Chelsea church members attend canonization in Rome

Posted on Sun, Nov 13, 2011 : 3:45 p.m.

Chelsea church members attend canonization in Rome

By Julie Baker

Joe Yekulis, far right, of St. Mary Parish, Chelsea, joins international readers with Fr. Mario Carrera, center.

Courtesy photo

Thirty members of St. Mary Parish of Chelsea traveled to Rome last month to support the canonization of St. Louis Guanella, the Founder of the Servants of Charity.

Fr. William J. Turner of St. Mary Parish, Chelsea, greets Fr. General Alphonso Crippa, head of the Servants of Charity Congregation.

Courtesy photo

Members of the Guanellian family from Michigan and Pennsylvania traveled to Rome for the canonization on Oct. 23. Thirty-five members of the Guanellian family from Michigan attended, with the others hailing from the Lansing Diocese, according to a news release.

Of the 20,000 people who were at St. Peters Square that Sunday morning, 12,000 were from the Guanellian Family to honor their new saint, the release said.

Canonization events took place over a four-day weekend and included an outdoor evening concert at St. Joseph at Trionfale in Rome, a prayer vigil at St. Paul Outside the Walls, the canonization of St. Louis Guanella in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican and Thanksgiving Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Pope Benedict at the Vatican.

Courtesy photo

Comments

Joe Yekulis

Tue, Nov 15, 2011 : 3:37 p.m.

Fr. Guanella was an Italian priest from Northern Italy who lived from 1842-1915. He made it his mission in life to care for the poorest of the poor, especially persons with intellectual developmental disabilities and the frail elderly. He started two religious congregations known as the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence in 1883 and the Servants of Charity in 1908. His "Houses" and religious institutes are in 22 countries throughout the world, and locally they operate St. Louis Center in Chelsea, MI. Fr. Guanella was Beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1964, and following a confirmation of a miracle performed through his intercession in 2002, he was raised to the honors of Sainthood on October 23, 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI. For more information about Fr. Guanella, please visit <a href="http://www.servantsofcharity.org" rel='nofollow'>www.servantsofcharity.org</a>.

Stephen Lange Ranzini

Mon, Nov 14, 2011 : 5:46 p.m.

@tinkerbell wrote: "What did Louis Guanella do to qualify for canonization?" A summary with links to other more detailed resources is available on wikipedia at: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Guanella" rel='nofollow'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Guanella</a>

tinkerbell

Mon, Nov 14, 2011 : 4:57 p.m.

What did Louis Guanella do to qualify for canonization?