Fr. Solanus Casey prays at a shrine to Our Lady of Sorrows in this file photo. It was during a novena to the Blessed Mother in 1897 that Fr. Solanus, an older ex-seminarian, first heard the call to “go to Detroit,” the headquarters of the Midwest Capuchins. (Photos courtesy of the Solanus Casey Center)The trip from Superior, Wis., to Detroit was two and a half days by train, but Barney Casey’s path to the Capuchin monastery took much longer than that — six years longer, in fact.
It was in 1891 that Barney had first enrolled in St. Francis Seminary, the diocesan seminary of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The German-speaking institution was a culture shock at first — part monastery, part college and part boot camp — with structured times for prayer, study and meals.
For the Irish country boy, the German and Latin languages in which courses had been taught provided the biggest challenge, which was compounded by his recurrent quinsy sore throat — a remnant of the diphtheria he suffered as a child.
As a result of his academic difficulties, the seminary superiors had informed the future Fr. Solanus — already an older vocation at that point — that it might not be advisable for him to continue his path toward the diocesan priesthood.
“He spent five years at the diocesan seminary, and after the five years it was discerned that perhaps he didn’t have a vocation there, but that he might look into some religious community — not necessarily to go on to priesthood, but maybe just to be one of the community members as a brother,” said Bro. Richard Merling, OFM Cap., co-vice postulator for Fr. Solanus’ sainthood cause.
Never one to disregard his superiors’ guidance, he did just that, writing to various communities, including the Capuchins in Detroit, who invited him to investigate their way of life.
Though he wasn’t particularly drawn to monastic life at first, he nevertheless turned to the woman whose advice had never let him down, beginning a novena to the Virgin Mary for direction in December 1897.
“He started nine days prior to the feast of the Immaculate Conception,” Bro. Merling said. “On the ninth day of the novena, he attended Mass and had the feeling that the Blessed Mother spoke to him and gave him a direction to come to Detroit. That’s where those clear words came from, ‘Go to Detroit.’”
Wasting no time, Barney Casey immediately set out for Michigan on Dec. 22, against the gentle objection of his mother and sisters, who didn’t understand his stubborn insistence on leaving right before Christmas.
“He was a man of a single-mindedness, to a certain extent,” Bro. Merling said. “If there was a particular direction (to which he felt called), he would trust in God and go for it.”
If it was said years later that Fr. Solanus had a particular devotion to the Christ Child — friars would often find him singing and playing his violin for the newborn king lying in the manger in St. Bonaventure — such a devotion may have been sparked in part by his first night with the Capuchins.
Fr. Solanus Casey, OFM Cap., plays volleyball with his fellow friars in Detroit in this 1926 photo. As a young friar — and even as an older one — Fr. Solanus was known for his outgoing personality, finding joy in everyday activities and community life with his fellow Capuchins.Arriving around 6 o’clock in the evening on Christmas Eve, the friars gave him something to eat and a room to set down his things and rest. Exhausted from the long journey, he quickly fell asleep.
His slumber didn’t last long.
“When it came closer to midnight, it was a tradition that the friars would get up and sing Christmas carols and march on down the hallway,” Bro. Merling said. “When they came to his room, he was awakened to this great melodious sound of the friars singing Christmas carols.”
Bleary-eyed but filled with wonder, “he went out into the hallway and joined their singing. From then on, he just knew that this was his place to be.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
Such an infectious spirit of community quickly grew on “Brother Solanus” — the religious name he was given three weeks later at his investiture, after the 16th century Spanish Franciscan missionary, St. Francis Solanus.
The namesake fit in three ways, wrote James Patrick Derum in his 1968 biography, "The Porter of St. Bonaventure": Brother Solanus and St. Solanus shared a difficulty with languages, a tireless effort to master the violin and an unwavering dedication to God’s people.
“Here,” however, “the similarities ended,” Derum wrote. The latter — a Spanish nobleman, intellectual, skilled preacher and successful missionary — would go on to heroically risk his life in the jungles of South America, evangelizing native tribes and embarking on countless missionary adventures.
The former would spend the rest of his 60-year ministry behind a desk, never to preach a single doctrinal sermon or hear a single confession.
It was only by the mysterious providence of God that, in the end, both would become saints.
The Life of Fr. Solanus Casey
This article is the first of six about the life and ministry of Fr. Solanus Casey.
- Irish immigrant family instilled virtue, love of God in young Fr. Solanus
- A struggling student heeds a woman’s advice: ‘Go to Detroit’
- A ‘simple’ friar meets people where they are: at the monastery doors
- God sends a healing prophet: Fr. Solanus and the power of the Mass
- For Fr. Solanus, Jesus and the saints were a powerful combination
- Fr. Solanus’ last days: An ‘aura of holiness’ and suffering lifted to God
