Bl. Stanley Rother

For all American Catholic geeks, such as myself, tomorrow is a banner day - the Beatification of Solanus Casey (featured earlier this month). This is stated in the media as the second U.S. born male to be named 'Blessed.' However, I dispute that as Bl. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago (born in Puerto Rico, 1918 - I did a post on him last year) was beatified by John Paul II in 2001. In case you have forgotten, Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and anyone born in PR on or after, April 25, 1898, is a U.S. citizen by birth, making Bl. Carlos the first U.S. born male to be beatified.

(For the record, there is one U.S. born women who is a canonized Saint - St. Kathrine Drexel -- St. Elizabeth Anne Seaton and St. Kateri Tekakwitha were both born in territory that is now part of the U.S., but before the U.S. existed. Another U.S. born woman, Bl. Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, was beatified in 2014).

So, all that being said (sorry for going off track), today I will tell you the story of the actual second U.S. born male to be beatified, Stanley Rother. Stanley was born in 1935 in a small town in Oklahoma. His parents had a farm and he grew up as a typical American farm boy, doing chores and joining the FFA. Upon completing his high school studies, he declared his intention of becoming a priest. He was ordained in 1963 and served as an associate pastor in several parishes around Oklahoma.

In 1968, he requested, and was granted, assignment to a mission in rural Guatemala. At the mission, he went to work to learn Spanish and the Tz’utujil language which was an unwritten and indigenous language. He worked with the locals to teach them how to read and write, supported a radio station on the mission grounds that broadcast lessons in language and mathematics, founded a small hospital, translated the New Testament into Tz'utujil and began the regular celebration of the Mass in Tz'utujil. The Guatemalan civil war reached the area of the mission in 1980 and Fr. Rother witnessed the assassination of several of his parishioners, including his Deacon. He was warned that his life was in danger and he returned to the U.S. in early 1981 to spend time with family and friends. He returned to Guatemala against the advice of his family and Bishop, saying, "Well, a shepherd cannot run from his flock." On the night of July 28, gunmen broke into the rectory and shot the missionary priest. Father Rother was one of 10 priests murdered in Guatemala that year. His feast day is July 28.