My first picture book – Someday Saints: America’s Blesseds, Venerables & Servants of God – is nearly ready! The Imprimatur is granted, but there’s a few illustrations to tweak, endorsements to gather, and formatting decisions to make. This has been a very challenging project for me, especially since I’m also illustrating it.
This storybook is inspired by several visits to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In the crypt of the Shrine church, there are three displays honoring the missionary work of Blessed Solanus Casey, Venerable Bishop Baraga, and Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli. Their virtuous lives and love for God and his Church, impacted the area around the Great Lakes, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and beyond.
Each one had tremendous faith in God’s call, living and loving heroically, traveling to new places, meeting people, and sharing the faith through encouraging words, faithful prayer and hard work.
Solanus Casey, a hardworking Wisconsin farm boy, worked as a lumberman, prison guard and streetcar operator, before discerning his call to the priesthood. He joined the Capuchins and became door keeper. With a joyful heart and a listening ear, he shared spiritual counsel and genuine friendship with his visitors, becoming so popular that people flooded the friary to talk with him.
The line outside the door seemed to have no end, and the Brothers, having their own work to do, became annoyed with the doorbell’s incessant ringing. A sign was finally posted on the door that simply read “Walk In.” My story, Walk in, The Door is Open, tells of his childhood and vocational call, his challenges and ministry which took him to Detroit, Harlem, and New York City. In May, 2017, Solanus was named Blessed by Pope Francis.
Frederic Baraga left his homeland and ventured to America using any and every mode of transportation available to him. Frederic’s Feet: The Missionary Travels of Bishop Baraga, tells his story. He studied law before following the call to the priesthood, coming to North America in 1830, and bringing the Gospel to the Native peoples. For many years, he was the only priest for hundreds of miles.
One winter season he trekked 690 miles on snowshoes, earning his nickname “The Snowshoe Priest.” He spoke several different European languages and mastered the “Anishinaabe” language of the Ottawa, published a prayer book in that language, along with a grammar and dictionary in the Chippewa language. Baraga, becoming Bishop in 1853, was treasured by the Native people for his honesty and simplicity, respected by the white man for his grit and self-mastery, and remains as a model for all Christian men. In 2012 he was declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI.
Samuel Mazzuchelli, born to a wealthy family in Italy, dreamed of being a Dominican priest. When Bishop Edward Fenwick of Cincinnati, Ohio, came to Rome looking for priests for his wilderness territory, Samuel eagerly set out for America. He was ordained in Cincinnati in 1830, before going to Mackinac, Green Bay, Sault Ste Marie and beyond. He designed and helped construct church buildings and established schools.
His missionary work stretched through Wisconsin, reaching into Illinois and Iowa. As his good friend Fr. Baraga had done, Samuel wrote for the Indian natives, publishing prayer books, a liturgical almanac, and translating the New Testament and schoolbooks for them. He spoke at Wisconsin’s first legislative session, and wrote to President Andrew Jackson, defending the rights of the Native people. He was a true friend to Native Americans and European immigrants, in time being affectionately nicknamed “Matthew Kelly” by the Irish lead ore miners in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and one day, while traveling with some of the Sisters, he had a vision of her. He was proclaimed Venerable by Saint Pope John Paul II in 1993.
Researching and writing about these someday saints has inspired a series. The second one is in the works!
