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IN THIS ISSUE
From the Desk of
Fr. John Madigan, O.M.I.
Our Woven Past: Oblate Paths to Sainthood
The Lives of the Saints: St. Ambrose
Fr. John Maronic, O.M.I.: The Path to Sainthood Begins
Anyone who met Fr. John Maronic knew
almost immediately that they were in the
presence of a saintly man.
Now, some 23 years after his death, a commission has been appointed to begin the process of determining whether Fr. John will be included among the Church’s formally canonized saints.
“This is an important step on a huge journey that we will take one step at a time,” says Bro. Francis Sullivan, O.M.I. the postulator for Fr. John’s cause. A postulator is a Church official who presents a plea for canonization or beatification on behalf of a person they think should become a saint.
In August 2007 Bishop Edward Braxton of the Belleville (Illinois) Diocese signed a decree establishing the commission concerning the sainthood of Fr. John. The three-member commission will review Fr. John’s writings and then make a report back to Bishop Braxton. The report isn’t expected to be completed for several years.
John Maronic was born in 1922 in International Falls, Minnesota. Even as a young man he was passionate about serving God. While studying for the priesthood his superior wrote: “He is a man of the future – up and coming. He needs moderation because he works too hard.”
In the early 1960s, while
serving as Director of
Pilgrimages at the National
Shrine of Our Lady of the
Snows in Belleville, Fr. John
noticed that numerous visitors
to the Shrine had physical
disabilities. He decided that a
spiritual support community
needed to be formed for them.
Father John dealt with disabilities in his own life, particularly a throat and voice condition that made it difficult for him to speak. He accepted this cross and used it in his own missionary outreach to other persons with disabilities.
In 1964 Fr. John established the group, which was originally known
as Victim Missionaries. They chose to be called “Victims” because of
their willingness to offer themselves to God and to accept whatever
God chose to give them. They used the term “Missionaries” because
they saw themselves as “agents of the redeeming action of Christ,
bringing light to those in darkness, bringing relief to the agonizing.” In
1985 the name was changed to Victorious Missionaries to reflect the
outcome of the redemptive suffering of Christ and to signify the
positive, active qualities of the group.
“The message we give them over and over again is that they must not hide in the shadows of moodiness, bitterness and self-hate,” Fr. John wrote. “They must make their lives worthwhile, not only for themselves but in relation to their families and friends and to God who gave them life.”
Father John used to comment that he was constantly in awe of how
people were able to see past disabilities and find great joy and worth in
their lives. “I have seen more love in action among our lovely
handicapped people than I have seen anywhere
else in my many years of priestly work,” he once
said. “To watch a mother taking care of a
paralyzed daughter for 30 years and never hear
either of them complain to God or to others
about their lot; to see the virtuous face of
another woman who told me that she had spent
50 years in a wheelchair, and behold the deep
love of God written there. When I meet such
people I shake my head in amazement and ponder within myself how God can
bring such total love out of the
human heart.”
Father John would do anything to
create opportunities for the people he referred to as “The Lord’s specials.”
One time he wanted to take a woman
who was confined to a gurney out to
dinner, but couldn’t find a station wagon or van long enough to hold her
gurney. So he borrowed a hearse from a funeral home, picked up his
guest, drove to the restaurant, parked in front and pulled the gurney and
his guest out of the back of the hearse and rolled into the restaurant.
Father John knew firsthand the difficulties experienced by people with physical troubles. In addition to having problems with his throat he suffered from severe migraine headaches. Later in life he was diagnosed with a blood disease that sapped his strength. “Trials have a way of stripping us of phoniness,” Fr. John said as his personal suffering intensified. “The mercy and compassion coming from those who love us humbles us into loving even more.”
Father John passed away in 1985. At his funeral friends and colleagues spoke of the man who had a saintly presence with everyone he met.
Today the Victorious Missionaries, who number 2,000 members, continue to flourish and provide healing and hope to people throughout the world. Members are claiming their giftedness and sharing it with others.
“There is an undercurrent of
goodness in everyone,” Fr. John
used to say. “All it takes to
bring it to the surface is a spark,
a prompting.”
To learn more about the work of the Victorious Missionaries and Fr. John Maronic, visit the group’s website at www.vmusa.org.