Archbishop Sheen's Canonization Cause Enters Into Postrema sessio

No, that isn't some fatal disease. It simply means "next stage" in Latin. What it means in this case is that the Diocesan Phase of the cause has been completed.

The Cause of Archbishop Sheen to be made a saint was begun by the Diocese of Peoria in 2002. During that time, as a part of the investigation, documents, personal testimonies, books etc have been gathered together to be sent to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints. As vice-postulator Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R. recently pointed out, it took an extra long time to gather copies of Archbishop Sheen's books, pamphlets, etc. The reason was that he wrote a huge number of books (90+) & as head of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith he had a large amount of coresponence. The process requires gathering as complete a collection of a person's writings as possible.

Now that everything has been gathered together the next step is to send it off to Rome. There is a special proceedure that is followed in doing so. Part of this proceedure is a Mass of Thanksgiving. This Mass will be Sunday, 3 February 2008 at 10:30 AM CST at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria. Bishop Daniel Jenky will preside.

Then there is the official postrema sessio. At this ceremony the collection of documents, etc will be officially certified, the boxes sealed & sent off to the Vatican. The Mass & ceremony will be carried live Sunday on EWTN & repeated that evening at 11:00 PM CST. The sealing process is centuries old. they tie up the boxes with a ribbon & then apply a wax seal. This seal is to insure that no one took out or added any material during the trip to Rome.

I am especially excited by this event & wish I could be in Peoria tommorrow. Why? Right now there are 2 people in the early stages of the process to be declared a saint that I have seen in person. 1 is Pope John Paul the Great. I saw him at Living History Farms, Urbandale, IA on 4 October 1979.

Archbishop Sheen is the other. I 1st saw him when he spoke in Oelwein (about 1968) & later at Loras College here in DBQ (mid 70s). So, God willing, if it occurs during my lifetime, he will be the 1st saint that I actually saw live & in person. Pope John Paul will be the 2nd person I've seen to become a saint. Mother Teresa or Blessed John XXIII don't count as I only saw them on TV. & while there have been other people who were alive during my lifetime, Ss. Gianna Beretta Molla & Padre Pio for example, I never heard of them until after their death. DBQ's local saint in the making, Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli* died long before I came along. & while I suspect Mother Angelica, whom I have met twice, will eventually be declared a saint, she is still alive & thus her cause is many, many years off.

Growing up I always thought saints were from a different time & place. Not so. God is raising up saints in this day & not too far away from me. Praise be to HIM!

* The miracle needed for Fr. Mazzuchelli's beatification has been approved by the doctors in Rome & now it is a matter of when he is beatified. That will probably be in Madison or (hopefully) Benton.