Venerable Solanus Casey

Model of Faith, Trust, and Gratitude

By worldly standards one would not expect much from Fr. Solanus Casey.  Ordained as a simplex priest after barely making it through the seminary, and usually assigned to be the doorkeeper at the monasteries where he served, he will never be known as a great theologian, preacher, or evangelist.  Yet, this simple priest is widely acclaimed as a healer, prophet, and model of trust in God’s providence who inspired the conversion of countless souls.

The film, The Healing Prophet: Solanus Casey, provides a very touching and inspirational picture of this simple man and likely saint.   It especially illustrates three themes fundamental to Fr. Solanus’s spirituality.  The first is profound gratitude to God in all things.  As noted by Fr. Michael Crosby, Collaborator to the Realtor of The Cause of Solanus Casey,

Because he believed in God so much, Solanus was absolutely convinced that our response to the God who has been so loving of us is appreciation and thankfulness and gratitude.  He said, ‘Appreciation is the first sign of a rational being,’ so it again goes back to believing in God and being very thankful that God has been revealed to us in the various forms that God’s presence comes into our lives, and so he would thank God ahead of time.[1]

The second pillar of Fr. Solanus’s spiritual life was his tremendous faith.  It was a faith so apparent that it inspired many who visited him and convinced them that Fr. Solanus was a powerful intercessor with God.  Fr. Dan Fox, Director of the Solanus Casey Center, describes it well. 

When we look at the story of people who are believers, we can always see the handiwork of God at work in the person . . . Solanus is a believer for sure . . . He captures our imagination by his wonderful believing ability.  He is a simple believer.  He accepts God at his word and that is an amazing thing.  It almost shocks us that he can be so certain about his faith, that he can be so assured of it.[2]

The third aspect of his spirituality that inspired many was Fr. Solanus’s unshakable trust in the Lord’s providence.  As one guild member explained, Casey believed that everything that happens is part of God’s loving plan and that when one door closes we can be assured that another is probably already opening.  Fr. Solanus “believed that when bad things happen to good people . . . people need to trust in Gods providence and ask, ‘What should I do next?  Where do I take this or what level do I take it too?’  They need to consider that maybe another door is opening; maybe they need to choose a different path.”[3]

Fr. Solanus inspired thousands of people who came to ask for his intercession and simple words of wisdom.  One reason people found him so accessible was the ordinariness of his life yet strength of his virtues, especially his openness to God’s graces.  A Positio is a report created to document the virtues of a person being considered for the title of Venerable (the second stage in the canonization process).  In Fr. Solanus’s  Positio, it states,

“Holiness does not consist in extraordinary things but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.” These words of Pope Pius XI could serve as title to the life of the Servant of God, Francis Solanus Casey . . . With regard to the Servant of God’s virtues, the following words of his are significant: “It seems to me that were we only to correspond to God’s graces, continually being showered down on every one of us, we would be able to pass from being great sinners one day to be great saints the next.”[4]

People were drawn to Fr. Solanus because he was an average American. He was a great fan of baseball, he fell in love and proposed but was rejected.  He worked on farms and as a street car operator, and then spent most of his life after ordination being a simple receptionist at Capuchin monasteries.  Like most people, he could find work monotonous.  He was considered a man of the people and a people's priest.[5]  People could even relate to the fact that, like most of us, he had some of his own unusual habits.  In his case, they included “combining all his food — cereal, coffee, orange juice, potatoes, ice cream — into one bowl at mealtimes, for example, and playing his harmonica to calm the bees in the monastery's hive.  He was also known to play his squeaky violin before the Blessed Sacrament!”[6]

Thanks to his simple acceptance of every aspect of life as an element of God’s loving providence, Fr. Solanus humbly accepted the difficulties and limitations he experienced in his vocation, as well as chronic physical suffering.  After studying for over ten years for the priesthood, in 1904, Solanus was ordained as a "simplex priest", which meant that he couldn't hear confessions or preach formal homilies.[7]  He then spent over fifty years moving between at least seven different monasteries or churches, typically working as a doorkeeper. By 1956, the painful skin condition he had long suffered from had spread to cover his whole body.  He died in 1957 at the age of eighty-six.[8]

Wherever he went, numerous people attributed answered prayers and miraculous healings to Fr. Solanus’s intercession.  “When he enrolled people in the Seraphic Mass Association, which Capuchins used as a means of intercessory prayer, so many of them reported blessings received that Solanus' superiors directed him to keep a record . . . By the end of his life, Casey had filled seven notebooks noting more than six thousand cases of answered prayers!”[9]  But, as noted by Fr. Dan Fox, Director of the Solanus Casey Center, throughout his prayer ministry, Fr. Solanus always understood the real purpose of prayer.  “We don’t pray to change God’s mind.  We pray that our minds may be changed . . . to have our mind be in conformity with the will of God.”[10] 

Fr. Solanus also had the gift of prophecy.  He would often be able to say whether someone would be healed, predict a person’s vocations, or tell the number of children they would have. During WWII, he seemed to know who would come home safely.[11]

The impact that Fr. Solanus had on people was clearly evidenced by the outpouring of support when he died.  “In the three days after his death, more than twenty thousand people came to pay their respects to Fr. Solanus, the ‘simple’ priest who never heard one single confession but who, as porter, opened a doorway to God for so many.”[12] 

One of the strengths of The Healing Prophet is the way the movie documents the continued blessings that are being attributed to Venerable Solanus Casey’s intercession, over fifty years after his death.  But, even when our prayers seem not to be answered the way we want, following Fr Solanus’s example of faith and absolute trust in God’s providence, will lead to anyone to unexpected blessings.  The Healing Prophet: Solanus Casey can be purchased through Amazon in DVD format.  It can also be obtained from the Fr. Solanus Casey Guild.

---

[1] The Healing Prophet: Solanus Casey, GL Production, Directed by Audrey Geyer, 2012, DVD.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “The Positio,” Fr. Solanus Guild, accessed March 28, 2016, http://solanuscasey.org/who-is-father-solanus/the-positio

[5] The Healing Prophet.

[6] Bob French, “The Surprising Case of Solanus Casey,” Catholic Education Resource Center, 2015, accessed April 4, 2016, http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/the-surprising-case-of-solanus-casey.html

[7] The Healing Prophet.

[8] Leo Wollenweber, OFM, Cap, Meet Solanus Casey: Spiritual Counselor and Wonder Worker (Ann Arbor: Servant Publications, 2002), 137-139.

[9] French, “The Surprising Case of Solanus Casey.”

[10] The Healing Prophet.

[11] Ibid.

[12] French, “The Surprising Case of Solanus Casey.”

Bibliography

French, Bob. “The Surprising Case of Solanus Casey.” Catholic Education Resource Center. 2015. Accessed April 4, 2016. http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/the-surprising-case-of-solanus-casey.html

The Healing Prophet: Solanus Casey. GL Production. Directed by Audrey Geyer. 2012. DVD.

“The Positio.” Fr. Solanus Guild. Accessed March 28, 2016. http://solanuscasey.org/who-is-father-solanus/the-positio

Wollenweber, Leo. Meet Solanus Casey: Spiritual Counselor and Wonder Worker. Ann Arbor: Servant Publications, 2002.