Fame of sanctity and beatification process
of Dr. Alphons Ariëns
Hub Crijns, vice-chairman of the Ariëns Committee,
story of May 31, 2024
Dear people,
I am Hub Crijns and I am vice-chairman of the Ariëns Committee. The chairman is Archbishop Mgr. Eijk. The main task of the Ariëns Committee is to continue the beatification process of Alphons Ariëns, so that after the two diocesan phases there will be an apostolic phase in Rome to conclude the written investigation procedure. We hope and pray that all this work will lead to the beatification of Alphons Ariëns.
Much of our work can be found on our website: www.arienscomite.nl. On the website you will also find all information about our activities, about Ariëns and his history. If you want to develop your interest in Ariëns, visit the website.
At the beginning of his priestly career, Ariëns became very well-known as a chaplain in Enschede and the time he spent there with the foundation of the Catholic workers' movement and Sobriëtas, the Catholic temperance movement. After that he became a pastor in Steenderen and then in Maarssen. In all those years he became known as the emancipator of the Catholic pillar. You can't find a Catholic movement in that time or Ariëns is somewhere at the beginning or on the sidelines giving his blessing that it is all good that Catholics organize themselves. In the last period of his life he was active as a missionary, or proclaimer, or preacher of the faith. That is somewhat less well known, but that is precisely where Ariëns' great strength lies.
I may tell you something about the fame of holiness and the beatification process of Dr. Alphons Ariëns. You are probably curious about how things are going at the moment.
Death of Ariëns
On August 7, 2018, it will be ninety years since Alphons Ariëns died at the age of 68 in Amersfoort, and at that moment the history of devotion and the Ariëns Committee begins. Prof. Gerard Brom writes an 'In Memoriam' in the newspapers: "A completely unique man, for whom our admiration always grew and for whom our respect and love grew just as strongly. Everything he did could fill a book, which deserves to be written within a year. Because if there is one life that is exemplary, then this incredibly fruitful life, in which good works followed each other like the words of another." Brom talks about respect for Ariëns and after his death that has only grown. He has indeed become Ariëns' biographer. He wrote this quote in August 1928, but the two-volume biography was not published until 1941. A lot of work still had to be done before then.
Fame of holiness and devotion
It is striking that during his lifetime and certainly in the last ten years of his life many Catholics were convinced that Ariëns was a saint, and devotion arose during his lifetime. After his death all the newspapers of that week mentioned in their retrospectives that an important man had died, and also a holy man. On August 21, 1928 a Mgr. Dr. Ariëns Committee was established to 'permanently honor' the memory of the priest 'in a worthy manner'. The initiator and chairman was Prime Minister jhr. mr. CJM Ruijs de Beerenbrouck. During his lifetime he was the initiator of the beatification process from devotion. This Ariëns Committee had two concrete goals in mind: the erection of a statue of Ariëns and the construction of a memorial church. Both were to be realized in Enschede. The unveiling of the statue took place in 1934, which was very fast for that time. Especially when you consider that it was a very expensive statue, even for that time. The commissioning of the memorial church took longer. It was not until 1954 that the construction was finished and the Ariëns memorial church was commissioned. But because a church cannot be named after someone who is not yet blessed or holy, it is called something else in Enschede, namely the Hl Hartkerk.
Unfortunately, it is no longer a church, but has become part of a furniture hall, and in this short story you will find something of the history of the Catholic Church. The construction of that church has little to do with the actions of this first Committee and is connected to the initiatives for beatification that were started, and will later return to the Committee. In 1928, the first prayer card of Ariëns also appears and many more will follow in all kinds of variations.
Beatification procedure
After the unveiling of the statue in Enschede in June 1934, Ruijs de Beerenbrouck inquired in Rome in January 1935 about the conditions that had to be met to make the beatification of Ariëns possible. In Rome, the Sacred Congregation for Rites is responsible for the beatifications and canonizations and was founded on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V with the Bulle Immensa Aeterni Dei. The Sacred Congregation for Rites deals with both matters concerning divine devotion and matters concerning the blessed and the saints. There are four steps to be taken in an ecclesiastical process, each leading to four degrees, namely: Servant of God, Demonstrated Venerability, Beatification and Canonization. For the beatification and canonization, special signs are required, which have been demonstrated in an ecclesiastical court. The formation of a Committee and the appointment of a postulator are among the first requirements of a diocesan investigation, which must be done by the diocese from which the candidate comes. The request must then be submitted to the archbishop by the people to begin a process. Once this has been started, the Committee has the task of promoting devotion to the deceased and the invocation of his help.
Pictures and images can be printed and believers are urged to pray for intercession and answered prayers with hopefully a miracle. The last three steps (the Apostolic phase) take place in Rome, where the historical facts and the virtues of the Servant of God are investigated. A miracle must be demonstrated by an ecclesiastical court, and then confirmed again in Rome. If it concerns a physical or bodily healing, then doctors are called in the court, who are questioned about their knowledge of the extraordinary thing that has happened. These doctors must report what they think about it according to their knowledge and knowledge. If the doctors declare that they are outside the game with their knowledge and do not know what has happened, then the Church can say that the grace of God has reached its goal through the intercession of the candidate.
Commemorations, lectures, articles and books
After the death of Alphons Ariëns, commemorations were held all over the country. Mostly in the circles that emerged from his works: the Catholic workers' movement, the Catholic temperance movement Sobriëtas, the Cross and Mary associations, the Catholic women's movement, the Geert Grote Society, the Dr. Ariëns association for the care of alcoholics, Concordia life insurance, housing association, the White-Yellow Cross, etc. Ariëns founded these Catholic organizations and they commemorated the founder in their local branches. On All Souls' Day (2 November) 1928, his grave was visited not only by parishioners but also by people from elsewhere in the country, and this became a tradition in the following years. Around the day of his death on 7 August, the Ariëns Committee met and, after participating in the Holy Mass, visited the grave, and thus a tradition was born that is still going on ninety years later.
During the many commemorations that are held in the country, all kinds of people speak and the name and fame of Alphons Ariëns do the rounds. The lectures end up in articles or brochures. The articles and brochures lead to books. The most compelling is the biography 'Alfons Ariëns' by Prof. Gerard Brom, which appears in late 1941 in two parts of approximately 1,300 pages. The book has been reviewed many times since then. It stands out because of the factual knowledge and the extensive use of Ariëns' own sources, especially his numerous letters. The scientific value of the biography is very high, also as a source for the origins of the many Catholic organizations. There is also criticism of the book. The criticism is that Brom, as a admirer of Ariëns, always portrays his main character in a positive role and writes opponents aside. In that role, Brom is not entirely objective, as we say today. But once you know this, it is a very nice book to read. More books about Ariëns have been published over time.
The most recent books are those by Henri ten Have from 2008 'The love of Christ leaves us no rest. A spiritual biography of Alphons Ariëns' and the promotion by Gerrit Deems from 2011 'Another' Ariëns. The Doctrina Socialis of Dr. Alphons Ariëns (1860-1928)'. The book by Henri ten Have was partly supported by the Ariëns Committee and is very special because it is one of the few biographies that deals with the spiritual and theological thinking of Ariëns. The doctoral candidate Deems also deals with the philosophy and theology of Ariëns and places him in the context of his time. That too is unique. All other biographies have in common that they stray a little from pastoral care, spirituality and theology and describe why Ariëns was so important as an emancipator of the Catholic population. Henri ten Have's biography has now been translated into Italian for our work, as part of our new Positio submission.
Diocesan process
The chairman of the Ariëns Committee, Prof. Dr. L. Rogier, requests the Archbishop of Utrecht Bernardus Alfrink on 7 February 1956 with a suppliek to initiate a beatification process (process for the beatification) of Alphons Ariëns. The petition is signed by numerous institutions and organisations from the Catholic world, as well as by many believers from the parishes where Ariëns worked, by bishops and leaders of religious orders and congregations. Partly to support the beatification process, the Ariëns Committee is converted into a foundation, the Ariëns Committee, on 28 July 1958. The start of the beatification process within thirty years after death takes place during the Ariëns Day on 3 August 1958 in the parish church of Maarssen, where the ecclesiastical court is installed under the chairmanship of Cardinal B. Alfrink. The court's task is to collect documentation and conduct research in a threefold manner, namely 'super fama sanctitatis' (on the sacred fame), 'super non cultu' (on the devotion by and for the people) and 'super scriptis' (on the scriptures).
Father Eleuterius Han Lohman ofm is appointed postulator. The process lasts seven years and on Ariëns Day 1965 Cardinal Alfrink can do the final session of the process and the postulator is instructed to bring the documents to Rome. A number of sturdy trunks with papers are sent to Rome. You should think of more than 3,500 letters, more than 500 booklets and brochures, magazines of Ariëns, plus the minutes of the sessions of the court and the statements of all witnesses. The documents of the Process have been translated into Latin and Italian.
Apostolic Process
The Apostolic phase of the process opened in Rome in 1958 and continued with various steps until 1983. In October 1983, lawyer Salvatore M. Vitale submitted the printed summary 'Positio super cause introductione' concerning the beatification process of Alphons Ariëns to the Sacra Congregatio pro Causis Sanctorum in Rome. This bound book in red binding with gold print with Positio Numero 1061 bears the full title: Ultraiecten. Beatificationes et canonizationes Servi Dei Alfonsi M. Ariëns sacerdos saecularis tertii ordinis franciscalis sodalis (1860-1928). The book contains all the summaries and documents from the apostolic process used up to that time and these are written in either Italian or Latin.
And then something went wrong and it is not possible to reconstruct what went wrong afterwards. In Rome, some formal changes were made. In the Netherlands, the climate regarding the usefulness of beatification processes changed in the early eighties. Information from Rome in 2005 shows that a final ecclesiastical Tribunal should have been held in the Archdiocese of Utrecht in 1983, with an answer to the questions and comments made in Rome. That did not happen for reasons that have not been clarified.
Interim phase: new biographical story about Ariëns
It is a fact that the Ariëns Committee from Rome learns that the biographical story of Alphons Ariëns is meagre in the sources for the 'Positio super cause introductione'.
There appears to be a need for a more written biography of Alphons Ariëns with an emphasis on the virtues he practiced and how Ariëns fitted into the history of his time. This biography also needs to be substantiated with documents. Mgr. Dr. J. de Kok Ofm, who was appointed vice-postulator in 1987, approached Professor Dr. Abbink, lecturer in church history at the Catholic Theological College Utrecht, for this task. Professor Abbink does not have time to write the requested biography and Mgr. de Kok has now compiled a biography himself about the life of Ariëns and the significance of Ariëns for his time. Mgr. In the spring of 1992, De Kok spoke with relator Gumpel of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome and handed him his 12-page biography of Ariëns, which has been translated into Italian.
The piece was discussed there. The discussion revealed that the Positio Causae Beatificationis et Canonizationis Servi Dei Alfonsi M. Ariëns must be resubmitted as a paper, consisting of firstly a biography, secondly the procedural documents of the diocesan phase with the documenta of the witnesses heard, thirdly the virtues of Alphons Ariëns and fourthly documenta varia. The first thing that is missing now is a good biography. For the creation of a source-based biography Vita Documentata Alphons Ariëns, we are now thinking of Mr Jan Roes, director of the Catholic Documentation Centre Nijmegen, who has accepted the assignment to create this paper.
Prof. Dr. Jan Roes, director of the Catholic Documentation Centre and member of the Ariëns Committee, is completing a 'Vita Documentata Ariëns Priest, apostle of humane society' in three parts on A-4 format for the beatification process of Alphons Ariëns. The book is dated in the introduction on July 28, 1998. Vice-postulator Bishop J. de Kok Ofm hears from Cardinal Simonis that the text has been completed and submitted to postulator Rector RHM Smit in Rome.
This is a work in A-4 format in three parts. Volume I 'Vita Alphons Ariëns, 1860-1928'; Volume II 'Documentata Pioneer of the Catholic Workers' Movement', 1889-1901; Volume III 'Documentata Prophet of Emancipation, 1901-1928'. This Vita Documentata is supported by three documentary appendices: 1. 'Inventory and bibliography of the Ariëns Collection'; 2. 'Ultraiecten. Beatificationis et Canonizationis Servi Dei Alfonsi M. Ariëns, sacerdotis saecularis Tertii Ordinis Franciscalis Sodalis (1860-1928), Positio super causae introductione'; 3. 'Sources of the Catholic Workers' Movement in the Netherlands: speeches, letters and articles by Alphons Ariëns, 1887-1901'.
Because all texts are written in Dutch, an English translation of Volume I is being made at the request of the Archdiocese of Utrecht and the Ariëns Committee, as well as of the tables of contents and introductions of Volume II and Volume III. The documents and articles of volumes II and III have not been translated. The three volumes are present in the Ariëns Committee archive.
On 17 March 2004, Cardinal Simonis appointed auxiliary bishop J. de Kok ofm and prof. dr. EMVM Honée, professor of Church History at the Catholic Theological University of Utrecht, as historical commissioners in the cause of Alphons Ariëns. The commissioners were tasked with carefully studying the English version of the Vita Documentata, Father Ariëns: Apostle of the Humane Society, and ensuring that the literature mentioned in the footnotes justify the statements of J. Roes in the book.
On 25 May 2004, the two historical commissioners, auxiliary bishop J. de Kok ofm and prof. dr. EMVM Honée, professor of Church History at the Catholic Theological University of Utrecht, declared that they had extensively studied the three Volumes of the English version of the Vita Documentata, Father Ariëns: Apostle of the Humane Society. They confirmed that prof. dr. JH Roes gave an accurate and faithful picture of Alphons Ariëns. His work is in line with earlier publications by others and an edition by himself of the most important sources concerning the life and work of Ariëns. A considerable part of these previously published documents is included in volumes 2 and 3.
The Vita Documentata are written from the sources and do not contain assertions that cannot be substantiated from the sources. The author always makes a prudent distinction between what appears from the sources and what can be assumed from the sources. The commissioners advise to publish the Vita Documentata more widely than just within the process of beatification.
Second diocesan process and order to rewrite Positio
After preliminary investigation by vicar P. Rentinck, an ecclesiastical court was opened in 2005, which had the task of investigating the fama sanctitatis of Alphons Ariëns, or to establish that there is still a living devotion. This investigation was held in 2005 with eleven new witnesses, who made statements about their devotion to Ariëns, and in 2006 this process was concluded, and the documents were transferred back to Rome.
On the basis of this second diocesan process for the beatification of Alphons Ariëns, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints declared that the Cause has been confirmed and reopened. The Ariëns Committee was then commissioned by Rome to rewrite the 'Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis Alphonsi Ariëns' in Italian, including all sources, and to resubmit it. The assignment was also given to include the period since the death of priest Alphons Ariëns by conducting research into the fama sanctitatis, or the call for holiness.
It has also been requested that a chapter be devoted to written documents of witnesses who declare that their prayers were heard at the intercession of Alphons Ariëns (the fama signorum (the fame of signs)). The Ariëns Committee is busy with this task. The latter concerns witnesses who declare that something special happened to them at the suggestion of Alphons Ariëns, or an answer to prayer. In every decade of our history we have witnesses of special signs. We do not have a witness to a miracle. We do have a testimony of a near miracle. But in the documents from that time there is a physician who could explain why a healing had taken place, and if a physician can give an explanation, there is no question of a special event at the intercession of. The testimony remains included in our fama signorum.
Writing a new Positio
The past ten years have been spent writing a renewed summary Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis Alphonsis Ariëns. The writing is being done by Hub Crijns, vice-chairman of the Ariëns Committee and Ronald Valk, also translator into Italian. The commission and permission for Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis Alphonsis Ariëns was granted and obtained in 2015. See also the Decree of opening and continuation (file dated 23032006), the Decree of validity (case dated 15022008) and the Appointment of relator Kijas (dd 31032010), and the appointment of relator Szczepan (Stefan) Praskiewicz (dd 01022020).
The complete archive of Alphons Ariëns was digitized by the Catholic Documentation Center in 2012. The important pieces of the documentation of the diocesan process 1958-1965 and the first apostolic phase 1967-1984 and the second diocesan process were digitized. After that, the digitization of as many sources as possible continued. The work on the various parts of the Positio was greatly promoted by the fact that the National Royal Library started digitizing newspapers, magazines and books in 2018
- The first part, the Summarium Testimonium, the summary of the witness statements of the diocesan process in the years 1958-1965 and of the ecclesiastical court in 2005 has been completed. Former postulator Piet Rentinck contributed to this chapter by naming the virtues that are evident from the witness statements. Relator Father Kijas agreed to this part in 2016.
- The second part is the Biographia ex documentis. After consultation with the relator Father Z. Kijas and the postulator Mr. W. Hilgeman, the biography of Pastor Henri ten Have was chosen, 'The love of Christ leaves us no rest. A spiritual biography of Alphons Ariëns' (Valkhof Pers Nijmegen 2008). The Italian version L'amore di Cristo ci spinge. Una biografia spirituale di Alfons Ariens' was published in March 2017 by publisher Editrice Effata' from Cantalupa.
- The third section of the Positio concerns the first part of Ten Have's biography. The notes of this were explicitly supported with a description, contextual explanation, quotation and source reference, and then with a translation into Italian. This section was also completed in 2018. This Source List or Vita documentata was added to the Summarium Documentorum.
- The fourth section is a revised chapter on the virtues of Alphons Ariëns, Capitolo Virtù del Servo di Dio Alphons Ariëns. Mr. Ronald Valk wrote this section using the texts from the Positio of 1983 and in consultation with vice-postulator Henri ten Have. On March 10, 2018, relator Kijas indicated that he agreed with this chapter.
- A fifth section concerns the Fama Signorum, the fame of the signs (= answered prayers, etc., signals that Ariëns is our intercessor in the hereafter). For every ten years of the more than ninety years since the death of Alphons Ariëns, testimonies and sources of special signs have been collected. Not only have older answered prayers been re-described, in recent years new testimonies have also been received of answered prayers that were experienced as authentic. And in the thirties and fifties, small thank-you advertisements were placed in mainly national newspapers for received answers to prayer or intercession. The underlying sources have been added to the Summarium Documentorum). The Ariëns Committee continues to call for new testimonies of answered prayers through the intercession of Ariëns.
- As a sixth part, a new chapter has been added on the Fama Sanctitatis, (the fame of holiness), in which the history of the devotion around Alphons Ariëns is illustrated on the basis of mainly public sources (fame during life, around death and after death). This research, started by Mr. Hub Crijns in 2015, has been continued intensively in recent years. A large number of sources were mapped with the help of, among others, the digital archive of the national library and the Ariëns Committee's own archive. The mapped sources have been collected in a source book 'Remembrance of Alphons Ariëns since 1928', which will exist in 2024 in the version 'Remembrance of Alphons Ariëns since 1928-s'.
The method of working on the summary chapter of the fama sanctitatis with the underlying sources (which are added to the Summarium Documentorum) was approved by relator Kijas in the summer of 2018. In the course of 2019, an example of the first five years was submitted to him and his comments and remarks were incorporated into the method.
The writing work on the fama sanctitatis chapter has now progressed from 1928 to the summer of 1945. What is special about this chapter is that every reference in the main text, for example a commemoration around the first anniversary of Alphons Ariëns' death in Maarssen, is substantiated with an underlying document, obtained from external public sources outside the archive of the Ariëns Committee. All texts and added documents have been translated into Italian. The research into sources has now progressed to the present. The writing work after 1945 will be continued in mid-2024. It is expected that this extensive book can be submitted in Rome in various parts in 2026.
Changes in persons and organizational structure
In March 2020, the Pope appointed padre Sczczepan Praskiewicz as the new relator in the cause Alphons Ariëns. During a visit by Mgr. Hoogenboom in September 2020 to Rome, he indicated that the Ariëns Committee is on the right track with regard to the work on the Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis Alphonsis Ariëns. In recent years, there have been further contacts with the relator.
As of June 5, 2022, with the entry into force of the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has been changed into the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints as an administrative body of the Roman Curia. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints and Beatification, which was abolished on the same date, was incorporated into this dicastery. The Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and Beatitudes, Marcello Semeraro, remained as Prefect of the Dicastery.
How does the process continue?
When the writing and translation work on the Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis Alphonsis Ariëns is completed, the work must be submitted by the Archdiocese of Utrecht to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. To this end, the Archdiocese must open an ecclesiastical tribunal, which will formally name and establish the documents of the Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis Alphonsis Ariëns, and create a document package from them, which will be transferred to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. After submission, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints will issue a Decree for the reception of the Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis Alphonsis Ariëns. With this transfer and reception, the second diocesan phase of the beatification process is completed.
Then a second apostolic phase begins, in which the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints collaborates with the Archdiocese of Utrecht. Two formal commissions are then set up, which are given the task of once again reviewing the submitted work in terms of content. A historical commission pays particular attention to whether the historical facts have been properly processed. A theological commission checks whether the theological, ethical and spiritual data have been properly processed. Once both commissions have submitted their judgement, a Decree is issued, with which the entire document phase of the beatification process is formally concluded. The nominated person has then in any case become a Venerable Servant of God.
If the submitted case provides sufficient reasons to declare a beatitude, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints will submit a Decree to the Pope. The Pope can then elevate the person to blessedness, and the Pope always does so with a public announcement in St. Peter's Square.
It may be that the written file, the submitted witnesses of answered prayers or intercessions by Alphons Ariëns (the fama signorum), and the witnesses about the holy call of Alphons Ariëns (the fama sanctitatis) are not enough for an elevation to blessedness. Then it is necessary that there is at least an answered prayer of an intercession, which is obtained as a special event or working of the Grace of God through the intercession of the future blessed. A miracle, therefore. A miracle is established by an ecclesiastical court, which hears the witnesses and if there is a special event in the sense of healing from illness or other ailments, the ecclesiastical court must hear at least three involved employees from the medical world.
If they declare that with their knowledge they have no explanation for the special event, then the Church can give the judgment that the Grace of God was active here through the intercession of the future blessed. The judgment of such an ecclesiastical court about such a special event always leads to a beatification. For a saint to be canonized, another miracle is required, or a special event at the intercession of the blessed person in question.
Finally
Working on the beatification of Alphons Ariëns sometimes seems like a prayer without end. Sometimes it also seems as if Ariëns himself does not feel like it. But for us it remains true: what was started by Ruijs de Beerenbrouck and his generation, we will continue and complete.
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