Catherine M. Odell

I really enjoyed this short biography of this American Capuchin priest whose prayerful counseling and intercessions on behalf of the poor, the sick, and the troubled earned him the reputation of a miracle-worker in the first half of the 20th century.

The simplicity and trust evident in his relationship to our Lord was a real challenge to me. Father Solanus was ordained without faculties to preach doctrinal homilies or to hear confessions, and even as a priest he was assigned such duties as show more porter (doorkeeper) and looking after the altar servers in various parishes. But he pursued the path of holiness quietly and without fanfare. Reading the statements his Franciscan superiors had him sign acknowledging his academic lowliness before allowing him to proceed to his final studies for ordination made me understand the idea of dying to self in a new, more personal way.

Father Solanus has been declared Venerable by the Church (the first of three stages on the road to sainthood). Father Solanus pray for us! show less

To this day, having known a few such great people, I still think that Father Solanus was the saintliest person I ever knew. ---From the Foreword by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. In showing others that a life-giving faith and a love of God can be both powerful and simple, Father Solanus is a source of encouragement and a model of virtue for the modern world.