“It’s Blessed Solanus Casey?”
My jaw dropped.
The young adult leader confirmed—today’s topic was about the life of the American priest who lived through the world wars and became famous for miracles.
I felt as if a small miracle had just happened.
Have you ever been “saint-stalked”? Where a saint seems to follow you around everywhere you go? I felt like that was happening with Blessed Solanus. Just a few hours earlier I’d decided to write this article.
The fact that I mispronounced his name (it’s Sol-AH-nus) showed how little I knew about him. However, I was about to find out a lot more.
Here are four takeaways from what I learned about Blessed Solanus, as well as practical ways to apply his wisdom.
Lesson #1: Don’t let obstacles stop you from pursuing your calling.
Solanus Casey flunked out of seminary.
While studying at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he did so poorly in German that “his superiors advised that he was not likely to succeed, and they suggested a religious order.”
Even when he was finally ordained in 1904 as a Capuchin, he couldn’t administer the Sacrament of Confession or publicly preach because he struggled with theological studies.
Solanus Casey could have wallowed in frustration. As Capuchin Fr. Dan Crosby put it in The Violinist: Stories of Solanus Casey, “That was the question, ‘What are we supposed to do with a priest that can’t hear confessions and can’t preach publicly?’ They thought, well, he could become a porter, and that was his main thing for the rest of his life.”
And yet, his mundane job as door keeper became the instrument to draw people to Christ.
Reflection: What are some things I keep failing at? Instead of feeling hopeless, can I say the words of the Surrender Novena, “Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything”?
Lesson #2: The most mundane tasks can be meaningful.
This part of Catholic theology isn’t new. In fact, it’s taken straight from Jesus’ words:
Whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. (Mt. 10:40, 42)
Franciscan Media notes that while Fr. Solanus was working at St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit as porter and sacristan, “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 Fr. 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.”
More about the miracles later. Sometimes, though, it was the least dramatic moments that meant the most. Sister Anne Herkenrath, Solanus Casey’s grandniece, believes he saved her vocation.
As a young woman, she came to Casey wondering what she should do with her life.
“I thought that if I went to the convent, my camping days were over, my hiking days were over,” said Sister Anne in The Violinist. “I wasn’t sure that I could give that up.”
Approaching her great-uncle, she hoped for a definitive answer. “I thought to myself, I’ve heard stories about Solanus knowing things ahead of time. Maybe I should ask him, ‘Should I go to the convent or not?’”
“I’ll never forget this,” she said. “His blue eyes twinkled, he smiled, and said, ‘That’s between you and God.’”
“I loved him for saying that,” she explained. “Had he said one thing or another, I might have done it and then years later regretted it. If I hadn’t made the decision myself . . . I might never have been so committed to it.”
Solanus’ impact on others’ lives didn’t just happen during big moments of healing. This small moment, where he seemingly didn’t do much of anything, was a big deal for Sister Anne.
Reflection: According to Philip Kosloski from Aleteia, Solanus Casey once said, “We should ever be grateful for and love the vocation to which God has called us. This applies to every vocation because, after all, what a privilege it is to serve God, even in the least capacity!” Given this mindset, how can you reframe the way you think about your daily responsibilities?
Lesson #3: If you have a passion, pursue it!
Solanus Casey’s friends and family can attest to the same fact: he was crazy about playing the violin. Unfortunately, his violin-playing sounded like nails on a chalkboard. (Listen to a real-life recording here!) However, he had a passion for it, undeterred by skill—even if, according to Sister Anne, his religious brothers would dash to switch on the TV when he announced an impromptu concert!
In fact, Solanus Casey’s music made a lasting impact on Fr. Dan Crosby, who witnessed a very special moment during Christmas of 1956, the last one Solanus Casey would celebrate, when he stumbled upon Blessed Solanus in the empty chapel at 7PM.
“I heard this squeaky noise coming from the bigger chapel,” he remembered. “It was Solanus playing the violin. All by himself, playing Christmas carols on Christmas night to the Christ Child in the crib.”
“It was still squeaky, but it was beautiful,” he said. “If I hadn’t opened up that door, nobody would ever have known that he was doing that.”
As Fr. Crosby noted, God had put the yearning to play the violin in Solanus Casey’s heart, so Casey was going to share that joy with his creator.
Reflection: What is one thing you really love doing? Make space in your week to pursue that passion, thanking God for the joy you get from it.
Lesson #4: The worst circumstances can be redeemed through Christ.
Brother Richard Merling was 15 years old when he and his family came to Solanus Casey’s door. Merling’s mother was worried because his brother had been seriously injured in a car accident. According to Brother Merling’s testimony in CNA, the doctors believed his brother’s leg needed an amputation.
“[Solanus Casey] simply said oh don’t worry, everything is going to be alright,” recalled Merling, now a Capuchin monk.
Sure enough, the patient didn’t lose his leg.
“Stories became fairly common about people coming to Solanus and talking to him and asking him to pray for themselves or family members,” explained Fr. Crosby. “The provincial told him, ‘Could you keep a record of this, the different instances that people tell you about?’ And he was just so excited and eager to do that: it’s going to be a record of how good God is!”
And the miracles continue.
Carolyn Courtney Laumanwas an alcoholic. In National Catholic Register, she confessed that for years—including after her reversion to Catholicism in 2020—she felt powerless to overcome addiction.
Solanus Casey had been dead for over 60 years when Lauman opened a saint book on October 2020. Lauman was struck by the story of Luke Leonard, an alcoholic cured through Casey’s intercession.
“As I read how Solanus asked the man, ‘When did you get over your sickness?’ my heart began to beat furiously, and I was overwhelmed by a sense of hopeful optimism. If Blessed Solanus had healed Luke Leonard, why couldn’t he heal me?” said Lauman.
“No sooner had this thought materialized when I heard a voice ask, ‘Carolyn, when did you get over your sickness?’” she recalled. “I whispered, ‘Tonight.’ And I did. That very night. Just like that.”
Reflection: Are you facing a challenge that seems insurmountable? Consider praying the Blessed Solanus Casey Novena, asking for his prayers on your behalf. Never stop believing that God can bring good out of evil, even if the answer isn’t immediate.
In the everyday chores, the challenges, the fun times, and the hard times, let’s pray that we can trust God like Solanus Casey did. Let’s “thank [God] ahead of time for whatever He chooses to send us.”
Author’s Note: Thank you to Solanus Casey.org, the creators of The Violinist: Stories of Solanus Casey, Philip Kosloski of Aleteia, Franciscan Media, Carolyn Courtney Lauman of National Catholic Register, and Mary Farrow of CNA.
Photo from SolanusCasey.org
