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Meet Solanus Casey : Spiritual Counselor and Wonder Worker
By merely human standards, the life of Solanus Casey was no great success story. A mediocre student who couldn't keep up in diocesan seminary, he barely made it through the seminary of the Capuchin friars. When he was finally ordained, they made him a "simplex priest"-one who is not allowed to hear confessions or preach doctrinal sermons. So Casey spent fifty-three years in lowly service as a sacristan and doorkeeper. Nevertheless, he graciously accepted this humble station in life, and God rewarded him with a remarkable ministry of spiritual counsel and divine healings. This book tells the startling story of the simple friar whose loving concern for everyday people dramatically transformed thousands of lives.
- GenresNonfictionReligion
143 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 16, 2019
simplex priest
Franciscan way of holiness.
did not agree
Within the lines of our struggling Christian savior, but less ambitious than the Evangelical organized religion I have come to know. Today in church, we learned that Jesus sacrificed and lived a prostate life amidst the temptations a high priest in a power is given, the same human temptations all of us have. Because he was knew he was anointed for greater things, Jesus remained chaste, obedient, prophetic; his devotion was realized as he was seated as a powerful leader who can show compassion (Hebrews 4:13-16, 5-7). In a contorted reprisal of Machiavelli's The Prince, Elmbrook megachurch's priest, proclaimed "to be powerful and not compassionate is not the righteous way, and it will leave you ethically in poverty. To be compassionate without power, you may be loved by all you know, but be unable to change their lives in any significant way". For the Franciscan, you can be close to good by knowing you are helping others in your work whatever that may be.
Friar Solanus Casey lived the most humble life you can imagine, but was canonized as a saint by Pope Alexander in 2000. Solanus never ate luxurious grand meals; he sustained himself on beans.
He did so because he believed that in enjoying your food, you worshiped it as the best part of your day. This brought you further from understanding Jesus as your holy leader in life. The Babel forbids worshiping false idols. In the Sermon on the Mount, it forbids worshiping your stock of cattle in hopes it is fruitful. Friar Solanus served as an example of American humility -a blue collar way to holiness-during his Wisconsin and Michigan service.
Insofar as, Friar Solanus story is one that the American with a dream can relate to. He was not able to become a high priest like he had dreamed of after his brother failed the same excursion. While in the Franciscan priest-ship, he did stellar work in reaching out to those in need, but in the tail end of his ordaining, his streamlined path was derailed. Scriptures must be read in their original intents and purposes, i.e. the language they are written in. Unable to learn German and Latin while parsing out the meaning of scripture, he accepted that it was not written for him to be a high priest.
He spent the rest of life working in the office of the church as a porter. When he turned 58 years old, St. Francis' standing priest was sick, and Friar Solanus was asked if he would like to do more for the church than offer kind words of encouragement to passerby. He humbly refused. He was living a completely fulfilled life, greeting those that came through the doors of Milwaukee and Detroit friar ships, listening to their gripes, and giving his take on how they can live closer to God.
{God often permits us to make temporal blunders in order to foster humility in our souls, so that in the sight of heaven we may be more amiable}
{Life her in the exile is so short and uncertain, that it seems to me it ought to have another name.{The great lesson God wants us to learn on our pilgrimage here is appreciation for life enternal He has waiting for us.}
{My pain was excruciating, and though I tried to thank God for it , my principal prayer was: "God Help Me!'}{We should make a virtue of earthly deprivations, by offering them all to our heavenly Father in union with Jesus, who said: "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."}
Franciscan way of holiness.
did not agree
Within the lines of our struggling Christian savior, but less ambitious than the Evangelical organized religion I have come to know. Today in church, we learned that Jesus sacrificed and lived a prostate life amidst the temptations a high priest in a power is given, the same human temptations all of us have. Because he was knew he was anointed for greater things, Jesus remained chaste, obedient, prophetic; his devotion was realized as he was seated as a powerful leader who can show compassion (Hebrews 4:13-16, 5-7). In a contorted reprisal of Machiavelli's The Prince, Elmbrook megachurch's priest, proclaimed "to be powerful and not compassionate is not the righteous way, and it will leave you ethically in poverty. To be compassionate without power, you may be loved by all you know, but be unable to change their lives in any significant way". For the Franciscan, you can be close to good by knowing you are helping others in your work whatever that may be.
Friar Solanus Casey lived the most humble life you can imagine, but was canonized as a saint by Pope Alexander in 2000. Solanus never ate luxurious grand meals; he sustained himself on beans.
He did so because he believed that in enjoying your food, you worshiped it as the best part of your day. This brought you further from understanding Jesus as your holy leader in life. The Babel forbids worshiping false idols. In the Sermon on the Mount, it forbids worshiping your stock of cattle in hopes it is fruitful. Friar Solanus served as an example of American humility -a blue collar way to holiness-during his Wisconsin and Michigan service.
Insofar as, Friar Solanus story is one that the American with a dream can relate to. He was not able to become a high priest like he had dreamed of after his brother failed the same excursion. While in the Franciscan priest-ship, he did stellar work in reaching out to those in need, but in the tail end of his ordaining, his streamlined path was derailed. Scriptures must be read in their original intents and purposes, i.e. the language they are written in. Unable to learn German and Latin while parsing out the meaning of scripture, he accepted that it was not written for him to be a high priest.
He spent the rest of life working in the office of the church as a porter. When he turned 58 years old, St. Francis' standing priest was sick, and Friar Solanus was asked if he would like to do more for the church than offer kind words of encouragement to passerby. He humbly refused. He was living a completely fulfilled life, greeting those that came through the doors of Milwaukee and Detroit friar ships, listening to their gripes, and giving his take on how they can live closer to God.
{God often permits us to make temporal blunders in order to foster humility in our souls, so that in the sight of heaven we may be more amiable}
{Life her in the exile is so short and uncertain, that it seems to me it ought to have another name.{The great lesson God wants us to learn on our pilgrimage here is appreciation for life enternal He has waiting for us.}
{My pain was excruciating, and though I tried to thank God for it , my principal prayer was: "God Help Me!'}{We should make a virtue of earthly deprivations, by offering them all to our heavenly Father in union with Jesus, who said: "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."}
January 30, 2026
I have been interested in learning more of Solanus Casey’s story for a while now. He pops up frequently for me, so I decided to read up on him.
His story is very simple and reflective on the life of St. Francis, which I loved. I was not a huge fan of the writing style. To me it seemed repetitive. Three stars for this one.
His story is very simple and reflective on the life of St. Francis, which I loved. I was not a huge fan of the writing style. To me it seemed repetitive. Three stars for this one.
August 7, 2011
Easy reading on the life of Fr. Solanus Casey, OFM, Cap. (1870-1957). Served as a porter/sacristan in his monastery for fifty three years in the US and was declared "Venerable" by John Paul II in 1995.
November 19, 2015
Amazing life - amazing man! This little book is a gem - filled with short stories of Solanus' humility and love for God. Quick read but teaches great lessons on how a simple life can be so great...in what truly matters.
May 14, 2009
What a holy man. I would have loved to have met and talked with him.
October 1, 2021
St. Paul tells us "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8. It is always efficacious to read about the lives of the saints.
Fr. Solanus Casey is particularly inspiring. He did not travel as a missionary to foreign lands, or seek to do great works. Instead, he lived his life simply with only one goal: to please God.
His family produced a number of vocations. One of his brothers was a monsignor. His siblings were able to rise in prominence in their work within the Church, but none rose higher in God's eyes than this simple Capuchin who served most of his life as a porter - a doorkeeper - for his order. And how appropriate a position it was! He opened the doors of heaven for many by his example and by his simple advice.
As devoted as he was to God, and dedicated as he was to serving Him, he was not considered suitable for ordination. He wasn't the best of students, and was considered to be too intellectually lacking to be ordained. He was required, more than once, to write out his confession that he was unsuitable to be ordained a priest.
Despite this, he was eventually ordained. But he was ordained as a "simplex" priest. He did not have the privilege to hear confessions and to absolve sin because he was not quite bright enough. This was a handicap seen only by his superiors, however, and not by God, nor God's children whom he served. In fact, literally thousands came to seek him out for his prayer and for his simple advice. These people even included other holy men, such as Andre Bessette of Montreal, (now a canonized saint) who sought him out to receive his blessing.
God draws straight with crooked lines. He uses our weaknesses and our failings to proclaim His glory! Solanus Casey is now known as Blessed, but has never been raised to the altars of sainthood. Nonetheless, during his lifetime he worked miracles. Rather, he would have told you that God worked them, and he was a humble channel for them. He was a strong promoter of the Seraphic Mass Association, and saw many miracles worked through this organization and its prayers. Prayers for individuals, and groups and even a business on one occasion.
We should all take note of his humility and endeavor to follow in his simple footsteps and attempt to do right. We do not need to strive for greatness to have great works accomplished. We merely need to follow God's directions, and the world around us will be transformed.
Fr. Solanus Casey is particularly inspiring. He did not travel as a missionary to foreign lands, or seek to do great works. Instead, he lived his life simply with only one goal: to please God.
His family produced a number of vocations. One of his brothers was a monsignor. His siblings were able to rise in prominence in their work within the Church, but none rose higher in God's eyes than this simple Capuchin who served most of his life as a porter - a doorkeeper - for his order. And how appropriate a position it was! He opened the doors of heaven for many by his example and by his simple advice.
As devoted as he was to God, and dedicated as he was to serving Him, he was not considered suitable for ordination. He wasn't the best of students, and was considered to be too intellectually lacking to be ordained. He was required, more than once, to write out his confession that he was unsuitable to be ordained a priest.
Despite this, he was eventually ordained. But he was ordained as a "simplex" priest. He did not have the privilege to hear confessions and to absolve sin because he was not quite bright enough. This was a handicap seen only by his superiors, however, and not by God, nor God's children whom he served. In fact, literally thousands came to seek him out for his prayer and for his simple advice. These people even included other holy men, such as Andre Bessette of Montreal, (now a canonized saint) who sought him out to receive his blessing.
God draws straight with crooked lines. He uses our weaknesses and our failings to proclaim His glory! Solanus Casey is now known as Blessed, but has never been raised to the altars of sainthood. Nonetheless, during his lifetime he worked miracles. Rather, he would have told you that God worked them, and he was a humble channel for them. He was a strong promoter of the Seraphic Mass Association, and saw many miracles worked through this organization and its prayers. Prayers for individuals, and groups and even a business on one occasion.
We should all take note of his humility and endeavor to follow in his simple footsteps and attempt to do right. We do not need to strive for greatness to have great works accomplished. We merely need to follow God's directions, and the world around us will be transformed.
May 12, 2019
I was surprised and pleased to find this book on the shelf of my public library while shelf surfing. Solanus Casey has been appearing in my life in various ways recently. I'm blessed to live in metro-Detroit within driving distance of the Capuchin Monastery. He was just declared Venerable a couple years ago during a huge local mass at Ford Field. Many of my friends have been involved with his legacy for years and I'm coming late to the party. But I've made repeated trips out to the Fr. Solanus Casey Center in Detroit for the last few months for various reasons. The hourly confession schedule there is really convenient and awesome! And it does feel special to pray at his tomb.
Despite looking through the museum at the Solanus Casey Center, I learned a lot from reading this book. Details aren't told in strict chronological order, but it was a fascinating read. Wow. The miracles! It felt a bit like an Irish uncle spinning a fabulous tale and cherry-picking the best parts. The craziest thing about the book is that it is non-fiction. One man was the source of such humility and so many miracles. Or rather, he was the conduit and God was the source.
Reading this book inspired my faith journey and encouraged me to greater humility and acceptance with joy of the limitations in my life. Solanus Casey did not control his life as a Capuchin. And yet, Solanus Casey bloomed and served with joy and gusto wherever he was assigned. He sublimated his desires for God's holy will completely.
This was a short book, but not a quick read for me. I'm in the middle of 3 or 4 books right now and this was not always the first one I would pick up. It depended on my mood.
Despite looking through the museum at the Solanus Casey Center, I learned a lot from reading this book. Details aren't told in strict chronological order, but it was a fascinating read. Wow. The miracles! It felt a bit like an Irish uncle spinning a fabulous tale and cherry-picking the best parts. The craziest thing about the book is that it is non-fiction. One man was the source of such humility and so many miracles. Or rather, he was the conduit and God was the source.
Reading this book inspired my faith journey and encouraged me to greater humility and acceptance with joy of the limitations in my life. Solanus Casey did not control his life as a Capuchin. And yet, Solanus Casey bloomed and served with joy and gusto wherever he was assigned. He sublimated his desires for God's holy will completely.
This was a short book, but not a quick read for me. I'm in the middle of 3 or 4 books right now and this was not always the first one I would pick up. It depended on my mood.
August 10, 2019
A short little book about a great and holy man of God. A true inspiration to our time.
"Blessed be God in all His designs!"
"Blessed be God in all His designs!"
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews