LEAVES Website for January-February 2021 Issue
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column:
According to the Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe, Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, prayer, charity and action for building a better world are at the center of Pope Francis’ heart. These three main principles were highlighted by the Holy Father during the pandemic crisis and he has invited all Catholics around the world to embrace them. Ash Wednesday is on Feb. 17 and these principles would do well to accompany us especially throughout Lent this year.
Often people think of the Lenten Season as a time of giving up something. While fast and abstinence are very worthwhile efforts, we should also think of doing things. For example, the money we save from not eating meat on Fridays could be donated to a local food bank or another charity that feeds the poor.
Any hunger pains we might feel during fasting should prompt us to offer a quick prayer for those who are food insecure. We also should offer up prayers of thanksgiving for the food on our own tables and for all those who help get it there, such as the farmers, food processers, truck drivers and grocery store employees.
Grand gestures for improving the world we live in are certainly noble but may not be possible all the time. However, small kindnesses done often can truly make a difference. Extending a kind word to a busy cashier will certainly make their day more pleasant. Sending a get well card to someone who is ill and offering to run an errand for them can lift that person’s spirits during a challenging time.
We build a better world by caring and sharing. We must treat people and the environment gently and lovingly. Whatever resources we have as individuals and as communities should not be hoarded by a few, but rather shared equally and enjoyed by all.
The Holy Father reminds us that during difficult times “the Lord asks us and, in the midst of our tempest, invites us to reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering. Prayer and quiet service: These are our victorious weapons.”
There are so many things we simply cannot control – sickness, poverty, inequalities. Still, we have tools to use to play our part in making this a better world both near and far. This Lenten Season let us practice prayer, charity and service on a daily basis.
March 2 is the feast day of Bl. Engelmar Unzeitig. As our dear LEAVES family is well aware, Bl. Engelmar, a Mariannhill priest who was martyred at the Dachau Concentration camp in World War II, has proven to be a powerful intercessor for those of us who call upon him. Each issue of LEAVES contains numerous stories of his intercession.
Bl. Engelmar died comforting those who were suffering the ravages of typhus. When even the tough SS guards would not enter the sick areas of the camp, Bl. Engelmar voluntarily went there. Thankfully, most of us will never be asked to give up our lives on behalf of our Faith; however, we can still follow Bl. Engelmar’s example of steadfast adherence to his Church. He preached and lived the Gospel of Christ to the very end.
We too can boldly live out our Faith. Whether it is providing comfort for the sick or other aid for the less fortunate, we can do so without reservation. As the old saying goes, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Let love abide within us and in all that we do always. Bl. Engelmar, pray for us!
Happy New Year to our dear LEAVES family! May God grant you and your loved ones abundant blessings throughout 2021 and always! – Fr. Thomas Heier, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”:
Persevering in Prayer!
I really appreciate the LEAVES magazine and read it from cover to cover.
In one of the issues I read that someone had prayed to St. Anthony for a lost item. The person kept persevering in prayer to St. Anthony and the item eventually was found.
On Oct. 14 I came back from a weekend trip to Oklahoma. It was a horrible trip and not at all pleasant. When I got home and back to Michigan, I found that my very beautiful tanzanite earrings were missing. I searched through all my belongings and could not find them.
Although the expensive earrings were insured, I would have had to file a police report. I prayed to St. Anthony but soon gave up thinking they would ever be found. Then I read in LEAVES about persevering in prayer, so I began to pray again to St. Anthony to find the earrings.
On the day of my brother Joseph’s funeral the following February, the earrings showed up! My brother loved blue and I wanted to wear blue for his funeral. Of course, my total tanzanite collection was complete because the earrings were found in another small box.
I always give a donation in honor of St. Anthony’s Bread. I thank the person who wrote to LEAVES about persevering in prayer about finding missing items. God bless Mariannhill’s work! – Nancy.
Religious Articles
Still Not Returned
I recently suffered a car fire and now need a reliable car. The salvage company has not given me all my possessions back yet. I am still asking them for them, but it seems hopeless. I pray mostly to receive my blue, embroidered Ave Maria rosary case that housed my jubilee red rosary that had attached to it relic medals from my youth, and to receive my beloved Chaplets of the Holy Face and of St. Michael & the Nine Choirs of Angels.
Know, dear LEAVES family, that you and your intentions remain in my prayers – Colette B., OCDS.
Desperate Prayers Heard
I must spread the good news of answered prayers in a most desperate of situations. Prayers were said for family help and family health that my entire family needed. I said many rosaries and novenas, which gave me great hope and peace.
If I had a moment, no matter what I was doing, working, cooking, cleaning, etc., I continued to pray. I promised God, Jesus, Mother Mary and St. Therese that I would document and let others know the good news of answered prayers.
I prayed the Nine-Day Novena to St. Joseph and the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows. I also turned for intercession to Ss. Therese, Padre Pio and Michael and my guardian angel. I tried to follow the little “ways” of St. Therese the Little Flower. God is not looking for huge deeds, but rather little ones that can make up for a lot.
I also asked Mother Mary to guide me in my thoughts during these difficult times and to treat situations as she would. This all worked and all my prayers were answered. I give full thanks to Jesus, Mother Mary and all the saints and full thanks to God and I praise God. He never let me down – RuthAnne J.
Excerpted from Blessed Engelmar Testimonies:
A Life of
Blessed Engelmar
There is now available a booklet of the life of Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, C.M.M. You may receive a free copy of it by sending a stamped (postage for one ounce), self-addressed envelope to us at: LEAVES, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
My donation is due to a Bl. Engelmar novena that I started this morning. I am 54 years old and was diagnosed bipolar over 30 years ago. I have had the same psychiatrist since that day. It has not been an easy journey with him, to say the very least, but I stuck it out. I have been on a self-quarantine since Mar. 20. My last appointment with my doctor was Mar. 4. I have not talked with him since. He has basically abandoned me throughout this horrific pandemic. I tried numerous ways to get in touch with him to no avail. I am praying to Bl. Engelmar for a new, spectacular psychiatrist who actually cares about me. My meds run out soon, so I have to get myself in gear to find one pretty quickly. Bipolar is a serious illness and the right doctor is key. Please pray for me. With much gratitude – J.K.
+ + +
Thanksgiving for prayers answered through the Lord Jesus, Ss. Jude and Camillus, and also Bl. Engelmar that my daughter-in-law started talking to my daughter again after a misunderstanding, and thanks also to Bl. Engelmar that my husband made it through serious surgery and they got all the cancer and he is able to use his right leg again – J.B.
+ + +
My contribution is a thank you for my answered novena. I promised Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig that, if my novena was answered through his intercession, I would make the Mariannhill Missionaries aware of my answered novena, along with the promised donation.
It took almost two years of prayer. Sometimes I wondered if I was praying for the right thing, asking after every prayer that my son would get a better job with benefits and security and that, if this was not in God’s plans, to make his business more profitable. Many times I felt that my prayers were falling on deaf ears. Yet, I did not give up, keeping the faith and praying daily for the same intention.
My son went on an interview over a year ago. He was told that he was qualified for the job and would just have to wait for the right opening. Like I said previously, I had my doubts that this job was meant for him.
Was God ever going to answer my prayers? Almost a year and a half of time passed and my son started his new job. He is happy and making a decent salary with promises of raises and guaranteed job security.
I guess God was testing our faith. I should mention how devoted my son was in praying as well, asking daily what direction he should be taking. God surely answered our prayers. All I can say is never give up on prayers and the faith, no matter how long it takes. God will somehow show us His plans.
Thank you! A faithful reader of LEAVES for over 50 years. God bless the Mariannhill Missionaries – Rita.
Catholic Press Month
Each year we celebrate Catholic Press Month during February. We love our dear LEAVES family and rejoice whenever we can expand it. Please consider sending us the names of anyone you think might enjoy our little magazine. We will gladly send them a free copy. There is no obligation and no cost to our subscribers. Our mailing list is not shared, so our readers do not receive junk mail from others if they subscribe to LEAVES.
Love expands with each new addition to a family. Please help us grow our family of Faith. God bless our dear LEAVES family!
Here is just a note from one of our LEAVES family members:
“Thank you very much for the LEAVES magazine and making us all members of the LEAVES family. We all have a story to tell and the love and prayers that are published in your little magazine give a good account of that! It is of great importance that the rest of the family knows of the wants and needs of our fellow members so that we can pray for them. I know that I have been a recipient of these prayers and am thankful for those who communicate with our living God. May the Lord, Jesus Christ, greatly bless you and all the work of the Mariannhill Missionaries! Your brother in the brethren of the Lord” – Bob B.
Novena in Honor of
Abbot Francis Pfanner
Abbot Francis Pfanner founded Mariannhill Monastery, and 111 years ago its monks became the Congregation of Missionaries of Mariannhill. He 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 (postage for one ounce), self-addressed envelope to us at: LEAVES, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
Prayer to St. Rita
When in Special Need
O powerful St. Rita, rightly called Saint of the Impossible, I come to you with confidence in my great need. You know well my trials, for you yourself were many times burdened in this life. Come to my help, speak for me, pray with me, and intercede on my behalf before the Father. I know that God has a most generous heart and that He is a most loving Father. Join your prayers to mine and obtain for me the grace I desire (name it here).
You who were so very pleasing to God on earth and are so much so now in heaven, I promise to use this favor, when granted, to better my life, to proclaim God’s mercy and to make you more widely known and loved. Amen.
Prayer for Life
We believe all life is precious from conception through old age to death. Please join in praying for the protection of the unborn. To help stop the anti-life push in the U.S., the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen encouraged the spiritual adoption of an unborn child. Pray that one particular but unknown child’s life be spared from abortion and be allowed to continue to live. It is recommended that an individual say the following prayer for a period of one year:
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen.
To See the Face of God
By Bernice Laux
Take time in this world
to see in life such beauty unfurled.
The God above in people I know
sends His love.
There is no way to reach
the far beyond,
to touch a hand of those so loved,
now gone!
Perhaps they will hold a place
for all of us who long to see
God’s holy face!
Precious Time
By Margaret Peterson
Does it really matter how we spend our time,
or what we may choose to do in it?
Does it matter if it was frittered away
with nothing to show for each minute?
Time is more than what it seems to be.
It’s a chance to live God’s way or yours,
asking His guidance at the start of a day
so everything is blest, even chores.
One day we’ll see the results of our choices
when we’re happy in heaven above,
enjoying rewards for doing God’s will
all of our life, with love.
It Matters Not
By Grace E. Easley
Do not remind me, gentle friend,
“I shall not pass this way again.”
It matters not to me today
who loved each step along the way.
Thank God I have not been deprived
of windy hills when spring arrived,
nor missed the summer twilight when
the stars lit up the night again.
The sweetest moments I recall
were down a golden lane in fall.
The dearest face I’ll ever know
looked down at me through winter snow.
A heart wherein such things remain
… cares not to pass this way again.
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column:
According to the Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe, Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, prayer, charity and action for building a better world are at the center of Pope Francis’ heart. These three main principles were highlighted by the Holy Father during the pandemic crisis and he has invited all Catholics around the world to embrace them. Ash Wednesday is on Feb. 17 and these principles would do well to accompany us especially throughout Lent this year.
Often people think of the Lenten Season as a time of giving up something. While fast and abstinence are very worthwhile efforts, we should also think of doing things. For example, the money we save from not eating meat on Fridays could be donated to a local food bank or another charity that feeds the poor.
Any hunger pains we might feel during fasting should prompt us to offer a quick prayer for those who are food insecure. We also should offer up prayers of thanksgiving for the food on our own tables and for all those who help get it there, such as the farmers, food processers, truck drivers and grocery store employees.
Grand gestures for improving the world we live in are certainly noble but may not be possible all the time. However, small kindnesses done often can truly make a difference. Extending a kind word to a busy cashier will certainly make their day more pleasant. Sending a get well card to someone who is ill and offering to run an errand for them can lift that person’s spirits during a challenging time.
We build a better world by caring and sharing. We must treat people and the environment gently and lovingly. Whatever resources we have as individuals and as communities should not be hoarded by a few, but rather shared equally and enjoyed by all.
The Holy Father reminds us that during difficult times “the Lord asks us and, in the midst of our tempest, invites us to reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering. Prayer and quiet service: These are our victorious weapons.”
There are so many things we simply cannot control – sickness, poverty, inequalities. Still, we have tools to use to play our part in making this a better world both near and far. This Lenten Season let us practice prayer, charity and service on a daily basis.
March 2 is the feast day of Bl. Engelmar Unzeitig. As our dear LEAVES family is well aware, Bl. Engelmar, a Mariannhill priest who was martyred at the Dachau Concentration camp in World War II, has proven to be a powerful intercessor for those of us who call upon him. Each issue of LEAVES contains numerous stories of his intercession.
Bl. Engelmar died comforting those who were suffering the ravages of typhus. When even the tough SS guards would not enter the sick areas of the camp, Bl. Engelmar voluntarily went there. Thankfully, most of us will never be asked to give up our lives on behalf of our Faith; however, we can still follow Bl. Engelmar’s example of steadfast adherence to his Church. He preached and lived the Gospel of Christ to the very end.
We too can boldly live out our Faith. Whether it is providing comfort for the sick or other aid for the less fortunate, we can do so without reservation. As the old saying goes, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Let love abide within us and in all that we do always. Bl. Engelmar, pray for us!
Happy New Year to our dear LEAVES family! May God grant you and your loved ones abundant blessings throughout 2021 and always! – Fr. Thomas Heier, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”:
Persevering in Prayer!
I really appreciate the LEAVES magazine and read it from cover to cover.
In one of the issues I read that someone had prayed to St. Anthony for a lost item. The person kept persevering in prayer to St. Anthony and the item eventually was found.
On Oct. 14 I came back from a weekend trip to Oklahoma. It was a horrible trip and not at all pleasant. When I got home and back to Michigan, I found that my very beautiful tanzanite earrings were missing. I searched through all my belongings and could not find them.
Although the expensive earrings were insured, I would have had to file a police report. I prayed to St. Anthony but soon gave up thinking they would ever be found. Then I read in LEAVES about persevering in prayer, so I began to pray again to St. Anthony to find the earrings.
On the day of my brother Joseph’s funeral the following February, the earrings showed up! My brother loved blue and I wanted to wear blue for his funeral. Of course, my total tanzanite collection was complete because the earrings were found in another small box.
I always give a donation in honor of St. Anthony’s Bread. I thank the person who wrote to LEAVES about persevering in prayer about finding missing items. God bless Mariannhill’s work! – Nancy.
Religious Articles
Still Not Returned
I recently suffered a car fire and now need a reliable car. The salvage company has not given me all my possessions back yet. I am still asking them for them, but it seems hopeless. I pray mostly to receive my blue, embroidered Ave Maria rosary case that housed my jubilee red rosary that had attached to it relic medals from my youth, and to receive my beloved Chaplets of the Holy Face and of St. Michael & the Nine Choirs of Angels.
Know, dear LEAVES family, that you and your intentions remain in my prayers – Colette B., OCDS.
Desperate Prayers Heard
I must spread the good news of answered prayers in a most desperate of situations. Prayers were said for family help and family health that my entire family needed. I said many rosaries and novenas, which gave me great hope and peace.
If I had a moment, no matter what I was doing, working, cooking, cleaning, etc., I continued to pray. I promised God, Jesus, Mother Mary and St. Therese that I would document and let others know the good news of answered prayers.
I prayed the Nine-Day Novena to St. Joseph and the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows. I also turned for intercession to Ss. Therese, Padre Pio and Michael and my guardian angel. I tried to follow the little “ways” of St. Therese the Little Flower. God is not looking for huge deeds, but rather little ones that can make up for a lot.
I also asked Mother Mary to guide me in my thoughts during these difficult times and to treat situations as she would. This all worked and all my prayers were answered. I give full thanks to Jesus, Mother Mary and all the saints and full thanks to God and I praise God. He never let me down – RuthAnne J.
Excerpted from Blessed Engelmar Testimonies:
A Life of
Blessed Engelmar
There is now available a booklet of the life of Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, C.M.M. You may receive a free copy of it by sending a stamped (postage for one ounce), self-addressed envelope to us at: LEAVES, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
My donation is due to a Bl. Engelmar novena that I started this morning. I am 54 years old and was diagnosed bipolar over 30 years ago. I have had the same psychiatrist since that day. It has not been an easy journey with him, to say the very least, but I stuck it out. I have been on a self-quarantine since Mar. 20. My last appointment with my doctor was Mar. 4. I have not talked with him since. He has basically abandoned me throughout this horrific pandemic. I tried numerous ways to get in touch with him to no avail. I am praying to Bl. Engelmar for a new, spectacular psychiatrist who actually cares about me. My meds run out soon, so I have to get myself in gear to find one pretty quickly. Bipolar is a serious illness and the right doctor is key. Please pray for me. With much gratitude – J.K.
+ + +
Thanksgiving for prayers answered through the Lord Jesus, Ss. Jude and Camillus, and also Bl. Engelmar that my daughter-in-law started talking to my daughter again after a misunderstanding, and thanks also to Bl. Engelmar that my husband made it through serious surgery and they got all the cancer and he is able to use his right leg again – J.B.
+ + +
My contribution is a thank you for my answered novena. I promised Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig that, if my novena was answered through his intercession, I would make the Mariannhill Missionaries aware of my answered novena, along with the promised donation.
It took almost two years of prayer. Sometimes I wondered if I was praying for the right thing, asking after every prayer that my son would get a better job with benefits and security and that, if this was not in God’s plans, to make his business more profitable. Many times I felt that my prayers were falling on deaf ears. Yet, I did not give up, keeping the faith and praying daily for the same intention.
My son went on an interview over a year ago. He was told that he was qualified for the job and would just have to wait for the right opening. Like I said previously, I had my doubts that this job was meant for him.
Was God ever going to answer my prayers? Almost a year and a half of time passed and my son started his new job. He is happy and making a decent salary with promises of raises and guaranteed job security.
I guess God was testing our faith. I should mention how devoted my son was in praying as well, asking daily what direction he should be taking. God surely answered our prayers. All I can say is never give up on prayers and the faith, no matter how long it takes. God will somehow show us His plans.
Thank you! A faithful reader of LEAVES for over 50 years. God bless the Mariannhill Missionaries – Rita.
Catholic Press Month
Each year we celebrate Catholic Press Month during February. We love our dear LEAVES family and rejoice whenever we can expand it. Please consider sending us the names of anyone you think might enjoy our little magazine. We will gladly send them a free copy. There is no obligation and no cost to our subscribers. Our mailing list is not shared, so our readers do not receive junk mail from others if they subscribe to LEAVES.
Love expands with each new addition to a family. Please help us grow our family of Faith. God bless our dear LEAVES family!
Here is just a note from one of our LEAVES family members:
“Thank you very much for the LEAVES magazine and making us all members of the LEAVES family. We all have a story to tell and the love and prayers that are published in your little magazine give a good account of that! It is of great importance that the rest of the family knows of the wants and needs of our fellow members so that we can pray for them. I know that I have been a recipient of these prayers and am thankful for those who communicate with our living God. May the Lord, Jesus Christ, greatly bless you and all the work of the Mariannhill Missionaries! Your brother in the brethren of the Lord” – Bob B.
Novena in Honor of
Abbot Francis Pfanner
Abbot Francis Pfanner founded Mariannhill Monastery, and 111 years ago its monks became the Congregation of Missionaries of Mariannhill. He 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 (postage for one ounce), self-addressed envelope to us at: LEAVES, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
Prayer to St. Rita
When in Special Need
O powerful St. Rita, rightly called Saint of the Impossible, I come to you with confidence in my great need. You know well my trials, for you yourself were many times burdened in this life. Come to my help, speak for me, pray with me, and intercede on my behalf before the Father. I know that God has a most generous heart and that He is a most loving Father. Join your prayers to mine and obtain for me the grace I desire (name it here).
You who were so very pleasing to God on earth and are so much so now in heaven, I promise to use this favor, when granted, to better my life, to proclaim God’s mercy and to make you more widely known and loved. Amen.
Prayer for Life
We believe all life is precious from conception through old age to death. Please join in praying for the protection of the unborn. To help stop the anti-life push in the U.S., the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen encouraged the spiritual adoption of an unborn child. Pray that one particular but unknown child’s life be spared from abortion and be allowed to continue to live. It is recommended that an individual say the following prayer for a period of one year:
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen.
To See the Face of God
By Bernice Laux
Take time in this world
to see in life such beauty unfurled.
The God above in people I know
sends His love.
There is no way to reach
the far beyond,
to touch a hand of those so loved,
now gone!
Perhaps they will hold a place
for all of us who long to see
God’s holy face!
Precious Time
By Margaret Peterson
Does it really matter how we spend our time,
or what we may choose to do in it?
Does it matter if it was frittered away
with nothing to show for each minute?
Time is more than what it seems to be.
It’s a chance to live God’s way or yours,
asking His guidance at the start of a day
so everything is blest, even chores.
One day we’ll see the results of our choices
when we’re happy in heaven above,
enjoying rewards for doing God’s will
all of our life, with love.
It Matters Not
By Grace E. Easley
Do not remind me, gentle friend,
“I shall not pass this way again.”
It matters not to me today
who loved each step along the way.
Thank God I have not been deprived
of windy hills when spring arrived,
nor missed the summer twilight when
the stars lit up the night again.
The sweetest moments I recall
were down a golden lane in fall.
The dearest face I’ll ever know
looked down at me through winter snow.
A heart wherein such things remain
… cares not to pass this way again.