Solanus Casey Center traveling museum promotes devotion to the humble Capuchin friar

Portable museum available to visit parishes wherever it is requested in Michigan, North America

DETROIT – In southeast Michigan, Blessed Solanus Casey is a recognizable local legend whose celebrity rivals that of Detroiters like Jack White, Henry Ford or Aretha Franklin. 

Consequently, Metro Detroiters might be surprised to learn that throughout the country — even throughout the rest of Michigan — he is still not a household name. 

To remedy this, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, who run the Solanus Casey Center, has taken its museum about the beloved Blessed Solanus Casey on the road.

The Solanus Casey Traveling Museum is a pared-down version of the exhibit currently on display at the center, featuring educational panels on Solanus Casey’s life from birth through his 2017 beatification, as well as displays of personal belongings such as rosaries and prayer books. 

Bro. Daniel Emmanuel Victor, OFM Cap., is responsible for the exhibit, accompanying the traveling museum wherever it goes and staying with it for the duration of its time at a parish, usually one to three days. While there, the brothers will often concelebrate Mass and invite parishioners to stay afterward to check out the museum. 

“If they are interested, we will also have a presentation about the life and history of Solanus and show a short video for half an hour, and they can ask us questions,” Bro. Victor explained. “In some places, they will ask for a healing service as well.”

Whatever the parish requests, the brothers will accommodate, Bro. Victor said. Sometimes parishes will invite them to set up the museum for a specific group, such as a First Communion class. The brothers will often bring one of Blessed Solanus’ violins and invite people to touch rosaries or prayer cards to the instrument, elevating the items to third-class relics. 

Occasionally, the brothers will go to a parish where people already know about Blessed Solanus Casey, and they will be regaled with stories about parishioners’ personal encounters with him. 

However, outside of Metro Detroit, many people are learning about the humble porter for the first time, explained Bro. Benoy Joseph, OFM Cap., director of the Solanus Casey Center.

“We have come to know that at a lot of places where we go, Solanus is not famous there, or they don’t know his name; some do know his name but have never heard anything more about them.” Bro. Joseph said. 

Educating people about Blessed Solanus’ life and growing devotion to him are important parts of the cause for canonization, said Tim Hinkle, public relations director for the Detroit-based Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph. 

“One of the things Rome looks at is whether the devotion to the blessed or saint is growing,” Hinkle told Detroit Catholic. “This is one of the ways the friars are working to make him more known outside of metropolitan Detroit.”

The center also counts the number of prayer intentions and visitors as part of the cause, not only at the center, but also those associated with the traveling museum. 

“We carry some of the prayer intention cards with us,” Bro. Victor said. “Any intentions people have (during the traveling museum), they write down, and we bring them back to Blessed Solanus’ final resting place.”

The museum has already made its way across Michigan, but Bro. Victor said they will bring it wherever it is requested.

"We have received requests so far from Canada and New York,” Bro. Victor said. “People are very happy with the traveling museum, especially the elderly and others who cannot go to the Solanus Casey Center in person. They say, ‘This is a blessing for us.’”

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