My letter to Pope Francis. Is it stupid? Do you think he'll answer? Is it clear what I am asking? What do you think?
My Home Address
Date
Your Holiness,
When you declared the year 2021, the year of St. Joseph, I
became very excited. You see nine years
ago, Pere Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., was beatified with the title “Apostle of
Prisons,” in Besançon, France. Father Lataste,
not only had great love for prisoners, for he founded the Dominican Sisters of
Bethany with former prisoners, but he also had a great love for Saint
Joseph.
It was Blessed Pope Pius IX, who, on December 8, 1870,
declared St. Joseph the Patron Saint of the Church. Pope Pius was urged to proclaim St. Joseph
the patron by many people, but only one letter, from a priest, offered his life
for this proclamation.
“This good religious
(Jean Lataste) is offering the sacrifice of his life to obtain that St. Joseph
be declared Patron of the Universal Church.
Father Lataste will shortly be granted his wish. We have received more than five hundred
letters requesting that we declare St. Joseph patron of the Church, but Fr.
Lataste is the only one who offered his life.”
The intention for which Father Lataste offered his life was
fulfilled by a motu proprio of Blessed John XXIII that became effective on
December 8, 1962. And now, your Holiness
has written this most excellent and welcomed letter, Patris Corde.
All those who follow the spirituality of Blessed Jean-Joseph
Lataste, have been praying for his canonization. http://dominicains.ca/blessed-jean-joseph-lataste/?lang=en These include many prisoners, especially
those prisoners who have become Lay Dominicans, due to the witnesses of the
Dominican Sisters of Bethany. These sisters, contemplative and active, were
founded by Father Lataste to minister to prisoners and others who live at the
margins of society. We hope that in this year of Saint Joseph, Blessed
Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., will be canonized as the Apostle of Prisons, through
the intercession of Saint Joseph.
Your Holiness, on July 11, 2017, you recognized a new path
towards canonization in a (Lettera Apostolicae Motu Proprio Datae De Oblatione
Vitae).
MAIOREM HAC DILECTIONEM
As I understand Maiorem Hac Dilectionem, the steps towards
canonization include:
1. The
individual must freely and voluntarily offer their life in the face of "a
certain and soon-to-come death"
2. There must
be a "close relation" between "the offering of one's life and
the premature death of the one who offers it."
3. The person
must show Christian virtues, at least to an ordinary extent, before and after
offering their life.
4. They must
have a "reputation for holiness" at least after their death.
5. They must
have performed a miracle.
Father Lataste’s reputation for holiness certainly fulfills
steps 3 and 4. Step 5 had been approved
for Father Lataste’s beatification.
Steps 1 and 2 have been demonstrated to you by the words of Pope IX,
himself, This good religious (Jean
Lataste) is offering the sacrifice of his life to obtain that St. Joseph be
declared Patron of the Universal Church… And Father Lataste’s death at age
37 was certainly premature.
Now with your latest Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde, you remind
us that Saint Joseph represents “those who appear hidden in the shadows and
somehow play a role in salvation.” With
those words, you are explicitly speaking of Father Lataste. Due to his retreats to the women prisoners in
Cadillac Prison he converted and saved many souls. Later, with these former inmates, Father
Lataste founded the Dominican Sisters of Bethany in France. Many years later, this Latastian message of
forgiveness and mercy reached a prison of men in the USA (MCI Norfolk). A fraternity of Lay Dominicans was founded
under the patronage of Father Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P. This prison fraternity mentored two more
fraternities who follow Lataste’s spirituality: one in Texas and one in
Belgium. Father Lataste has certainly
played an incomparable role in the history of salvation.
All of us (Dominican Sisters of Bethany, the contemplative nuns,
the Lay Dominican Prisoners following
Father Jean-Joseph, O.P.) hope and pray that this year following the 150th
Anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal
Church, will be the year Father Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., will be declared a
saint. We already know he is a saint and
through the intercession of Saint Joseph we pray that Your Holiness will make
it officially known throughout the world by canonizing, Father Jean-Joseph,
O.P. I thank you in advance for your
consideration.
Ite Ad Joseph,
Respectfully your humble servant,
Mrs. Faith Flaherty, O.P.
Our Lady of Mercy Fraternity
Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic
No comments:
Post a Comment