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September 13, 2018On Sept. 23, 2017, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, celebrated the Rite of Beatification for Blessed Stanley Rother during a Beatification Mass in downtown Oklahoma City. Blessed Stanley Rother is the first martyr for the United States and the first U.S.-born priest to be beatified.
Blessed Stanley Rother is one step away from being canonized and officially recognized as a saint worthy of universal veneration within the Catholic Church.
The Church’s canonization process is complex and thorough. The Church has official procedures toward declaring sainthood: a candidate becomes “venerable,” then “blessed,” then “saint.”
Because Blessed Stanley was declared a martyr, only one verifiable miracle is needed to declare him a saint.
Deacon Norman Mejstrik is director of the Office for the Cause of Canonization of Blessed Stanley Rother. He said his office has received several reports of favors, which have been reviewed and documented.
The most common type of favor is medical since it is easier to document. There is typically a diagnosis, then a prognosis and some type of therapy. After there has been an effort to cure the patient without success, a favor is asked through intercession that leads to the patient being cured.
“A cure is considered complete if it is lasting and inexplicable by all scientific means,” Mejstrik said. “There must be no medical explanation why the person was cured.”
Mejstrik encouraged anyone who has prayed for the intercession of Blessed Stanley Rother and received a favor to report it to his office or online.
“If it appears to be of interest, we collect physician statements that testify that there is no medial explanation. We collect medical records, tests and anything else needed,” he said.
Reports of miracles are first reviewed locally by doctors, then theologically by the archdiocese. If they are deemed to fit the requirements, the archdiocese submits the favor to Rome, where a panel studies the materials and written reports.
Archbishop Coakley asked the faithful to pray for Blessed Stanley’s intercession. Prayer cards are available in English and Spanish through the Cause office or at the Blessed Stanley Rother Gift Shop at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Oklahoma City.
Eliana Tedrow is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Report favors online at blessedstanleyrother.org or contact the Office of the Cause of Canonization of Bl. Stanley Rother at (405) 721-5651.
