The legend of Blessed Stanley Rother continues to grow and spread, more than four decades after his death.
And the legend already loomed large, with Blessed Stanley becoming the first beatified American-born priest and martyr, and continuing as a beloved figure in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, where he was assassinated in 1981.
Still, interest, and interesting information, continues to emerge about the Oklahoma priest. The latest: a celebration at Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Oct. 4, where Blessed Stanley was recognized among a class of five Distinguished Alumni, having earned a bachelor’s degree in history at the school while serving his first assignment as priest at Saint William Catholic Church in Durant.
Blessed Stanley was accepted as a seminarian and sent to Assumption Seminary in San Antonio and completed his studies at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and ordained a priest on May 25, 1963. While serving the community at Saint William in Durant, he dedicated himself to completing a second degree, attained in 1965.
Father Donald Wolf, Blessed Stanley’s second cousin, delivered the address at Southeastern’s Legacy Speaker Series, in honor of his cousin.
“I am privileged to be here because of this connection to him,” Father Wolf told those gathered. “It is one that came to me unearned and indisputable, which I am quite grateful for. I like to speak about Blessed Stanley and about his extraordinary life and the example he left for all of us.
“And now that we have a chance to honor the legacy of his life and his connection to this university, it is all the more an honor to speak to you all.”
Father Wolf was among a group of representatives and family from the archdiocese to travel to Durant for the Distinguished Alumni Awards Banquet. He also celebrated Mass the following morning at Saint William.
In his speech, Father Wolf emphasized the shared connection between study and work, particularly for Blessed Stanley.
“Perhaps in most recognition of people who pass from the university into the hallways of life, he is not celebrated for his contribution to a life of letters or because of his contribution to the sum of knowledge in the world,” he said, “but the character he demonstrated and the willingness to throw himself into the contest of the world as he left Southeastern State and lived out the rest of his life.
“One purpose of education is to imprint the character, to stamp character onto the raw material of a person’s life so that, come what may, that person shapes the world of action in the form of what he has received. To celebrate his life for what it was, we should then spend less time on the sum of what he learned while he was here and more time on that which he did as a result of this time and study here.
“It was that which he accomplished by his preparations here that has shaped the world. This is what we are to notice.”
John Helsley is editor of the Sooner Catholic.
Fr. Donald Wolf, Bl. Stanley Rother’s second cousin, delivered the address at Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s Legacy Speaker Series, in honor of his cousin. Photo provided.