Blessed to Saint

The canonization journey of blessed james miller

Cause for Canonization

Many of those who knew Brother James throughout his life have said James would become a saint since his death in 1982. His piety and dedication to the Lasallian charism were noticeable to all he met.

Canonization is a long process and can only begin, with rare exceptions, five years after the holy person dies. Because Brother James was declared a martyr, his canonization process is unique in that it only requires one proven miracle attributed to his intercession. In 1994, the Guatemalan bishops began investigating Brother James’ life and death in the hopes of the Vatican continuing the investigatory phase. In 1996, the Vatican began conducting its own investigation. The Diocese in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, collected all documents on Brother James’ life in 2009 to supplement the Vatican’s investigation.

Brother James’ family was asked to gather for a deposition and recollection process. This led to the Vatican asserting its Decree of Validity in Rome in 2010, declaring Brother James a Servant of God. Brother Rodolfo Cosimo Meoli, FSC, was then assigned as the Postulator General for the Cause for Canonization.

In 2018, Pope Francis declared Brother James a martyr for the faith. As the investigation continued under Brother Rodolfo, Brother James’ body was exhumed in June 2019 to determine if his body was incorruptible and to gather relics. The process yielded many first-class relics of Brother James’ hair. On December 7, 2019, a beatification Mass was held at Huehuetenango, with many of Brother James’ fellow Brothers, family and other Lasallians present.

The Church now awaits one miracle — typically a miraculous and instantaneous medical healing — to be attributed to Brother James to officially declare him a saint. We can all join in the canonization process by praying for Blessed James’ intercession in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

Journey to Beatification

1982

Brother James was killed in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, on February 13, 1982, while repairing a wall for the De La Salle Indian School.

2009

The beatification process opened in Huehuetenango in September 2009 in a diocesan process that later concluded in 2010. This diocesan investigation collected available documentation regarding Brother James’ life as well as series of witness testimonies from those who knew him. The formal introduction to the cause came in December 2009 under Pope Benedict XVI after a Vatican dicastery, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (CCS), declared “nihil obstat,” meaning “nothing against the cause,” and titled Brother James as a Servant of God.

2010

The CCS later validated the diocesan process July 2010 in Rome while later receiving the Positio dossier for assessment. Brother Rodolfo Cosimo Meoli, FSC, was named Postulator for the cause.

2018

On March 21, nine theologians approved the cause for beatification of Brother James in Rome. On November 8, 2018, Pope Francis approved a decree recognizing that Brother James died as a martyr.

2019

On December 7, 2019, the Catholic Church officially beatified Brother James Miller, FSC, as a martyr. The ceremony proclaiming him Blessed Brother James Miller was celebrated at an open-air Mass on the property of the residence in Guatemala where he was killed in 1982. Brother James is the first De La Salle Christian Brother from the United States to be beatified.

Help Blessed James Become a Saint

You can make an impact and help the cause for Blessed James Miller’s canonization through sharing his story and invoking his intercession.




Let us pray …

O faithful Shepherd, Blessed Brother James Miller, FSC,
as a Christian Brother and Lasallian missionary,
you tilled the soil with your hands
and invited Jesus Christ to till the soil of your soul.

You became a sign of the love of Christ,
the Good Shepherd for your students
and blessed their lives by your ministry.

You stood firm and did not run from danger,
bringing glory to God, His Church,
your Lasallian family, and your martyrdom.

Blessed Brother James,
obtain from the heart of Jesus (make your request here),
and pray for me, that I too may be a sign of Christ’s love.

Teach me to faithfully till the soil of this life
in this reality given to me by our Father,
unafraid to stay with those God has given me,
no matter the cost.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

By John Thawley

O Blessed Brother James Miller, you heard God’s call to become a Brother of the Christian Schools and so became a sign of faith to youth in the United States and in Central America.

You placed your life and your trust in Divine Providence and, for spreading the faith, merited the crown of martyrdom.

In a world that denies the dignity of the human person, obtain for us from Divine Providence an ever increasing love of God and our neighbor, especially the poor and oppressed.

Obtain for us also the favor we are now asking for (mention request) and the grace and strength to be a witness to Christ’s love to all. Amen.

Imprimatur: +William Patrick Callahan, OFM Conv., bishop of La Crosse – February 7, 2020