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Past Grand Knight Russell Kreinbring volunteers twice a week at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, which Father Solanus helped establish in 1929 to feed the hungry during the Great Depression. “It’s a thankful place to work. You’re giving back to the community, as Father Solanus did,” said Kreinbring, whose wife, Paula, volunteers at Capuchins’ food distribution warehouse. The Casey family itself has a deep connection to the Knights: Father Solanus’ father and all nine of his brothers were members of the Order. Father Solanus was strongly committed to the principles of charity, unity and fraternity, but as a Franciscan, he was not permitted to join lay societies. Two of his brothers, Patrick and Thomas, were charter members of Council 676 in Seattle, where much of the Casey family relocated during the war years. Two of his brothers also became priests, including Msgr. Edward Casey, who served as a missionary in the Philippines.
Writing in 1947 to his brother Patrick, who was recovering from an illness at the time, Father Solanus said, “Do not worry, Pat. Rather foster confidence in God’s mercy by thanking Him for everything — even ahead of time.” For Father Solanus, “thanking God ahead of time” — another saying for which he became well-known — was part of what it meant to be a humble instrument of the Lord. That message continues to resonate in Detroit as the city prepares for the beatification of its beloved friar. “We are so grateful that because of this beatification, the Gospel of Jesus Christ — and the freedom he alone offers — will be proclaimed all the louder through Father Solanus,” stated Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit, a member of Father Solanus Casey Assembly 521 in Roseville, Mich. “Let us, like Father Solanus, thank God ahead of time for all of these graces!”♦ MIKE STECHSCHULTE is managing editor of The Michigan Catholic, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Detroit. NOVEMBER 2017
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