Blessed Solanus lived out faith, hope, charity every day

Friday, Nov. 24, 2017

DETROIT (CNS) — Blessed Solanus Casey always said that “as long as there is a spark of faith,” there can be no discouragement or sorrow, said Cardinal Angelo Amato, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes.

His words were accompanied by “the concrete practice of faith, hope and charity in his everyday life,” said the cardinal in his homily during the Nov. 18 beatification Mass for the beloved Capuchin Franciscan friar who was known for his cures and wise counsel.

“He came from an Irish family of profound Catholic convictions. Faith for him was a very precious inheritance for facing the difficulties of life,” Cardinal Amato said. “When the young Bernard (his given name) Casey entered the Capuchins, he passed from one community of faith to another.”

Blessed Solanus “focused on the poor, the sick, the marginated and the hopeless,” Cardinal Amato said. “He always fasted in order to give others their lunch. For hours upon hours, he patiently received, listened and counseled the ever-growing number of people who came to him.”

A congregation of 66,000 people filled Ford Field, home of the NFL’s Detroit Lions, which was transformed for the Mass.

In the congregation were 240 Capuchin friars and at least 300 members of the Casey family from across America and their ancestral country of Ireland. The Casey family’s Irish roots were reflected in the Irish hymns chosen as part of the music for the liturgy.

He is the second American-born male to be beatified, after Blessed Stanley Rother, a North American priest from Oklahoma who in 1981 was martyred while serving the people of a Guatemalan village. He was beatified Sept. 23 in Oklahoma City.