It is both inspiring and sobering to read of the decrees about heroic virtues and also about martyrdoms. Every single one of us are called to the former and some of us may be called to the later.
I saw this on VIS and found a few of the decrees interesting.
DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
VATICAN CITY, 19 DEC 2011 (VIS) – The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorised the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:
MIRACLES
– Blessed Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Italian priest and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth and of the Congregation of the Humble Sister Servants of the Lord (1841-1913).
– Blessed Jacques Berthieu, French martyr and priest of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) (1838-1896).
– Blessed Maria del Carmen (born Maria Salles y Barangueras), Spanish foundress of the Conceptionist Missionary Sisters of Teaching (1848-1911).
NB: – Blessed Maria Anna Cope, nee Barbara, German religious of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse U.S.A. (1838-1918).
NB: – Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, American laywoman (1656-1680). [A second miracle opens the way to canonization.]
– Blessed Pedro Calungsod, Filipino lay catechist and martyr (1654-1672).
– Blessed Anna Schaffer, German laywoman (1882-1925).
– Servant of God Louis Brisson, French priest and founder of the Oblates of St. Francis of Sales (1817-1908).
– Servant of God Luigi Novarese, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Silent Workers of the Cross (1914-1984).
– Servant of God Maria Luisa (nee Gertrude Prosperi), Italian abbess of the convent of the Order of St. Benedict of Trevi (1799-1847).
– Servant of God Mother St. Louis (nee Maria Luisa Elisabeth de Lamoignon, widow of Mole de Champlatreux), French foundress of the Sisters of St. Louis (1763-1825).
– Servant of God Maria Crescencia (nee Maria Angelica Perez), Argentinean professed religious of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Orchard (1897-1932).
MARTYRDOM
– Servant of God Nicola Rusca, Swiss diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith (1563-1618).
– Servants of God Luis Orencio (ne Antonio Sola Garriga) and eighteen companions of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools; Antonio Mateo Salamero, diocesan priest, and Jose Gorostazu Labayen, layman, all killed in hatred of the faith in Spain in 1936.
– Servants of God Alberto Maria Marco y Aleman and eight companions of the Order of Carmelites of the Ancient Observance, and Agustin Maria Garcia Tribaldos and fifteen companions of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools; all killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 1936 and 1937.
– Servants of God Mariano Alcala Perez and eighteen companions of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 1936 and 1937.
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Donato Giannotti, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters Handmaidens of the Immaculate Conception (1828-1914).
– Servant of God Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus (ne Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites and founder of the Institute of Notre-Dame de Vie (1894-1967).
– Servant of God Alphonse-Marie (nee Elisabeth Eppinger), French foundress of the Congregation of Sisters of the Blessed Saviour (1814-1867).
– Servant of God Marguerite Lucia Szewczyk, Polish foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sorrowful Mother of God – Seraphic Sisters (1828-1905).
– Servant of God Assunta Marchetti, Italian co-foundress of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles (1871-1948).
– Servant of God Maria Julitta (nee Teresa Eleonora Ritz), German professed sister of the Congregation of Sisters of the Redeemer (1882-1966).
– Servant of God Maria Anna Amico Roxas, Italian laywoman and foundress of the Society of St. Ursula (1883-1947).
As you scan these, keep in mind that religious institutes and orders can assign people and resources to the promotion of a cause. So can dioceses. They become the “actors” of the cause, and they are responsible for all the expenses, etc. It is rather hard for individuals to promote a cause unless they are rather well-heeled and have heirs who will continue the work.
In any event… contemplate this list with some …
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I am pleased to see these two Blesseds of North America listed.
Does anyone know if Dom Gueranger’s cause has made any progress? I recall it was opened several years ago in the diocese, but am unable to find any information since that time. Perhaps I should start invoking his intercession for the sick.
Nothing about Hildegard of Bingen. Is there then no truth to the report that she is to be canonized and declared Doctor of the Church next fall?
Blessed Maria Anna Cope’s order of Syracuse Franciscans taught me and my children and mother and grandfather in elementary school. Tough and smart ladies.
For canonization it appears helpful to be a founder!!!
I have a friend who is devoted to Blessed Kateri-she is going to be SOOOOO excited when I give her this news!
And of course I’m also jumping for joy about Blessed Marianne Cope! She lived in my hometown in Upstate NY!
samgr-you state that the Syracuse Franciscans were your teachers. Where are you, if I may ask? I had them for religious education classes in the 1960s (they prepared me for my First Communion in 1962 and my Confirmation in 1966).
Two new Saints for New York State! (doing a discreet ‘happy dance’ here in the library) Thank You, dear Lord!
Miss Anita Moore-I was over at Spirit Daily where there is a video link (‘Rome Reports’) about Hildegard von Bingen. It says something about October-check it out. http://www.spiritdaily.com
Hi, Irishgirl. They taught us all at St. Francis of Assisium in Trenton.
samgr-ah, Trenton….I had a dear Franciscan priest-friend who was from Trenton. I met him thirty years ago this past March, when he was stationed here in Utica, oddly enough at the parish where Mother Marianne Cope attended. My friend may have attended your school in Trenton-wouldn’t that be interesting? He passed away in 1990, six months after celebrating his Silver Jubilee (he had cancer). I’ve gone to visit his grave in the Franciscan friars’ plot at Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Trenton.
Still miss him after all these years….
“well-heeled”! very good Father!
Hurrah for Fr Marie-Eugene, OCD! He is the author of the classic 2 volume synthesis of Carmelite spirituality, “I Want to See God” and “I Am A Daughter of the Church”. Basically a course on Carmelite spirituality that puts it all together for a deep and balanced understanding of the teaching of the Carmelite Saints, one of the best intros for a pastor or spiritual director but also many lay people. This 2 volume set is worth the little investment (it is published in paperback by Christian Classics but is not discount priced) and makes a great gift to a pastor or spiritual director, too.
Fr. Francis X. Weiser, SJ was an ardent advocate for the cause of sainthood of Kateri Tekakwitha long before many knew who she was. I have vivid memories, as a little child, of him expounding on her cause at Christmas and other family gatherings. It is uplifting to see the process moving, please God, toward canonization. I pray that Fr. Weiser is even now rejoicing with her in Heaven.
The beautiful cathedral of Sacramento, CA has a side chapel of the saints of the Americas.
You can see it in this slideshow of the cathedral interior: http://www.cathedralsacramento.org/pdfs/Visiting%20the%20Cathedral_Web.pdf
Blessed Kateri is depicted on the top right-hand side. You will notice her name is preceded by the word Saint. I wonder whether it was a mistake or intentional on the part of the artist at the time it was painted; it has been like that since the chapel was unveiled several years ago . Well, there won’t be any need to update it.
We, the Mercedarians, have been praying for the elevation of our martyrs to the Altar. We are so excited to hear this news. It is a confirmation of the need and real witness of the our charism of Redemption in a world, ‘still far from salvation’
Bl. Marian Alcala and Companions, pray for us.
Bro. David M., O. de M.
The Filipinos and Filipino-Americans of St. Columba in Oxon Hill, MD will offer a Thanksgiving Mass for the elevation to the sainthood of Bl. Pedro Calungsod. Praise be to God!
“authorised the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes”
Can someone explain what this means in this context? I don’t understand.
“For canonization it appears helpful to be a founder!!!”
This is one reason why I think the Legion of Christ needs either a radical “refounding” or else be dissolved. What kind of “charism of the founder” can be a good foundation with such a founder as that organization has? I suggest they consider Pope Benedict their honorary new founder and dedicate themselves to Benedict’s liturgical vision in the Church, including mutual enrichment of the two forms of the Latin Rite.
Hello again, Irishgirl. What was this late Franciscan’s name, please. Those guys taught me in high school, and he might have been one. A couple of them were natives here. And if not, it’s quite possible that he was a schoolmate.
Blessed Kateri is a big one! She’s especially popular here in Canada. A powerful complement to our Canadian and North American martyrs.
Can anyone answer my question?
@aspiring poet: it means that these decrees are now official.
aspiring poet: Take a look at my note in red, above. A second miracle opens the way for one already who is a “Blessed”, who has been beatified, to be canonized, to be named a saint.
I will be only too delighted to see Kateri Tekakwitha, the “Lily of the Mohawks”, canonized. I have made a number of pilgrimages to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs (St. Isaac Jogues & company) in Auriesville and have been very touched by their story and by hers.
The pilgimages I made to Auriesville were mostly in association with St. Ignatius Retreat House (SSPX) and spearheaded by Father Timothy Pfeiffer, who was positively on fire with enthusiasm for the Jesuit Martyrs and for Kateri Tekakwitha. His enthusiasm was certainly contagious. I’ll never forget the impressive spectacle with which he conducted his pilgrimages, beginning miles away with a trek on foot, each participating chapel carrying its own banner aloft, with Father Pfeiffer leading the way wearing his cassock and black beret, and brandishing a bull horn, leading the “troops” as it were. Hundreds of us, all ages. Some sort of paramilitary group of young traditionalists carrying the huge pilgrimage cross. Each group leader led his group in the singing of hymns and the praying of the Rosary all the way there. For miles and miles and miles. All in the sweltering heat of Summer. You got your excercise, that’s for sure, and lost a few pounds, if you needed to.
These amazing pilgrimages (and they really were amazing) culminated in the singing of solemn High Mass at the Shrine. I think we amazed ourselves: all of us Lefebvrists there invading this ‘establishment Church’ venue (with permission) and showing the ‘Novus Ordos’ who run the place ‘how its done’.
So was the mentality of many of us; So was my own mentality at that time. But it was really quite something to behold. The sacristans of the pilgrimage travelled ahead with a magnificent red solemn set of vestments, with the chalice, with ciboria, with altar cloths, with cassocks and surplices for the inferior ministers, with censer and thurible and wine and hosts and six candles and candlesticks…everything needed, all brought from the Retreat House. The Jesuits at Auriesville were all very good and very patient with our sacristans as they descended on the place like wasps, dressing altars, moving away tables, and making everything just right for traditionalist eyes.
For all of my criticisms, today, of the Society of St. Pius X, I cannot say one negative thing about Father Pfeiffer or about those pilgrimages of his to Auriesville. He was one of the good ones and those days were just magical. All those people gathered from different parts of New York State and New England once a year to worship together, retracing the steps of martyrs to the place of their martyrdom. How loudly we all sang the Mass of the Angels in that place, and with what enthusiasm. I know I wasn’t the only one reduced to tears. An emotion so uncommon in the traditionalist experience quite overcame many of us.
Blessed Kateri, Ownkeonweke Katsitsiio Teonsitsianekaron, pray for all of us who so honoured you those days.
I remember speaking to some members of Blessed Marianne Cope’s order who were in Rome for her beatification. They really do not like that the Vatican keeps referring to her as a “German”. She was born in Germany, but moved to the United States when she was one year old! She was an American, darn it! And Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha is listed as an American, even though the United States did not exist at the time. and her nationality should probably be listed as Mohawk.
I have to say I shared some of aspiringpoet’s confusion on this. The document states “authorised the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes” then sets out lists under the heading “MIRACLES” a whole list of Beati and Servants of God. It was not clear to me whether these holy men and women had already been declared Beati and the decree related specifically to a miracle (so that they were one step closer to being cannonised), or whether they were being raised to the altars as Beati becuase there has been an attested miracle.
If I read the responses aright, it apperas that the title associated with each person is effectively the state to which (by this decree) they are to be raised. So if it says “Blessed X” then X is now being made a Beatus because a miracle has been confirmed and that was all that was needed in the process.
Is that right?
samgr-Shoot me over an email on this; here’s my email address: lourdes1858@myway.com. I’ll give you my late Franciscan priest-friend’s name that way. Don’t want to put it out here in public. And you’ll also find out my ‘real name’ after I respond!
Centristan-I’ve been to two of the SSPX pilgrimages to Auriesville! I only meet up with the pilgrims at the big field opposite the Shrine entrance; the Jesuits won’t them use the Coliseum church or any other of the chapels on the grounds, however.
I stayed for the Mass at this year’s pilgrimage, and it absolutely POURED rain!
And I know who Father Pfeiffer was, too! I had gone to the SSPX church in Syracuse a few times, and so I saw him more than once at the 7:30 Mass on Sunday.
Add a word: *let*….I think I’m losing my mind….sigh….
Nobody is raised to anything by this decree (or at least the bits Fr. Z listed). The Congregation is saying that the accounts of miracles, martyrdoms, and of heroic virtues connected to X person (who is called by X’s current title) have been approved. This opens the way for the Servants of God to be named Venerables, for the Venerables to be named Blesseds, and for the Blesseds to be named Saints.
It hasn’t happened yet, however. It will probably happen soon — as soon as things can be scheduled, but not yet. Watch for the next few sets of announcements. If this had been actual decrees of change of state coming up, the headings would have been about Venerables, Beatifications, and Saints. You will see that soon.
(Occasionally, the Vatican puts such things on hold, though. For example, if there are diplomatic problems with a country not wanting a saint to be named, and the Vatican wants to be polite about it in hopes of getting the government to ease up and let its people have a party. Of course, this only lasts so long before the Vatican stops being polite and starts promoting the saint, whatever an earthly government thinks.)
Heh. Just noticed how many news organizations have announced that Bl. Kateri and Bl. Marianne have already been proclaimed saints by the Vatican! (At least in their headlines.) Need some factchecking, those newspapers….
Thanks to all who have clarified the situation.
@irishgirl:
“Centristan-I’ve been to two of the SSPX pilgrimages to Auriesville! I only meet up with the pilgrims at the big field opposite the Shrine entrance; the Jesuits won’t them use the Coliseum church or any other of the chapels on the grounds, however.”
Back in the early/mid 1990s when I worked at the Retreat House, the first annual pilgrimage was organized by Father Pfeiffer. I was at both the first and second annual pilgrimages. Back then, the Jesuits allowed the Mass to be celebrated inside the shrine at one of the four altars in the center of the arena-shaped coliseum church. They may have not really cared back then because there wasn’t all the media attention in those days before Williamson dropped the “H” bomb on TV. I honestly don’t think they knew who we were. Evidently they figured it out. ;^)
While I certainly understand the Jesuits’ decision not to let them worship at their altars any longer, under the circumstances, it’s something of a shame at the same time. I understand that the non-Lefebvrist traditionalists in New York State loyal to Rome now have an annual Auriesville pilgrimage of their own. I’ll have to look into it. I wonder if it is characterized by that same raw and intrepid fervor that I experienced at Father Pfeiffer’s pilgrimages, though…that “who cares if you’re about to collapse from heat stroke, press on…think of what the martyrs endured here and just keep walking; if you croak your reward is in paradise,” mentality. I suspect the atmosphere of the Una Voce sponsored event is perhaps a bit more tame.
Young couples, instead of naming your daughters names like La-a, Chamoonga, Fitzpatrick, and Jeff; how about Kateri instead.
We were considering the name Kateri for our daughter who is due in April. Now I feel like a horrible person for reconsidering because it will probably become more common and I will be seen as trendy. Somebody please admonish me for such nonsensical thoughts.
Centristian:
Yes, I’ve been to the ‘other’ Traditional pilgrimage at Auriesville-it’s usually held in September. This year the last day was held on Sunday instead of Saturday, the number of ‘walking days’ reduced from four to three. And yes, it’s the one that was originally started by Una Voce; the group that now sponsors it is ‘The National Coalition of Clergy and Laity’ (NCCL), based in Pennsylvania.
Here’s the link: http://www.national-coalition.org. Or else Google ‘National Coalition of Clergy and Laity.’
Their ‘spirit’ is still loud and strong; but the numbers have gone down in recent years.
I’ve only done the walking part once, my first time in 2000. I made it only halfway, my legs quit when I reached the top of the hill on the road that leads to the shrine. Since then, I’ve gone ahead to the shrine and wait for everyone else to come up the hill.
When I have been to the SSPX pilgrimages (theirs is in June), the crowd’s been bigger-tons of children and young people. Both times (last year and this) I’ve gone there in the rain. This year it POURED! Right at the Consecration in the Mass, like a faucet, the heavens just opened up! I had an umbrella, a raincoat, and sneakers on my feet; but my skirt was like lead! Now that’s penance!