LEAVES Website for September-October 2010 Issue
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column
Although September is officially in the third quarter of the year, it can be an ideal time to begin a new routine. The summer season is gone and schedules go back to “normal.” As we transition from summer to autumn, let us take stock in our prayer life and commit to becoming more fervent in our practice of the Faith.
After a summer hiatus many church ministries start up again in September. Check your local church for different opportunities to serve or new ways to enrich your knowledge and celebration of the Faith. Perhaps there is a Bible study group to join. Maybe you’ve thought about joining the choir and just haven’t yet. Is this the time to make that leap?
When you look at what is available at your parish, don’t think, “Do I HAVE to do that?” Think: “I GET to do that.” Each day give back some small measure to the Lord. If you are awake about 16 hours a day, calculate the amount of time you spend in prayer, spiritual reading and good works. How wonderful if you were able to devote an hour and a half to God daily. Granted, not all of us can separate out that much time each day. That said, there is no reason we can’t dedicate whatever we are doing for the glory of God.
Look for occasions to make the everyday routines a time of blessing. Folding clothes can be done with a prayer on our lips. A pocket New Testament in the glove compartment of the car can be taken out to read during red lights (no driving and reading at the same time, of course). A rosary CD can be popped in at home while housework is being done or prayed along with during the commute to work.
Now that children may have a more regular bedtime because school is in session, this might be a perfect time to teach them a new nighttime prayer or maybe even a new way of praying. Often we instruct our children in prayers of petition and don’t remind them that they should also rest quietly in the Lord and listen for the Lord’s message to them.
Spending time in God’s presence and quietly listening for His words to us is time well spent. We should all make it a point to do this each and every day. Start out with just five minutes and increase the amount of time when possible. You will surely grow in the Faith by resting in the Lord.
… May God grant you abundant blessings - Father Thomas Heier, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”
Prayed to Meet
The Right Man
I was born on Oct. 3rd in St. Therese Hospital. I was supposed to have been named Marie, but the nun inspired my mother to name me Therese, as it was her feast day. Many years later her feast day was changed to Oct. 1st.
Fast forward 50+ years. I was a single mother with six children to raise and many, many struggles to overcome. I was making non-stop novenas to St. Therese for guidance. One of my novena intentions was to meet the right man for me, one who would help me deepen my faith and bring my children to Jesus.
I met the man I prayed for the Sunday after Easter on his birthday, April 12. Two years later on Sunday Oct. 1st, St. Therese’s feast day, we were celebrating my birthday because we would not see each other on Monday, Oct. 3rd. Catching me totally by surprise, he proposed marriage to me.
Jim had no knowledge of my connection to St. Therese, her feast day or my novena. We were married in my parish church on June 17, 2006. Jim continues to be an incredible blessing to all of us. I thank God and St. Therese every day - Therese.
Saints Intervene
I am a widow and read the LEAVES magazine from cover to cover as soon as I get it.
I had been praying to the saints for a miracle to happen that I might get a new job and it happened. I also prayed for the financial resources to be able to help a family member get relocated and that happened too.
These things could not have taken place without the intervention of Ss. Therese, Jude, Joseph, Anthony and Fr. Engelmar for finding a place we could afford. I prayed as well to Our Holy Mother and St. Anne. I prayed daily to them all and was helped. I am going to start a new novena in hopes that my children will get work soon, as they have been unemployed for months. Thanks be to God and all the holy saints - Name Withheld.
St. Anthony Finds Ring
On Christmas night our grandson called to say that his wife had lost her engagement ring sometime that day and that they had retraced their steps, searching at all the places they had visited, but without success. I commenced a search at our house, since they had been with us in the morning, but still no luck.
I then said a prayer to St. Anthony, begging his intercession and promising I would write LEAVES if the ring were found. Well, not an hour later my grandson called with the grand news that his wife found the ring. Where? - At the bottom of her purse. Thank you, St. Anthony! - Janice Giorlando.
Excerpted from Father Engelmar Testimonies
There is now available a novena to Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig, C.M.M. You may receive a free copy of it by sending a stamped (postage for one ounce, currently 44 cents), self-addressed envelope to us at:
LEAVES
P.O. Box 87
Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
Venerable
Father Engelmar
In July 2009 Pope Benedict promulgated a decree recognizing the heroic virtues of four Servants of God, and among them was our Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig. It means that now he has merited the title “Venerable” and deserves to be venerated with it.
The next title he may earn is Blessed, but to attain this, there must be an authentic miracle from God obtained through Fr. Engelmar’s intercession. Two apparent miracles have already been reported and submitted to the Holy See, and it will decide if one of them is truly authentic.
Once he is Blessed, he may earn the highest title of all: Saint. To attain this, there must be a second authentic miracle. Continue to pray to God that, if it is His will, Fr. Engelmar may eventually be declared a saint.
My donation is in thanks for the intercession of Fr. Engelmar for a favor received on some blood work I had done. It was not completely what it should be, but with the help of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, Fr. Engelmar and all the saints I pray to, hopefully I will get there - C.R.
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I am writing to tell about a miracle, I feel, that was a direct result of saying a novena to Fr. Engelmar. I have to say that I was also praying for the same miracle to dear St. Joseph, dear Brother Andre, dear St. Anne, dear Blessed Mother and dear St. Theresa along with dear Fr. Engelmar and I sincerely thank them all. I have received other miracles through the intercession of all these saints.
My daughter is not able to work and was refused government disability, so in order to fight that, we had to go to a tribunal which consisted of three people asking all kinds of questions. Needless to say, this did not go very well and it certainly appeared that she would not be granted the disability. I just felt sick, so I decided to say a novena to dear Fr. Engelmar. It’s strange, but as soon as I started, I just couldn’t let myself think that she would not be approved.
Well, she got a letter which said she was approved and that the government disability people had 90 days to appeal the decision of the tribunal.
I continued with my novenas and very recently she received a letter saying that she was approved and that she would soon see payment. I truly feel this is a miracle and thank God and the intercession of dear Fr. Engelmar along with all the saints I mentioned above for this miracle. I don’t know how my daughter and I would have been able to handle this if she was rejected, since this would have meant hiring a lawyer to go to the next stage. This would have been very stressful and expensive - M.S.
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Thank you, Fr. Engelmar, for your intercessions for the favor of employment for my son - Name Withheld.
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I am so thankful that LEAVES is informing everyone of all the extraordinary saints that were once on this earth and are now in heaven helping all of us who call on them. I must tell about a great spiritual answer to my constant prayers of the novena to honor Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig.
Around the last week of November 2009 I started having excruciating pain in a spot in the middle of my left foot where it starts to join to my left leg. If I lay down it was horrible. When I stood up or sat up, it went away. I was tested to see if I had blood clots and did not have any.
My doctors thought it was a nerve issue, but I had no relief from the pain and no sleep. I held the photo of Fr. Engelmar in my hand and prayed his novena without stopping from the first week in December until mid-January of 2010. On the 13th I knew that I had to keep trusting God to help me and I knew that Fr. Engelmar was pleading on my behalf.
My legs were becoming so swollen from having to sit up all night that I was almost out of my mind from no sleep for over six weeks. After midnight of the night of Jan. 12, I was crying and still praying to Fr. Engelmar to help me. I was trying to keep my legs up on a pillow and begged God to let me be able to stand the pain long enough to help my legs. I had a little clock near the bed and I looked at the time to see how long I could stand to lay flat with my legs on the pillows, when suddenly at 3:00 a.m. the pain mercifully went away and never came back.
That was Jan. 13, 2010, at 3:00 a.m. I thank God for His mercy and His wonderful saint, Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig. Never stop praying and never stop believing. I also want to thank St. Anthony for being so close and St. Theresa during this very trying time - D.M.Z.
Novena in Honor of
Abbot Francis Pfanner
Abbot Francis Pfanner founded the Monastery of Mariannhill 100 years ago. Abbot Francis was not only a great missionary, but also a holy man. The cause for his beatification has begun. We have available a novena in his honor and will send you a free copy of it when you send a stamped ($0.44 for 1 oz.), self-addressed envelope to:
LEAVES
P.O. Box 87
Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
Prayer to Our Lady
Of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, I place myself and all my family members into the garden of your Immaculate Heart. Cover us all with the mantel of your love. Enrich the soil of our hearts with the virtue of humility that is in the heart of Mary.
Water us with the abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit. Warm us with the sunshine of your graces, given to you by God.
Help us to blossom into the persons God wants us to be, and to bear much good fruit for the glory of God. Help our lives to reflect the beauty of God’s creation.
Give us joy and peace knowing that we are striving to do God’s will.
I ask for the conversion of the whole world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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My Mother, My Confidence
O Mary Immaculate, the precious name of Mother of Confidence, with which we honor thee, fills our hearts to overflowing with the sweetest consolation and moves us to hope for every blessing from thee. If such a title has been given to thee, it is a sure sign that no one has recourse to thee in vain. Accept therefore with a mother’s love our devout homage, as we earnestly beseech thee to be gracious unto us in our every need. Above all do we pray thee to make us live in constant union with thee and thy divine Son Jesus. With thee as our guide, we are certain that we shall ever walk in the right way that it will be our happy lot to hear thee say on the last day of our life those words of comfort: “Come then, my good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” Amen.
My Mother, my Confidence!
New Icon of
Father Engelmar
Readers of LEAVES remember that in 2005 we agreed to have Sister Nancy Lee Smith, IHM, “write” an icon of Father Engelmar Unzeitig, CMM. Many of you donated to pay the full cost of it. You see the beautiful finished icon on the front cover of this issue.
It took Sister Nancy longer to complete the icon than she planned. After making a pilgrimage to Europe in 2006 to important sites in the life of Fr. Engelmar — also paid for by your generous donations — she expected to finish the icon in two years, because she had some other commissions to do first. Unfortunately she encountered serious health problems with her back and knee and a frustrating difficulty in getting the gold leaf to adhere properly because of a new glue required by law. She finished the icon this May, but regrets the long unavoidable delay.
The icon measures 20 x 24 inches and is 1¾ inch-thick mahogany. It has layers of sizing (glue), fabric and pigments. Most noticeable is the attractive real gold leaf.
LEAVES will have Sister Nancy explain what is spiritually and graphically depicted in the icon and even tell a bit how it is made. It will be on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 19, at 2:00 in the large chapel -- by the bell tower -- here at our monastery on 23715 Ann Arbor Trail, Dearborn Heights, Mich., 313-561-7140. All readers and friends of LEAVES are cordially invited to this exposition.
Food for
Starving Children
[Even though the following story did not happen in Zimbabwe, the same food is being distributed there with the same good effects as experienced by Lucky -- the Editors.]
One of the test sites for our new MannaPack-Potato is in Sharpville, a very poor area outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. The doctors discovered a little boy named Lucky Nqdo who was very sick with acute diarrhea. He was only two years old, very lethargic and dehydrated. He could no longer walk and was experiencing diarrhea every fifteen minutes. He would not last long in this condition.
The doctors had a bag of our MannaPack-Potato with them and immediately had it prepared. Even though Lucky had not been able to eat or drink anything for days, he immediately began eating the MannaPack. They fed him ¼ of a bag over the next four hours and his diarrhea completely stopped. The food clearly saved his life!
We got to meet Lucky last Thursday [two weeks later] at the church crèche (day care), and the only problem the ladies at the church have with him now is he is a little too rowdy -- Mark Crea.
[Mark Crea is the executive director/CEO of Feed My Starving Children, the organization that provides the food free for shipment to Zimbabwe.]
Work
By Margaret Peterson
Thank you, God, for giving us
The gift of work to do.
It helps us fill the hours and
To make a living too.
I’m sure that’s why You gave us hands -
It’s very clear to me -
To sculpt or paint or cook or bake
Or build homes skillfully.
It also builds up self-esteem
Whenever we do our best.
May all our work show quality
And by our God be blest.