F ORME D BY T H E C I T Y
“THE LORD HEARS THE
C RY O F T H E P O O R .”
Did the “gears of prayer” and encounter with Father Solanus
lead to healing of vice rector’s family member?
Fr. Stephen Burr
I
COULD NOT POSSIBLY COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES
THAT I’VE BEEN TO ST. BONAVENTURE MONASTERY IN
DETROIT. FROM THE MULTIPLE OCCASIONS OF GOING
TO MASS THERE AS A CHILD WITH MY FAMILY, TO THE
NUMBER OF TIMES I’VE PRAYED IN THE CHURCH, OR AT
FR. SOLANUS CASEY’S TOMB, AND RECEIVED ABSOLU-
TION IN THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION—THESE
TIMES OF GRACE ARE TOO MANY TO COUNT.
St. Bonaventure is a place I’ve always
felt comfortable, like walking into my
parents’ house. It’s a place where I could
experience Jesus Christ in a manner that
may have seemed elusive prior to entering
through the heavy wood doors.
I imagine that many local individuals
feel the same way that I do about St. Bo-
naventure Monastery. The Capuchin Fri-
ars are known for an “open door” policy.
All individuals are welcome, to be greeted
by Jesus Christ in the person of one of his
servants at this holy place.
Of course, this is true in all the mission-
ary endeavors of the Capuchins on the
eastside of the city and beyond. Neverthe-
less, those of us who have experienced the
welcome of the open door at St. Bonaven-
ture often attribute the welcoming to our
local saint, Venerable Fr. Solanus Casey,
who will soon be beatified as Blessed So-
lanus Casey.
HEALING RECALLED
Recently, I was fortunate to attend the
press conference that announced the up-
coming beatification of Fr. Solanus Casey.
It was another comforting moment in the
collection of blessings I’ve known from
God at St. Bonaventure as Archbishop
Allen Vigneron revealed the blessing for
the City of Detroit and all the people of
God. It was a beautiful gathering punctu-
ated with prayer, praise, gratitude, wonder,
and joy.
As another priest and I returned to our
seminary offices that day, he asked me if
I knew anyone who had been healed by
God through Father Solanus. He asked
knowing that I grew up on the eastside
of the city and that I come from a couple
generations of Eastsiders. Fortunately, his
question brought back a blessing that I
had forgotten being told as a child.
Indeed, I did know someone who was
healed in such a manner.
It was my grandmother.
GEARS OF PRAYER
My grandmother, Margaret Mary (Mc-
Namara) Burr, was healed after visiting Fa-
ther Solanus as a child. At the age of six or
seven years old, she was home from school
and not feeling well. To fill her time away
from her grade school, she played with
her china doll. That’s correct, a breakable
porcelain doll. The country wasn’t big on
warnings signs for choking hazards or dan-
gerous toys in those days.
While she was playing, the porcelain
broke and deeply gashed her hand. Her
parents took her to a doctor right away to
dress the wound. After a few days, my great-
grandparents noticed that their daughter’s
hand was not healing and returned to the
doctor’s office. The doctor informed them
that the wound was infected and, if it did
not improve soon, part of Margaret Mary’s
hand would need to be amputated. Thus,
being good Irish Catholics, the gears of
prayer snapped into action.
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