Blessed Solanus Casey

Solanus Casey, OFMCap (born Bernard Francis Casey; November 25, 1870 – July 31, 1957) was an American Catholic priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. He was known as a healer and for his abilities as a spiritual counselor, but especially for his great attention to the sick, for whom he celebrated special Masses. The friar was much sought after and revered, especially in Detroit, where he resided. He was also a noted lover of the violin, a trait he shared with his eponym, St Francis Solanus. The cause for his sainthood, occasioned by the laity who so loved him, commenced a few years after his death; he was officially recognized as Servant of God in 1982, and he was declared venerable in 1995. After a miraculous healing attributed to him was approved by Pope Francis in 2017, he was beatified at Ford Field in Detroit on November 18, 2017. Bernard Francis Casey (nicknamed "Barney") was born on November 25, 1870, on a farm in the town of Oak Grove, Pierce County, Wisconsin, the sixth of sixteen children born to Irish immigrants Bernard James Casey and Ellen Elizabeth Murphy. He was baptized on December 18, 1870. He contracted diphtheria in 1878, permanently damaging his voice, leaving it wispy and slightly impaired; two of his siblings died from the disease that year. The family later moved to Hudson, Wisconsin. In 1878, he began school at Saint Mary's, but this was cut short in October 1882 when the family relocated again, to Burkhardt in Saint Croix County. In 1887, he left the farm for a series of jobs in his home state and nearby Minnesota, working as a lumberjack, a hospital orderly, a guard in the Minnesota state prison, and a street car operator in Superior. His time as a prison guard saw him befriend a couple of Jesse James' cohorts. At first, he desired married life, but the mother of a girl to whom he had proposed suddenly sent her off to a boarding school.