The Servant of God, Fr Andrea Santoro
Good news from my friends over at the Hagiographer's Circle, a great source of information on the Causes of those being proposed for sainthood (include it in your favourites!) . I see Fr Andrea Santoro, the priest murdered by a Muslim fundamentalist in Turkey following the Holy Father's talk in Regensburg, is on the road to beatification. At his funeral in Rome Cardinal Ruini said that he intended to open a Cause for the priest, whom he personally believed to be a martyr. Well, true to his word, the five year waiting period over, the Cause has been opened. We pray for a successful conclusion. May Fr Andrea pray for peace between Christians and Muslims and peace in the Middle East.
The Servant of God, Br Jean-Thierry, OCD, with his mother
on the day of his profession shortlt before his death
Our Order also has reason to rejoice. The Cause of one of our Carmelite brothers has also been opened: Br Jean-Thierry of the Child Jesus and of the Passion OCD, died in Milan in 2006 at the age of 23. I know nothing about him, so I must looking for information. For one so young and the Cause to be opened so soon, he must have been someone wonderful: here is his biography. It seems his mother was an incredible help in his progress towards sanctity. I note that he offered his death for a number of intentions including the sanctification of priests - may his offering be accepted by God and bear abundant fruit!
He writes in his spiritual journal: "Father comes back to the prison. He is all smiles and kind to everyone; they were all adults. Since I liked to go with my parents, I was there too. When our looks cross, Father Edy smiles at me: I feel like bursting from joy. Really, for me, the priest who always speaks to us about God must surely know Him better than other people. He must be, if not the image of God, then one of those who have the special grace of “seeing God” and speaking with Him. He is a symbol; in looking at him, I feel that I am seeing Jesus Himself, charming, handsome, dazzling, and especially, very appealing…"
All of this just goes to remind us that we are still living in the age of saints, so may that fact increase our hope and joy.
Fr Andrea and Br Jean-Thierry, pray for us!
Is the painting of St Geniseus based on the actor Robert Davi - he's the double of him.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteThe painting is not based on Robert Davi, though having done a google search I see that he is a little like him. But people have remarked he looks like others they know which is interesting. Perhaps he just has that recognisable look about him.
Now that you mention it, he's quite like Barack Obama
ReplyDelete