Ten Days of Blogging for Blaise Part 10 -- Blaise Voita, Intercessor for Sick Children

There are so many more things I could say about sweet Blaise, but it's day ten of this little blog project already, so for now let's get down to business here!

Prayer for the Beatification of Blaise Voita

O God, who, among the many marvels of Your Grace in the United States of America, did cause to emerge from the desert of Arizona the pure and delicate butterfly, Blaise Voita, we thank You, the favor we begged through her intercession, that this Young Lover of Jesus and of His Cross will now be counted among the Saints of Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence, joy, and faith. Heavenly Father, we ask you to glorify Blaise. May the Church raise her to the honor of the altars for the encouragement of all people, and most especially for children with life-threatening illness and for their families. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for a Sick Child, Asking the Intercession of Blaise

O beloved Blaise, through the power of my most compassionate Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I humbly beseech you to look with love and pity on (name) who is ill at this time. Stir up in him/her the same passion that impelled you to respond with joy and love to all around in the face of your own suffering, a sure knowledge of the Divine presence, and a complete trust in God's providence. Use once again your spirit of compassion and ever-present joy to restore her/him, through your powerful heavenly intercession, to full health if it is God's holy will. I ask this in the Name of Jesus who lives and reigns with the Father in unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

 

I don't really know much about this, friends, but this is how I think it works: when someone has died whose life was marked by remarkable sanctity and virtue, a person (or group of people) can present their cause for beatification and canonization. I think the process starts out with a Mass (after which the person is declared "Servant of God"), then followed by a period of investigation where witnesses are interviewed about that person's life and anything that the person wrote, or that was written about them, gets examined as well. It all gets sent to Rome, and one authenticated medical miracle has them declared "Blessed" and a second has them declared a "Saint." (The Catholic Church teaches that anyone who dies and goes to heaven is a saint, and through the processes of Beatification and Canonization the Church holds up particular people as universal role models and intercessors for particular causes.)  I think there are some postulators, vice-postulators, a local bishop, and a bunch of theologians thrown in the mix, and the wait is typically five years after a person's death, to look at their life and achievements in a more objective manner. But the Vatican waived the five-year business in the cases of now Blessed Mother Teresa and John Paul II.

I never expected to be calling for someone's canonization (and don't get me wrong -- Coffee Talk is certainly not an official initiation of such a process!), but I do know this: when I was at Blaise's funeral Mass, on the drive home, and in all the days to follow, one thought keeps coming back to me: Santo subito! Sainthood now!

So whether this tenth day of blogging for Blaise is the end of something, the beginning of another, or both, let's all ask for Blaise's intercession. Do you know a child, or children, suffering from a serious illness? Why not ask Blaise to intercede for them from her heavenly home? Pass the prayer on to friends, relatives, neighbors, anyone who needs a special heavenly intercessor for a suffering child. And it doesn't matter if you are not Catholic -- the heavenly communion will intercede for us all, and I believe they are just waiting for us to ask for their help!

Servant of God Blaise Voita, pray for us!

Peace and all good,

Leslie

P.S. I really have no idea if anyone will take on Blaise's cause in a formal way or how it works, but if anyone has stories of Blaise's holiness or miracles that you believe to have been granted through her intercession, feel free to send them to me for now at CoffeeTalkWithLeslie@gmail.com. And if there are any priests, bishops, theologians, or canonists in the crowd who feel to called to help in this regard, do let me know!