HAND PAINTED PLASTER STATUE – 9 Inches High & 3 Inches Width

Blessed Stanley Francis Rother (Okarche, Oklahoma, March 27, 1935 – Santiago Atitlan, Sololá, July 28, 1981) was an American Catholic priest and missionary in Guatemala. In addition to his pastoral duties, he translated the New Testament into the Zutuhil language and began the regular celebration of Mass in that same language.

STORY ABOUT HIM
As a young man he led a simple life and worked on the family farm. Being surrounded by priests, he felt the call of God and left for the seminary. There the true adventure of his life would begin. While Stanley was in the seminary, St. John XXIII asked the Church in the United States to send aid and establish missions in Central America.

In response to that call, the Diocese of Oklahoma and the Diocese of Tulsa founded a mission in Santiago Atitlán, a very poor indigenous community in Guatemala. Between 1980 and 1981 the violence produced by the civil war reached an unbearable point.

At dawn on July 28, 1981, a person who was taken at gunpoint to the room of “Father Francisco” woke him up by telling him that they had come for him. Now they wanted to “disappear” Father Stanley. He resisted and fought for 15 minutes until he was shot twice. Thus he died.

PRAYER
O faithful shepherd, Blessed Stanley Rother, as priest and missionary, you tilled the soil with your hands and invited Christ Jesus to till the soil of your soul. You became a sign of love of Christ the Good Shepherd for your people, and blessed their lives by your ministry. You stood firm and did not run from danger, bringing glory to God and His Church in your martyrdom. Blessed Stanley, obtain from the heart of Jesus (here make your request…), and pray for me, that I too may be a sign of Christ’s love among His people. Teach me to faithfully till the soil of this life in the reality given to me by your Father, unafraid to stay with those God has given me, no matter the cost. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SHRINES AT THE UNITED STATES
Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.