But as Easter approached, he wanted to spend Holy Week with his people in Guatemala. Pauline Jaricot, who will be beatified May 22, founded the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Reproduction of material from this website without written permission, or unlicensed commercial use or ], As tensions flared in Guatemala during the countrys civil war and his indigenous congregation supported liberal rebels, Rother found himself placed on a death list. For Father Rother this meant leaving his family and friends, everything that was familiar, and coming to Guatemala. But no men born in the United States have been declared saintsyet. Although no concrete miracle has yet to be floated for Rother, devotees will be invited to submit their examples to the local diocese where an alleged miracle has occurred to be considered in a rigorously vetted process that includes scientific and theological commissions. Captain Americas Chris Evans also shared a heartfelt message: There will never be another Stan Lee. Many feel that it is only a matter of time until these two men are canonized. His calling to the priesthood and missionary service led him to Guatemala where he would give his life for his people. He, too, was aware of his situation, but as Scaperlanda so deliberately makes clear, his attitude was that a good shepherd does not run and desert his flock. Final months and murder Within the last year of his life, Rother saw the radio station destroyed and its director murdered. Before his body was exhumed, his family led a prayerful procession to the gravesite. [Do you know what separates Protestants and Catholics? Pope Francis declared Stanley Rother a martyr on December 2, 2016. Shortly before his death, Father Rother returned to Oklahoma to see his family, the bishop, and his friends. I owe it all to you he wrote alongside an Instagram picture with the comic book writer. After serving in his local diocese for five years, Fr. We spoke briefly. Though his body was buried in Okarche, Father Rothers heart was enshrined in the church of Santiago Atitlan where he served. Rother witnessed the assassination of a number of his parishioners, including the parish deacon. Excelsior!!. It is based on the following readings: Isaiah 61:1-3a, Psalm 23, 1 Peter 4:12-19 and Matthew 13:44-46. Catholic Church. Despite a strong calling, Rother would struggle in the seminary, failing several classes and even out of one seminary before graduating from Mount St. Mary's in Maryland. He served the native tribe of the Tzutujil, who are decedents of the Mayans. Rother returned to Atitln to be with his people. He taught parishioners to read and write, helped them farm, and founded a hospital, a school and a radio station. While there are other male saints identified as Americans given that they served in the U.S., they were all transplants born elsewhere: St. John Neumann was born in Bohemia (in what is now the Czech Republic), St. Damien de Veuster of Molokai was born in Belgium, St. Junipero Serra was born in Spain, Isaac Jogues was born in France. They wished to disappear him, but he refused. Stanley Rother during a carnival in Guatemala. He celebrated Mass in their language and helped translate the New Testament. Pope Franciss declaration of martyrdom the next year certainly didnt hurt. Lee was rushed by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from his Hollywood Hills home and died shortly after. His real passion was for action and service in the name of Christ, and he developed a fondness for Hispanic culture. Where Was Ticket To Paradise On Amazon Prime Filmed? In Father Rother's mind, you were a treasure worth dying for. Fifteen minutes and two gunshots later, Father Stanley was dead, and the men fled the mission grounds. He was 46. He stayed with me until I found a family in the parish with whom he could live. Select any of the newsletters below, then enter your email address and click "subscribe", Stories of climate, crisis, faith and action, Mission and ministry of Catholic women religious around the world, Help us deliver independent, lay-led Catholic journalism. But he stuck with his flock in their most difficult times, and todays priests are called to do the same thing.. At 1:30 a.m. on July 28, 1981, Father Rother was shot twice in the head after three masked men broke into the church rectory. In 2007, his Cause for Canonization was opened. And nothing pointed to the possibility of Father Rother being someday declared a martyr for the faith. The Rev. 15 Cant-Miss Deals That Could Sell Out This Weekend. On Dec. 1, 2016, Pope Francis officially recognized Father Rother as a martyr for the faith. Tighten D.C.s traffic rules and enforce them, Youngkin takes vital resources away from LGBTQ+ youth again. But Father stood strongly on the side of his people and justice. I met him when he returned to Oklahoma for the ordination of his cousin, Don Wolf, on May 16, 1981, a little more than two months before his death. He was beatified in Oklahoma City on September 23, 2017. From all of this, I think I know Father Rother pretty well and I can tell you, using the images in today's Gospel, that Father Rother found his treasure buried in a field by Lake Atitln and he sold everything he had to buy that field. The Rev. Aftermidnighton June 28, 1981, three masked gunmen broke into the rectory and shot him twice once in the jaw and another time in the left temple. His corpse was flown to Oklahoma to be buried in Okarches Holy Trinity Cemetery, and his heart was removed and buried under the altar of his Tzutujil church. In 1968, Reverend Stanley Rother was sent to a poor region in southwestern Guatemala to serve mission at Santiago Atitln. He demonstrated such sacrificial love and selfless service. Give a Gift SubscriptionBless friends, family or clergy with a gift of the Register. The Salve Regina was sung as the casket was re-interred, and a prayer service followed. (March 27, 1935 - July 28, 1981) Blessed Stanley Rother's Story On May 25, 1963, Stanley Francis Rother, a farmer's son from Okarche, Oklahoma, was ordained for his home diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa. Whats The Neuroscience Behind How Travelers Choose A Destination? Stanley's home. At that time, there were those who sought to find treasure in the bloody field of war against the government and others in the bloody field of military repression and even genocide, but there was no treasure to be found in those fields only hatred, fear and destruction. In 1968, while serving at Corpus Christi parish in Oklahoma City, Father Rother opted to volunteer for the diocesan mission to the Tzutujil people located in Santiago Atitln, Guatemala. If Rother is canonized, he will be the first American born male saint. Many men and women have served the peoples of the United States and have been declared saints by the Catholic Church. In 1968, Reverend Stanley Rother was sent to a poor region in southwestern Guatemala to serve mission at Santiago Atitln. Father Rothers cause for beatification was opened in 2007, and his martyrdom was recognized by the Vatican in December 2016, which cleared the way for his beatification. Renew or manage your subscription here. Rother to death. In death, the Rev. As such, his support for Rothers canonization would be poetic justice, said KathleenSprows Cummings, director of Notre Dames CushwaCenter for the Study of American Catholicism and the author of Citizen Saints: Catholics and Canonization in America, forthcoming from the University of North Carolina Press. Among the candidates is the priest who hid the body of St. Isidore so that it would not be desecrated. A little over two weeks after the world began to grieve the death of the legendary Stan Lee, his cause of death has been made public: heart and respiratory failure. Shark Week: Researchers Say Fatal 1640 Maryland Attack Possesses Deeper Catholic Context, Holy Ring: The Wedding Band of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In preparation for his beatification, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City reinterred his body at Resurrection Cemetery in Oklahoma City, but his actual heart remains in Latin America where he served. Though he briefly returned to Oklahoma in 1981, he operated with an unwavering mindset amid the danger: A shepherd cannot run from his flock.. Where Was Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Filmed? Pictures of Father Rother witness to his sizeat 511he towered over the members of his parishand to his light complexionnoticeable among his dark-skinned parishioners. And it is a treasure that like Father Rother we too must be willing to sacrifice everything to acquire. Part of the a360media Entertainment Group. Greg Schaffer were astonished by the blood appearing seemingly unchanged from the day they first placed the heart in the box ten years earlier. His calling to the priesthood and missionary service led him to Guatemala where he would give his life for his people. And shortly thereafter, at 1:30 a.m. on July 28, 1981 three thugs broke into his rectory and, after beating him, shot him twice in the head. print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the In 1960, Pope John XXIII began deploying U.S parishes to Latin America. Copyright 2023 Diocese of Little Rock Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma, Mara Ruiz Scaperlanda lovingly relates the life and work of Father Rother from his childhood through the events of his martyrdom and funeral in 1981 at the young age of 46. During the beatification Mass, an apostolic letter will declare Rother to have earned the honorific blessed, and church leaders will acknowledge a feast day dedicated to him on the liturgical calendar in Oklahoma. To single out an individual for his or her holiness and service builds up the entire community of faith. When he wasnt helping on the farm, a young Rother attended Holy Trinity Church and school. Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily while on a pilgrimage to Guatemala to mark the 35th anniversary of death of servant of God Father Stanley Rother in Cerro de Oro on Wednesday, July 27, 2016. As it also should be for us, even though for you and me this may mean something else. Malnourished indigenous peasants worked tirelessly for an unlivable income right beside what is still now considered to be one of the most incredible lakes in the world. It will be said by Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and concelebrated by Archbishop Coakley. Well, Im sure that he would be embarrassed by all the attention he is receiving as his beatification takes place. Hailing from Minnesota, Allison is a vegetarian, meditating yogi who practices a conscious lifestyle. His beloved parishioners mourned him repeatedly crying, They have killed our priest.. In August 2010, I wrote a story about Oklahoma archdiocesan priest Stanley Rother, who was murdered in Guatemala in 1981. About four years after Rothers death, a fellow priest from Oklahoma, Rev. In other words, the only treasure available is in the field of the Kingdom of God, for which Father Rother gave his life. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Customer Service:cservice @franciscanmedia.org, Technical Questions:support @franciscanmedia.org, Writers GuidelinesPrivacy PolicyPost a Prayer RequestDonor Portal. The faithful ministry of Father Stanley Rother, even to the point of death, compelled the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City to establish a committee for the cause of his sainthood in 2007. The bishop saw potential in Stanley, which inspired him to put in a good word for him at Mount Saint Marys Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD. And so, he did. After Rother was ordained a priest in 1963 in Oklahoma, he moved to Guatemala in 1968 to serve the Tzutujil community in Santiago Atitln from 1968 until 1981, when he was murdered at 46 years old in an attack attributed to right-wing extremists from the countrys paramilitary units. His journey from farm boy to clergyman was an unlikely one. As I got back in the rectory I got a cramp in my back from the anger I felt that this friend was being taken off to be tortured for a day or two and then brutally murdered for wanting a better life and more justice for his pueblo., He added, That makes 11 members of this community that have been kidnapped and buried here.. A sick person who asks for Rothers intercession and recovers from a seemingly fatal disease in a manner that cant be attributed to medical science, natural causes, or another saint or servant of God would constitute such a miracle. (501) 664-0340, Official Website of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, Catholic Prayers, Practices and Devotions, Saturday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle II. Having flunked out of the area seminary due to his difficulty with Latin, Fr. The only treasure available is in the field of justice and peace, in the field of respect and mercy, in the field of forgiveness, reconciliation and if necessary non-violent resistance to evil. Pope Franciss past shortcomings in Latin America may also make him more enthusiastic about Rothers cause. Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Early on the morning of May 10, the remains of Father Stanley F. Rother were exhumed from Holy Trinity Cemetery in Okarche and transported to Oklahoma City. The determination of martyrdom was a critical step in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's Cause to have Father Rother beatified, the final stage before canonization as a saint. But he was extraordinarily faithful to what he perceived to be Gods will for his life and Gods plan. But he refused to abandon his flock, writing in a 1980 letter, "The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.". To share in this kingdom, we have to respond with all our heart and soul, with everything we have and are. The body of Father Rother, who served as a priest in Guatemala, was taken from Holy Trinity Cemetery in his hometown of Okarche to the chapel at Resurrection Cemetery in Oklahoma City. It wouldnt be known until much later when war documents resurfaced that revealed just how much the U.S. was involved in the war. Thinking that that decision was the end of his dream of becoming a priest, Stanley agreed to meet with his local bishop, Victor Reed. The committee for the cause of canonization began working on the 25th anniversary of Rother's death, and this year for the 30th anniversary a group from Arkansas and Oklahoma made a pilgrimage to Santiago Atitlan.
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