Much of this is a repetition of what I have written in the past. Howver, this year I wantd to add some of the items that never get to become a complete post. Happy Feast Days…
This Saturday is “All Hallows Eve” and Sunday, November 1st, is the Feast of All Saints. There is a good reason why it is a Holy Day of Obligation, even though, this year it isn’t since it falls on a Sunday.
In this modern world it seems as though the torch has been passed to a new generation. By that I mean that , for example, when it comes to the saints, people are more interested in a Gen-Z saint than an early 19th-century bishop. In a nun who died 20-plus years ago, than another 19th century religious. Unfortunately the process of canonizing a saint is expensive. Thus, some of those on track for 
canonization are not only there becasue of their holiness, but because there is a great deal of money behind them. That is NOT to say that these “saints” lack holiness. It does tell us what the world is about today when it comes to canonization.
All that being said, we are at the point where those who WE think should be canonized perhaps may never be, and that is okay. It is important that we venerate those who inspire us the most. As for this site, we honor those who served the early Church in Indiana. That includes Mother Theodore Guerin, our own Indiana saint. It includes the first bishop of our diocese, Servant of God, Simon Gabriel Brute, who may never be canonized, but who can still be venerated privately. Here are some links to some early 20th century articles about how Bishop Brute was a leading candidate for canonization, both in the century afer his death and in the last 20 years. The first is from the Cincinnati “Catholic Telegraph” dated 21 October 1909. The second article is from Our Sunday Visitor, dated 12 November 2006
Of course, time changes many things, but there were people in the early days of the Indiana Church who would be considered martyrs of charity, but who also will never be canonized. It includes a multitude of members of the so-called “laity” who sacrificed their lives in their tireless efforts to bring the Catholic faith to the Indiana wilderness. Canonization is a public declaration of the holiness of an individual. Obviously that person’s humility would probably preclude any “desire” to be publicly venerated. The opposite would be the same. I don’t think Simon Brute or Benjamin Petit, or John Plunket or any other early 19th century Catholic could care less if they were canonized.
So, celebrate this Feast of All Saints and All Souls in the best way you can. Honor all of them.
Here is a prayer from the lovely prayerbook The Rural Life Prayerbook, written and compiled by Alban J. Dachauer, S.J. and printed by the National Catholic Rural Life Conference in 1956.
Prayer:
TODAY, dear friends in heaven, we celebrate your feast. We celebrate again the feasts of all the saints we know, and whom we honor day by day through the year. But we also honor today all the saints in heaven whom we do not know. We can not help thinking, on this day, that no one of us lacks a model to follow in one of you. We look around us at the familiar persons and things and activities that fill our every day lives, and we find that they are little different from the persons, things, and activities that filled your lives. We have the same human nature, wounded by the sin of Adam and Eve, but strengthened marvelously by grace, and fed and sanctified by the sacraments and prayer. We have exactly the same sacraments that you had, we have the same Christ, the same Blessed Mother, the same trials, sickness, pain, temptation, the same joys, pleasures, and happiness that crowded your lives. Then it must be true that, with the same means, we should be able to work out our lives in the same holiness and sanctity as yours, dear saints. Help us to do this. Help us to see the opportunities for holiness that fill our everyday lives. Obtain for us, by your prayers, the deep understanding and appreciation of spiritual things that were yours. Help us to see, too, in the beauty of the world in which we live, some slight mirroring of the eternal beauty which you now see, as you gaze on God. But let us not be deceived into thinking that this earthly beauty, this worldly pleasure, is an end in itself. Let us use it wisely and moderately, our hearts always yearning to come at last to the final beauty and joy, the possession of God Himself, with you, in heaven. Amen 1
Lastly, here are some links to some people who truly are “saints” even if they don’t meet the canonical definition. Many of them could easily be considered martyrs of charity. They are especially remembered for their part in the building up of the Church in Indiana:
Servant of God, Simon Brute – First Bishop of Vincennes
St. Mother Theodore Guerin – Indiana’s first “Canonized” Saint
Simon Lalumiere – Born in 1804
Anthony Deydier – Brutés “late” vocation
Jean Stephen Bazin – 3rd Bishop of Vincennes
Stanislaus Buteux – Early missionary in Terre Haute
Vincent Bacquelin – Served Shelbyville and Indianapolis
John Plunket – Served Joliet Illinois and the Canal in that area.
Julian Benoit – Early missionary and Vicar General of Fort Wayne
Br. Columba O’Neill CSC- Holy Cross Brother.
Mother Theresa Hackelmeier – Oldenburg Franciscans
August Bessonies – Early Pioneer Priest
Joseph Chatrand – Bishop of Indianapolis and Cincinnati (almost)
John Corbe – Chaplain of the Sisters of Providence
John Chasse – Pioneer Priest
Francis Chatard – Bishop for 40 years
Hippolyte Dupontavice – First Priest of Hailandiere
Martin Marty – First Abbot at St. Meinrad
Joseph Ferneding – Pioneer Priest
Celestin de la Hailandiere – Second Bishop of Vincennes
Joseph Kundek – Brought Benedictines to Indiana
Fintan Mundweiler – Early Benedictine leader
Benjamin Petit – Trail of Death martyr of charity
Nicholas Petit S.J. – Brutés choice for Bishop
Maurice de St. Palais – Fourth Bishop of Vincennes
Michael Edgar Shawe – Madison pastor
Roman Weinzapfel – Persecuted Priest
What is the point? Learn about the history of the local Church in Indiana. Remember those who have gone before us and emulate them!
- Prayer Source: Rural Life Prayerbook by Alban J. Dachauer, S.J., National Catholic Rural Life Conference, 4625 Beaver Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50310 ncrlc.com, 1956[↩]
