• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Parishioners of St. Ambrose in Baltimore honored Blessed Solanus Casey during a special Mass Nov. 26. (Emily Rosenthal/CR Staff)

Capuchin Franciscans honor Blessed Solanus Casey in Baltimore

November 28, 2017
By Emily Rosenthal Alster
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Urban Vicariate

Eight days after Father Solanus Casey was beatified in Detroit, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori celebrated a Mass honoring the Capuchin Franciscan Friar at St. Ambrose in Park Heights Nov. 26.

Dancers in the Cameroonian Sodality of the Blessed Virgin participate in a Gospel procession at a Mass to honor Father Solanus Casey Nov. 26 at St. Ambrose in Park Heights. (Emily Rosenthal/CR Staff)

Capuchin Franciscan Father Paul Zaborowski is pastor of St. Ambrose, which is home to a Capuchin friary. He said that he and his brothers put themselves “in the midst of the most needy,” aligning with their founder, St. Francis.

The Capuchins who serve in Maryland are of the Province of St. Augustine, which serves Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, the District of Columbia and Maryland, with missions in Puerto Rico, Papua New Guinea and Cuba.

The history of the province dates back to three Capuchin Friars who came to Pittsburgh in 1873, fleeing persecution in Germany. Within three years, they began to minister in Cumberland, where they maintain a strong presence serving Our Lady of the Mountains Parish.

While serving those in need is a top priority to the Capuchin Franciscans, their primary charism is fraternity and coming together as a community.

The four friars residing at St. Ambrose minister throughout Baltimore in many different ways – including health care, parish ministry and archdiocesan work – but, according to Father Zaborowski, they all come back together, similar to a family, at the end of the day.

“(Our goal is) to show that people who are not connected in any (other) way can be connected through faith,” Father Zaborowski said.

On the feast of Christ the King, the Mass at St. Ambrose attracted other Capuchin Friars, several friars in formation at the Capuchin College in Washington, D.C., and religious women, all to honor Father Casey.

Born in Wisconsin in 1870, he entered the Capuchin Friars in Detroit in the 1890s. Due to a language barrier – most Capuchin classes were taught in German – Father Casey struggled with his studies. When he was finally ordained, he was not allowed to preach or hear confessions.

Archbishop William E. Lori accepts offertory gifts during a Nov. 26 Mass at St. Ambrose in Park Heights. (Emily Rosenthal/CR Staff)

He was assigned to St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit as a doorman, receiving visitors. He would talk with the visitors, and pray for them.

“What he did was listen,” said Father Zaborowski, what he described as a lost art today, despite modern communication technologies. “There’s so much about him that today we need to understand and cherish.”

Multiple healings and miracles are attributed to the prayer of Father Casey, and to his intercession after his death in 1957.

“He was deeply in love with Jesus, and as a result, he was kind to every person that he met,” Archbishop Lori said. “Every person that walked through the doors of that monastery mattered to Father Solanus. …

“He was poor in spirit, meek and mild, clean of heart, a man who hungered for holiness and a priest who knew suffering in his own life. And so, he loved like Jesus loved. And in God’s grace, Father Solanus extended the healing touch of Jesus Christ to everyone that he met.”

Gerald Brown, 17, a parishioner of St. Ambrose from Randallstown, enacts a dramatization of Father Solanus Casey’s life during a Nov. 26 Mass at St. Ambrose in Park Heights. (Emily Rosenthal/CR Staff)

Before the Mass ended, a dramatization of Father Casey’s life was performed by Gerald Brown, 17, who researched and wrote the piece. A parishioner of St. Ambrose, Brown is a student at George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, where he studies carpentry.

In his portrayal, Brown summed up Father Casey’s quiet, yet powerful, life: “Not everyone, not everything, was meant to be big.”

 

To learn more about Father Solanus Casey, listen to the Catholic Baltimore radio show here.

Email Emily Rosenthal at erosenthal@CatholicReview.org

 

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Emily Rosenthal Alster

Emily Rosenthal Alster, a former staff writer for the Catholic Review, is a contributing writer. She is a lifelong resident of Maryland and a parishioner of St. John in Westminster.

Emily is a graduate of Delone Catholic High School in McSherrystown, Pa. She holds a bachelor's degree in business communication from Stevenson University.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

Latest Local News

New triptych icon has origins in Archdiocese of Baltimore

Sister Bernadette Wilson, L.S.P., dies at 71

RADIO INTERVIEW: Solemnity of the Assumption/World Youth Day

Baltimore-area groups awarded $356,000 in CCHD grants, speak of togetherness

Anna’s Gift Foundation helps hope bloom for hospitalized children

Latest World News

Digital world leaves some ‘hyperconnected and alone,’ Vatican official says

LCWR president outlines ‘map-shaping’ concepts for future of religious life

Principal calls vandalism at Catholic school in Washington ‘a hate crime’

Pope: Mary teaches primacy of humility over power, success

Pope warns Somalia at risk of famine, appeals for aid

Catholic Review Radio

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • God spoke to me through my espresso
  • ‘Do not worry about tomorrow’
  • Digital world leaves some ‘hyperconnected and alone,’ Vatican official says
  • ‘Esclavos y Reyes’ muestra la vida española de un santo en el siglo XIX
  • New triptych icon has origins in Archdiocese of Baltimore
  • LCWR president outlines ‘map-shaping’ concepts for future of religious life
  • Movie Review: ‘Slaves and Kings’ looks at life of 19th-century Spanish saint
  • Principal calls vandalism at Catholic school in Washington ‘a hate crime’
  • Más allá de la frontera, la espera para reunificación familiar es larga

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2022 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED