Father Paul Wattson, SA, Servant of God, Apostle of Christian Unity and charity

Father Paul was born on January 16, 1863 in Millington, Maryland, to Rev. Joseph Wattson and Mary Electa Wattson, and baptized Lewis Thomas Wattson. He was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1886. In 1898, in collaboration with an Episcopal sister, Lurana White, he helped to found the Society of the Atonement, taking vows of Franciscan poverty, obedience and chastity at Graymoor in Garrison, NY, with the mission of promoting Christian unity.

A LEGACY OF AT-ONE-MENT

Founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, Servant of God Father Paul of Graymoor was a true apostle of Christian Unity and charity, an ardent Franciscan, missionary of At-One-Ment and leader. His life purpose and legacy was work for the realization of Christ’s prayer at the Last Supper: “That all may be one: as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” (John 17:21)

This legacy of At-One-Ment, and the example of his life and work have drawn others into the world to be bridge builders, peace makers and reconcilers.

CAUSE FOR CANONIZATION

Timothy Cardinal Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York formally opened the Cause for Canonization of Father Paul on Tuesday, September 22, 2015 in New York City. On March 9, 2017, at the New York Catholic Center, documents and artifacts illustrating the holiness of the life of Servant of God were sealed for shipment to Rome. Father Paul was an indefatigable servant of God whose work was to spread the Kingdom of God on earth. He had the heart of a Franciscan and the missionary zeal of St. Paul, as evidenced by his many publications, sermons and letters he left behind, and the Ave Maria Hour Radio Show which brought the words of the gospel and the lives of the saints into people’s homes.

As there can be no crown without the cross, so there could be no atonement without the shedding of Christ’s most precious blood.  The precious blood and the atonement, therefore, are essentially and eternally related. – Fr. Paul Wattson (The Lamp July 1912 pp.169-170)