No ‘ordinary’ feast day

Archbishop Coakley often refers to Blessed Stanley Rother as an “ordinary martyr.”

It’s not a slight, of course – far from it – as archbishop has been captivated by Blessed Stanley’s story for decades, predating even his arrival in Oklahoma City. Rather, Archbishop Coakley uses the term to illustrate the Oklahoma farm boy’s remarkable story of overcoming early struggles at seminary, his perseverance in becoming a parish priest, then a missionary priest and eventually a martyr, giving his life for the people of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. A lesson of ordinary, perhaps, for all of us.

And so it was July 28, the feast day of Blessed Stanley Rother, which was anything but “ordinary” on the 45th Anniversary of his martyrdom.

The day began with a presidential message from the White House honoring the “towering legacy of Father Stanley Rother.” Archbishop Coakley celebrated Mass at the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in south Oklahoma City in between a lengthy list of media interviews in anticipation of the upcoming documentary: “American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story.”

There were print and video interviews, which also involved Rother biographer Maria Scaperlanda, and later and Felipe Coché, a native of Santiago Atitlán who was baptized as a child by Blessed Stanley. The day concluded with red carpet interviews and the local premiere of the documentary before a full house at the Regal Warren theater in Moore.

“American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story,” will be shown locally and nationally in English on Aug. 25-26, and in Spanish Aug. 27.

John Helsley is editor of the Sooner Catholic.
The world premiere of “American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story” was held on Bl. Stanley Rother’s feast day, July 28, at the Regal Warren Moore theater. Photos Chris Porter/Sooner Catholic.

Click HERE  to view more photos.