Father Solanus Casey!

Bernard Francis Casey was born on November 25th, 1870 and came from a large family in Oak Grove, Wisconsin where he was the sixth of sixteen children. He contracted diphtheria in 1878, which permanently damaged his voice and left it wispy and slightly impaired; two of his siblings died from the disease during that year.

In 1887, he left the farm for a series of jobs in his home state and in nearby Minnesota, working as a lumberjack, a hospital orderly, and a guard in the Minnesota state prison. At the age of 21, when Barney was working as a streetcar motorman in Superior, Wisconsin, he witnessed the stabbing of a woman in the street and this changed his life forever. Being a witness to this horrible sin, caused Casey to give his life over to God and he entered St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee. He found the studies in seminary very difficult and he did not get good grades. In 1896, he left Milwaukee after hearing a message from Mary and joined the Capuchins in Detroit, taking the name Solanus, after Saint Francis Solanus because both men loved the violin. His studies for the priesthood were again very hard

On July 24, 1904, Solanus was ordained, but because his knowledge of theology was judged to be weak, he was not given permission to hear confessions or to preach. A Franciscan Capuchin who knew him well said this annoying restriction “brought forth in him a greatness and a holiness that might never have been realized in any other way.” Barney Casey became one of Detroit’s best-known priests even though he was not allowed to preach formally or to hear confessions! Father Solanus served at parishes in Manhattan and Harlem before returning to Detroit, where he was porter (receptionist and door keeper) and sacristan for 20 years at St. Bonaventure Monastery. Every Wednesday afternoon he conducted well-attended services for the sick. A co-worker estimates that on the average day 150 to 200 people came to see Father Solanus in the front office. Most of them came to receive his blessing; 40 to 50 came for consultation. Many people considered him instrumental in cures and other blessings they received. In the tradition of the Franciscans whose charism is care for the poor, Bl. Solanus also had a desire to feed anyone who came to the door of St. Bonaventure monastery. “They are hungry; get them some soup and sandwiches,” Fr. Solanus was known to proclaim to his fellow friars. In 1929 at the start of the Great Depression Bl. Solanus had the idea to start a soup kitchen down the street from the monastery, where he could send anyone who came to the door looking for food. The Capuchin soup kitchen has a long history of feeding the hungry in that area of Detroit and still feeds the needy today.

In failing health, Solanus was transferred to the Capuchin novitiate in Huntington, Indiana, in 1946,  where he lived for ten years until needing to be hospitalized in Detroit. Father Solanus died on July 31, 1957. An estimated 20,000 people passed by his coffin before his burial in St. Bonaventure Church in Detroit. He was known during his lifetime as a wonderworker, for his great faith, and for his abilities as a spiritual counselor – but especially for his great attention to the sick and poor. On July 8, 1987, Father Casey’s  remains were exhumed and moved inside the Father Solanus Casey Center at Saint Bonaventure Monastery; his remains were found to be incorrupt save for a little decomposition on the elbows. A range of miraculous cures have been attributed to his intercession, both during his earthly life and after his death. Fr. Casey was beautified on Nov. 18, 2017.  Learn about the road to Sainthood from one of the Saint of the Month holy cards. Blessed Solanus Casey… pray for us!

Learn more about Fr. Solanus by watch this movie which tells many amazing stories about his llife.