They Walked with God

Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes, France in 1844. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette eighteen times at the Grotto in Massabielle. When Bernadette was twenty-two years old, she entered the Sisters of Charity Religious Order in Nevers, France. To this day, Lourdes remains one of the greatest healing centers in the world.

At the Capuchin monastery in Detroit, Michigan, Father Solanus Casey (1870-1957) was given the job of doorkeeper. It was as doorkeeper that his amazing spiritual gifts came to be known and recognized. He was known for his remarkable abilities as a spiritual counselor, as well as for his great concern for the sick, to whom he directed his attention and his prayers. Countless people were healed by his touch.

Brother André Bessette served as a lay brother in the Congregation of the Holy Cross in Montreal, Canada. He was known during his lifetime as a wonder worker and had gift of prophecy, reading of hearts and more. Thousands of miraculous healings were attributed to his prayerful intercession When he passed away on January 6, 1937, over a million people attended his funeral.

Not long after Father John Marie Vianney had been ordained to the priesthood, he was assigned to the tiny parish of Ars, the poorest and most remote parish in the diocese of Lyons. Through his efforts, Ars became the focal center of spirituality for all of France. During the last year of his life,100,000 people traveled to the tiny village to make their confession to Father John Marie and to receive his blessing.

In 1873, Father Damien de Veuster volunteered to serve at the leper settlement on the island of Molokai. To the lepers, Fr. Damien became their doctor, their nurse, their advocate, their counselor, their father and their friend. Like the Good Samaritan, Fr. Damien is an example for all who wish to be involved in the struggle for a more just, a more humane world. He died of leprosy after serving 16 years at Molokai.