Sainthood causes – Page 13

Rose Hawthorne: Novena Prayer for the Canonization

Lord God, in your special love for the sick, the poor and the
lonely, you raised up Rose Hawthorne (Mother Alphonsa) to be the servant of
those afflicted with incurable cancer and with no one to care for them. In
serving the outcast and the abandoned she always strove to see in them the face
of your Son. In her eyes, those in need were always Christ’s poor.

Grant that
her example of selfless charity and her courage in the face of great obstacles
will inspire us to be generous in our service of neighbor. We humbly ask that
you glorify your servant Rose Hawthorne on earth according to the designs of
your holy will. Through her intercession, grant the favor that I now present
(here make your request).Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of
Jesus, have mercy on us. (3x)

Our Father — Hail Mary– Glory Be

The cause for the Servant of God Rose Hawthorne’s canonization may be read here and here

McGivney, the musical

A stage production on the life and work of the Venerable Servant of God Father Michael J. McGivney is being done at the Assumption Grotto Catholic Church, Detroit, MI. Fr. Eduard Perrone is the director of this new artistic show. The show performed December 6, 8, 12 & 13.

Here is a 2 minute spot on the musical “McGivney.”

Blessed Brother André moves closer to sainthood

When I was a high school student at Notre Dame High School in West Haven, CT, I learned about Brother André but sadly the Brothers of Holy Cross didn’t make too much of Brother André. I thought this was weird. The only saint candidate among the Brothers of Holy Cross and nothing much said to the students, faculty, alumni or benefactors. Really, knowing Brother André’s story is to be filled with gratitude for the witness to simple, deep faith, the tenacity of his devotion and his virtue in the face of disappointment. Mind you, it is reported that he had a cold personality. A friend in Canada emailed me to tell me that Blessed André’s cause for canonization is closer, elevation to the altars for God’s praise and glory.

Brother André was born Alfred Bessette in 1845, the eighth of 12 children in a family in the farming village of St. Grégoire, 40 about miles southeast of Montreal. When Brother André died in January 1937, more than one million people filed past his coffin. It is estimated that ten million people have signed the petition calling for his sainthood and petitioning God to make desire possible.

About two weeks ago the Theological Commission for the Causes of Saints unanimously accepted the healing intercession of Blessed Brother André, the pious porter at the Collège Notre Dame; he later established Saint Joseph’s Oratory and is credited with healing the sick, the lame and the blind. A commission of cardinals and bishops will now the Theological Commission’s report on Brother André before recommending the cause for canonization to Pope Benedict XVI.

Blessed André is the latest Canadian to be studied for sainthood. If he’s canonized he’ll join a short of others. Besides the Northern American Martyrs, there’s Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys and Saint Marie Marguerite d’Youville. There are 15 Blesseds waiting for their causes to be advanced.

Cardinal Terrence Cooke: 26th anniv. of death

Twenty-six years ago today God called Terrence James
Cardinal Cooke, 62, to Himself. Under the motto of “Thy Will be Done” and at
the age of 47, he was nominated archbishop of New York, succeeding Cardinal
Spellman. The Cardinal lived his life in dedication to the Lord, often quiet
and formal. His cause for canonization was introduced in 1992 and named a
Servant of God by Pope John Paul II.

Almighty and eternal Father, we thank you
for the exemplary life and gentle kindness of your son and bishop, Terence
Cooke. If it be your gracious will, grant that the virtues of your servant may
be recognized and provide a lasting example for your people. We pray through
Our Lord Jesus Christ your son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen.

McGivney’s cause for beatification takes another step

The cause for beatification and eventual sainthood of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, took
another step on September 22, 2009, with the submission of a supplemental report on
a potential miracle attributed to the priest’s intercession.

The Knights of
Columbus announced today that officials from a supplemental tribunal of the
Archdiocese of Hartford -of which Fr. McGivney was a parish priest- formally
sent a new report to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints
through Dr. Andrea Ambrosi, the current postulator of McGivney’s cause. The
information gathered by the tribunal included testimonies from witnesses to the
supposed miracle as well as the statements of several medical doctors about the
circumstances surrounding the reported miracle. Dominican Father Gabriel B. O’Donnell,
the current vice-postulator and former postulator, has worked on the cause for a number
of years with the assistance of a variety people, not least was Millie Millea, the
former secretary at the McGivney Guild.

In the context praying Sext (midday
prayer), the brief ceremony in which the new report was signed and presented to
Archbishop Henry J. Mansell was attended by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, other
Supreme Officers and other Knights of Columbus officials, three relatives of
Father McGivney and a number of archdiocesan officials.

The submission of the
new report “marks an important step forward. The Vatican’s Congregation for the
Causes of Saints will now have valuable additional testimony that clarifies and
adds significantly to the original submission,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson
said.

“Father McGivney’s beatification would be an important event,” Anderson
added, “not only for Knights of Columbus, but for the many thousands of parish
priests who quietly do the Lord’s work in parishes each day and regard him as
an outstanding example for priests everywhere. In this ‘Year for Priests’
it is an especially appropriate step forward.” When beatified, McGivney will be
the first US diocesan priest beatified.

The cause for Father McGivney’s
sainthood was opened by Hartford Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin in December 1997. In 2000, the cause was presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints; Pope Benedict XVI declared
him “Venerable Servant of God” on March 15, 2008.

Father McGivney founded the
Knights of Columbus in 1882 and died on August 14, 1890 at the age of 38. At the time of
the founding of the Knights of Columbus he was a curate at Saint Mary’s Church
(New Haven, CT).

For pictures of the event see this link.

[this articled was first published at CNA and edited for
clarity]

Blessed Mother Teresa: 12th anniversary of death

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. (Blessed Teresa of Calcutta)

26 August 1910 to 5 September 1997

“This
celebration of Mother Teresa should remind us that the work of mercy, charity
and compassion still have a fundamental place in our being disciples of Jesus
today. During her life Mother put into practice in many ways Charity in
Truth (Fr Cedric Prakash, SJ, Sept. 5, 2009).

Saint John Paul? Some say no

Eric Giunta, a law student in Florida takes a look at some reasons why Pope John Paul II ought not be beatified with subsequent canonization in mind. For the record, I think Eric Giunta is off his rocker in his assessment of John Paul’s holiness and heroic virtue, human and papal. He lumps too many things together and he lacks certain theological nuance in doctrine and teaching and when considering matters of ecclesial governance. Additionally, I think he’s trying to hammer a wedge between the papacies of John Paul and that of Benedict which is unfortunate and wrongheaded. Giunta politicizes the Church which is common enough in today’s era, that is, he speaks of the Church more as an institution and does not consider that the Church is first and foremost a sacrament founded by Christ. Miss this point you miss the essential understanding of Christianity.

While I support the proposal of declaring John Paul a saint, I think the Church ought to wait and have further study on his person and work. Pope John Paul insisted on the five year waiting period before the introduction of a cause (except for Mother Teresa) to let among other things, the emotions to settle and give reason a chance to work; I think the rule is a good one even for high profile people like Teresa and John Paul. There is benefit in letting the process mature. So, dissenting opinions provoke a critical reassessment and perhaps new thinking so I recommend reading what Eric Giunta says…

Venerable Servant of God Michael J. McGivney

In 1890 on today’s date, Father Michael J. McGivney, a priest of the Hartford Diocese and founder of the Knights of Columbus, died at the age of 38.

The postulator and vice-postulator, with the Archdiocese of Hartford and the Congregation for Saints, have been studying the various claims of miracles attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Michael J. McGivney. The process for beatification and canonization continues on the temporal plane but it also requires divine intervention. The prayer for canonization follows.

Visit the McGivney Guild

Join the McGivney Guild

Prayer for the Canonization of

Father Michael J. McGivney

God, our Father, protector of the poor and defender of the widow and orphan, you called your priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, to be an apostle of Christian family life and to lead the young to the generous service of their neighbor.

Through the example of his life and virtue may we follow your Son, Jesus Christ, more closely, fulfilling his commandment of charity and building up his Body which is the Church. Let the inspiration of your servant prompt us to greater confidence in your love so that we may continue his work of caring for the needy and the outcast.

We humbly ask that you glorify your servant Father Michael J. McGivney on earth according to the design of your holy will.

Through his intercession, grant the favor I now present (here make your request).

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Blessed John Henry Newman

The Holy Father recognized the 2001 healing of Deacon Jack Sullivan as a miracle by way of the Venerable Servant of God Cardinal John Henry Newman‘s intercession. This was the final step in the beatification process of the English cardinal; of course, the canonization process will continue to its natural end. Now the details of the beatification ceremony are pending which is likely to be England.

We rejoice with the Congregation of the Oratory and the 82 Oratorian Houses –indeed with the entire Church in the Pope’s decision to beatify Newman because it gives us another authentic guide to Christ.

At the Birmingham Oratory you can read

Some of his works can be found here.

Progress in John Paul’s beatification process

Yesterday morning [June 30] there was help at the Congregation
for Causes of Saints the second meeting of the theological consultors tasked to
examine the “Positio,” that is the documents and testimonies of the
cause for beatification of John Paul II. In the first meeting, about
which Il Giornale has spoken, was held on 13 May. But it had an
intermediate (or interlocutory… “interlocutorio”) outcome, because of
critical point raised not about the personal sanctity of Pope Wojtyla but about
the manner in which the work was advanced and the lack of documentation.
The postulator of the cause, Msgr. Slawomir Oder, responded in writing to the
objections and yesterday there was held the second and final meeting of the
theologians, which had given a favorable majority opinion. Two of them
maintained the initial “suspended judgment” (“sospensivo”)
because they though that the proofs and documents ought to have been integrated
(“il quadro probatorio e documentale debba essere integrato”). This is the article that was published in today’s Il Giornale. Now the
“Positio” goes to the cardinal and bishop members of the
Congregation, who before the end of the year will make a decision about the
heroic virtue of Pope Wojtyla. Then it will fall to Pope Benedict to
promulgate the decree which will bring his predecessor to beatification.

(thanks to Fr John Zuhlsdorf for the
translation of Andrea Tornielli’s article)