Can Solanus Casey Help the Healing in the Detroit Hospital Where He Died?

Cases halved in Michigan: pandemic prayers and minor miracles

Since April 6, Catholic Men’s Fellowship supporters have prayed in front of Ascension St. John Hospital at 3 p.m., praying a Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet. Dr. Thomas Graves and Richard Hass organized the effort. Photos by Thomas Graves.

Detroit’s Ascension St. John Hospital is a ground zero “hot spot” for a global pandemic and the hallowed ground where Blessed Solanus Casey died.

“In Detroit, cases are down 50 percent,” President Trump said during his April 20 coronavirus briefing. “Congratulations.”

Catholic Men’s Fellowship began praying in front of Ascension St. John two weeks earlier on April 6, as the hospital’s caseloads peaked: 295 people with COVID-19 symptoms. The most severe cases ballooned. Then something happened.

Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin asked CMF to carry two icons, the Divine Mercy Image, and a portrait honoring Detroit’s Blessed Solanus Casey, (1870–1957). Solanus is known for interceding in Detroit.

Above: Ascension St. John COVID-19 cases from April 6 (the day CMF began its daily prayer vigils through April 20, two weeks later. The blue numbers are patients isolated with COVID symptoms, while the green numbers represent patients on ventilators. Nearly 1,000 patients were treated and discharged over the same period. Graphic by Joseph Serwach.

Between April 6 and April 20, the number of COVID patients dropped 38 percent to 184.

The hospital had 63 patients on ventilators when CMF began praying. The number grew to 72 on April 14. By April 20, it dropped to 55.