official file gathering testimonies, documents, and studies on his life and virtues — in three volumes, prepared under the direction of Brother Léo Wollenwebber, OFMCap, Pope John Paul II promulgated on July 11, 1995 the decree on the heroic virtue of Father Solanus and declared him Venerable.[67] A miracle was still required.
In September 2012, Paula Medina Zárate, a catechist from Chepo, Panama, suffering since birth from an incurable ichthyosis vulgaris that covered her skin with scales and caused bleeding, visited Father Solanus’s tomb at the Saint Bonaventure Convent in Detroit for the first time.[68][69] Kneeling, she wrote fourteen prayer intentions for her mother, her brothers, and the people of her parish—none for herself. As she stood up, she heard a voice:
“And you, what do you need?” — voice heard by Paula Medina Zárate at Father Solanus’s tomb, September 2012[70]
Moved, she then asked for healing of her legs and arms and immediately felt a wave of warmth throughout her body. Shortly after, in the monastery bathroom, she discovered that her scales “began to fall off, without bleeding”[71], replaced by healthy skin—a process that continued the following day. In 2015, as part of the diocesan inquiry, three doctors from the Detroit area, including a specialist in ichthyosis, examined her, with biopsies, finding no medical explanation[72]. The case, validated in Rome in October 2015, passed the medical experts in September 2016, the theological consultors in January 2017, then the ordinary session of the Congregation on May 2, 2017[73][74].
On May 4, 2017, following an audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation, Pope Francis recognized the miracle.[75][76][77][78] The Archbishop of Detroit, Most Rev. Allen Vigneron, immediately welcomed the news:
“The beatification of Father Solanus Casey is an incomparable grace for the Church of the Archdiocese of Detroit and for the entire community of Southeast Michigan. He is, for all of us Catholics—and for everyone—an inspiration of the power of grace to transform a life.” — Most Rev. Allen Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, May 4, 2017[79]
| Stage | Date | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Opening of the cause in Detroit | 1976 | Archdiocese of Detroit |
| Declared Venerable (heroic virtues) | July 11, 1995 | John Paul II |
| Validation of the diocesan inquiry | October 2015 | Congregation for the Causes of Saints |
| Favorable opinion of the medical experts | September 2016 | Congregation for the Causes of Saints |
| Favorable opinion of the theological consultors | January 2017 | Congregation for the Causes of Saints |
| Approval of the miracle (ordinary session) | May 2, 2017 | Congregation for the Causes of Saints |
| Recognition of the miracle | May 4, 2017 | Pope Francis |
| Beatification | November 18, 2017 | Cardinal Angelo Amato, legate |
Beatified in Detroit (November 18, 2017)
On November 18, 2017, at Ford Field Stadium in Detroit, before sixty to seventy thousand faithful, Cardinal Angelo Amato, sent by Pope Francis, proclaimed Father Solanus Casey Blessed.[80][81][82] The city that had welcomed him, poor and unknown, now celebrated him as one of its greatest sons.
The Second Priest Born in the United States to Be Beatified
Solanus Casey holds a unique place in the history of the American Church: he is, at that date of November 2017, the second priest born in the United States to be beatified, after Stanley Rother (Oklahoma City, September 23, 2017).[83][84] Before him, American saints such as Elizabeth Ann Seton and Frances Cabrini had been canonized, but no other native-born priest of the country had been raised to the altars, before Stanley Rother. His feast day is set for July 30.[85]
What Blessed Solanus Casey Teaches Us Today
The story of Solanus Casey is an evangelical reversal: God chooses what the world considers weak to confound what it considers strong (cf. 1 Cor 1:27). The priest deemed incapable of preaching became, through the door and listening, one of the greatest silent preachers of his time. Three lessons remain:
- Holiness does not depend on natural gifts. Solanus had neither eloquence, theological knowledge, nor robust health. He had faithfulness in the present moment, prayer, and charity — and that was enough for God.
- Gratitude precedes grace. “Thanking God ahead of time” is not a pious phrase: it is an act of faith that disarms anxiety and opens the heart to Providence.
- Humble services are paths to glory. Opening a door, serving soup, listening to a desperate person: Solanus sanctified these small gestures to the point of making them a universal apostolate.
“Blessed be God in all His designs.” — motto attributed to Blessed Solanus Casey[86]
Further reading
- Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774–1821) — the first saint born in the United States, a major figure in American Catholicism.
- Saint Marianne Cope (1838–1918) — missionary nun in the United States and Hawaii, a contemporary of Solanus Casey.
- Saint Anthony Mary Claret (1807–1870) — another great apostle of charity and popular preaching in the 19th century.
- Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897) — the “little way” of spiritual childhood, close to the spirit of trust and gratitude of Solanus.
Notes and References
Wikipedia (EN), "Solanus Casey": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanus_Casey. Born Bernard Francis Casey on November 25, 1870, in Oak Grove (Pierce County, Wisconsin), baptized December 18, 1870; sixth of sixteen children of Irish immigrants Bernard James Casey and Ellen Elizabeth Murphy; diphtheria in 1878; various jobs (lumberjack, hospital orderly, prison guard, streetcar conductor); incident with a drunken sailor; Saint Francis Seminary (Milwaukee) in January 1891, difficulties with Latin/German; admitted to the Capuchins on January 14, 1897, took the name Solanus (after Saint Francis Solanus), vows on July 21, 1898; ordained a simplex priest on July 24, 1904, by Bishop Sebastian Messmer; first Mass on July 31, 1904, in Appleton; porter at Yonkers, Manhattan, Harlem, then St. Bonaventure in Detroit (1924–1945); co-founder of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen (1929); Huntington, Indiana (1946); died of erysipelas on July 31, 1957, at St. John’s Hospital in Detroit (age 86) (cf. [^stjohn]), last words in their reported complete form “I am offering my suffering that all might be one. ... I give my soul to Jesus Christ” (cf. [^derniers-mots]); about 20,000 people at his coffin; exhumations in 1987 and 2017; declared Venerable July 11, 1995 (John Paul II); miracle of Paula Medina Zárate (ichthyosis, 2012) recognized May 4, 2017; beatified at Ford Field, Detroit, November 18, 2017, by Cardinal Angelo Amato before 60,000 to 70,000 people according to sources (cf. [^foule]); second man born in the United States to be beatified (after Stanley Rother, September 23, 2017); feast day July 30. Roman process of the miracle: diocesan inquiry validated in October 2015; medical experts in September 2016; theological consultors in January 2017; Congregation approval on May 2, 2017; pontifical approval on May 4.
1 3 12 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 25 26 30 31 41 52 56 57 61 63 65 66 73 75 80Solanus Casey Center / Capuchins (Saint Joseph Province), official biography "About Blessed Solanus Casey": solanuscasey.org. “The Doorkeeper” of St. Bonaventure, always ready to listen “to anyone, at any hour”; promoter of the Seraphic Mass Association (today Solanus Mission Association) at Our Lady Queen of Angels (Harlem); volumes of notebooks documenting people encountered; soup kitchen; spirituality of gratitude (“attitude of gratitude,” “Thank God ahead of time”); love of the violin and Saint Francis Solano.
2 24 32 39 42 48Aleteia (FR), "Solanus Casey, the 'dunce' who became blessed" (November 20, 2017): fr.aleteia.org. Difficulties at Saint Francis Seminary in Milwaukee; simplex priest without the right to preach or hear confessions; prediction at his ordination “For the people he will be a kind of Curé d’Ars”; his limitations fostering “a greatness and holiness he might never have had otherwise.” (The figure of one hundred fifty to two hundred visitors, once attached to this article, was not found as such in this source: it is now attributed at its verified degree in [^franciscanmedia].)
4 21 27 29Solanus Casey Center / Capuchins (Saint Joseph Province), "Capuchin Life" page: "He was assigned to St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit where he ministered as porter for 20 years from August 1, 1924 to July 23, 1945" (solanuscasey.org) — that is, 20 years and nearly 12 months, hence the usual rounding to "21 years (1924–1945)" taken up by Angelus News ("For 21 years he was porter at St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit") and Integrated Catholic Life ("twenty-one years from 1924-1945"). The mention of "twenty-two years" in the Capuchin magazine Mosaic (fall 2017, p. 11) most likely counts the calendar years touched (1924 to 1945); the effective length of service is twenty years (August 1, 1924 – July 23, 1945), rounded to "21 years" by several secondary sources.
5 37Franciscan Media, "Thank God Ahead of Time — A Look at Solanus Casey": franciscanmedia.org. Expanded quote on resignation and anticipatory thanksgiving (“God knows best… thank Him for His mercifully loving designs”); personal warning “Beware of congratulating thyself on the blessings wrought through thy medium”; “poor sinner Solanus” and request for prayer for his own conversion; advice “do something to please the Dear Lord”; porter ministry from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Reported attendance, at the exact degree stated: “A co-worker estimates that on the average day 150 to 200 people came to see Father Solanus in the front office” — that is, the estimate of a friary colleague, on average, each day, at the front office. Duration of the Detroit ministry: “porter and sacristan for 20 years at St. Bonaventure Monastery” (cf. exact dates in [^detroit-dates]).
6 10 38 40 44 46 47 49 50Catholic News Agency, "Thank God ahead of time: What Blessed Solanus Casey teaches about a spirituality of gratitude": catholicnewsagency.com. Quotes “Have faith in God, shake off excessive worry, and thank God ahead of time!” and “Blessed be God in all His designs”; visit of Provincial Benno Aichinger in 1923; first notebook entry dated November 8, 1923 (“Father Provincial wishes notes to be made of special favors reported through the Seraphic Mass Association”); seven notebooks, over 6,000 entries by 1956; beatification November 18, 2017. Original texts: “Have faith in God, shake off excessive worry, and thank God ahead of time!”; “Blessed be God in all His designs”; “Father Provincial wishes notes to be made of special favors reported through the Seraphic Mass Association” (heading of the first notebook, November 8, 1923).
7 9 33 34 35 43 45 76 82 86Michael H. Crosby, OFM Cap, Thank God Ahead of Time: The Life and Spirituality of Solanus Casey, 1st ed. Franciscan Herald Press, 1985; reissued Franciscan Media, 2009, 288 pp. (ISBN 978-0-86716-919-5). Definitive biography by the Capuchin postulator: life, ministry as porter, Seraphic Mass Association, seven “Notebooks of Favors Reported” containing over 6,000 entries between 1923 and 1956, spirituality of anticipatory gratitude.
8 36Last words of Solanus Casey, July 31, 1957, in their reported complete form as given by Brother Richard Merling, OFMCap, director of the Solanus Casey Guild, at the opening of the beatification Mass (Ford Field, Detroit, November 18, 2017). National Catholic Register, "Solanus Casey, "a Humble and Faithful Disciple of Christ," Beatified in Detroit," November 18, 2017: "He recounted Blessed Solanus' last words: "I am offering my suffering that all might be one. ... I give my soul to Jesus Christ."" (ncregister.com). Catholic World Report, November 18, 2017, reports the same statement with the middle clause: ""I am offering my suffering that all might be one. If only I could see the conversion of the whole world… I give my soul to Jesus Christ."" (catholicworldreport.com). The article body gives the translation; the original English appears here; the ellipses mark the middle cut as reported by these sources.
11 60Archdiocese of Detroit, dossier on the beatification of Solanus Casey: aod.org. Beatified November 18, 2017, at Ford Field (Detroit) — crowd estimated at 60,000 to 70,000 according to sources (cf. [^foule]); Venerable since 1995; about 20,000 people at his 1957 funeral; second man born in the United States to be beatified (after Stanley Rother).
13 58 64 84Cardinal Angelo Amato, homily at the beatification of Fr. Solanus Casey, Ford Field (Detroit), November 18, 2017: aod.org. "It is, in fact, the second Beatification of a priest born in America, after that of the missionary Stanley Francis Rother, which took place last September twenty-third in Oklahoma City." Cardinal Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and legate of Pope Francis for the ceremony, thus attests that Solanus Casey is the second priest born in America to be beatified, after Stanley Rother (Okarche, Oklahoma; beatified September 23, 2017, in Oklahoma City). The National Catholic Register confirms this dated rank: "the second American-born male to be beatified this fall" (November 18, 2017).
14 83Beatification crowd (Ford Field, November 18, 2017) — estimated 60,000 to 70,000: National Catholic Register, "Solanus Casey, "a Humble and Faithful Disciple of Christ," Beatified in Detroit," November 18, 2017: "a crowd of 60-70,000 gathered for the Nov. 18 beatification Mass at Detroit's Ford Field stadium" (ncregister.com); CNA / EWTN News, November 19, 2017: "more than 60,000 people […] filled the domed stadium" (catholicworldreport.com); Capuchins, Saint Joseph Province, special bulletin no. 1117, November 29, 2017: "Over 60,000 individuals were present for the Mass, including over 500 concelebrants"; Solanus Casey Center (official Capuchin site), "Beatification Mass" page: "More than 70,000 people attended Mass" (solanuscasey.org).
15 81Angelus News (reprinting Catholic News Agency), "Fr. Solanus Casey: the American priest who will be beatified next week": "in 1904 was ordained a "sacerdos simplex" — a priest who can say Mass, but not publicly preach or hear confessions" (angelusnews.com).
28Daniel Meloy, "'The scales began to fall': Woman recounts miracle that led to beatification," Detroit Catholic, November 14, 2017: detroitcatholic.com. Paula Medina Zárate, a catechist from Chepo (Panama), had vulgar ichthyosis since birth; visited the tomb in September 2012 with Fr. Joe Timmers, OFMCap; brought fourteen written intentions; heard a voice upon rising: “And you, what do you need?”; experienced healing as a “wave of warmth”; scales fell off without bleeding: “the scales began to fall off, with no blood”; examined by three doctors from the Detroit area in 2015 (including dermatologist Dr. Lisa Manz-Dulac), biopsies taken, no medical explanation found; case submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, approved by Pope Francis in May 2017.
51 68 70 71 72Catholic News Service (via The Central Minnesota Catholic), "Father Solanus Casey recalled as beloved friar who showed mercy to others," September 2017: "Sept. 22, 2016, a panel of medical experts approved a miraculous healing attributed to Father Casey. A panel of theological advisers concurred Jan. 19…" (thecentralminnesotacatholic.org).
53 74Diane Montagna, "American priest said to read souls on the way to being named a saint," Aleteia (English edition), May 4, 2017: aleteia.org. Announcement of the decree on May 4, 2017, following Pope Francis’s audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints; quotation from Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit: “The beatification of Father Solanus Casey is an incomparable grace for the Church in the Archdiocese of Detroit and for the whole community of Southeast Michigan. He is an inspiration to all us Catholics – and to all – of the power of grace to transform one's life.”
54 77 79Catholic News Agency / EWTN News, May 4, 2017: Pope Francis, in audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, recognized the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Solanus Casey (catholicworldreport.com).
55 78Solanus Casey Center (official Capuchin site, Saint Joseph Province), "Significant Dates" page: "Gives up his soul to God at St. John Hospital, Detroit" (solanuscasey.org). Detroit Free Press, "A time line of Father Solanus Casey," November 12, 2017: "July 31, 1957: Dies at St. John Hospital, Detroit". Integrated Catholic Life, "On the Road to the Beatification of Father Solanus Casey in Detroit," November 2017: "In 1956, Father returned to Detroit for medical treatments and died at St. John Hospital in Detroit on July 31, 1957".
59Solanus Casey Center (official Capuchin site), annual novena "culminating with the Feast of Solanus Casey on July 30" (solanuscasey.org); Archdiocese of Detroit: novena "culminating on his feast day on July 30th" (aod.org).
62 85Father Solanus Guild (official site of the cause), "History" page: the positio of the cause was studied and approved by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1995 and, "on July 11 of that year St. Pope John Paul II promulgated the Decree of Heroic Virtue […] and declared him "Venerable"" (solanuscasey.org); Detroit Catholic (chronology of the cause): "1995 – St. John Paul II proclaims Fr. Solanus Casey to have "heroic virtue" […] on July 11, 1995". The three-volume positio had been prepared under the direction of Brother Léo Wollenwebber, OFMCap (Catholic News Service, May 4, 2017).
67Detroit Free Press, "A Detroit miracle: Did Father Solanus Casey help cure a Panamanian woman?", November 12, 2017: the healing of Paula Medina Zárate's skin condition after her prayer at Fr. Solanus's tomb in 2012, recognized by the pontifical decree of May 2017 (wisfarmer.com).
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