LEAVES Website for May-June 2025 Issue
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column:
Dear Friends of Leaves,
You may not have realized it, but I was not very present during the month of January. I spent eight full days in the hospital, unable to get rid of some short wind and liquid that was affecting my heart. My doctors finally managed to help me get rid of this.
Many thanks to all those who prayed for me during that time. So on the 11th of January I was able to get back home. But I still had to recuperate and get back my energy. That took longer than I expected.
In the meantime, my youngest brother, Fr. Yvon Sheehy, who is a Priest of the Sacred Heart, had to go to the hospital in Milwaukee for a slight heart attack. My sister who lives in Keene, N.H. rang him up to see how he was doing.
My brother was in a good mood and told her, “Don’t worry. I have the best heart doctors in Milwaukee and I trust them.” After three days in the hospital, he seemed to be doing well and was discharged to his place at Hales Corner. That night, he had another heart attack and he passed away.
Fr. Yvon was 74 years old and he was very active, helping the younger SCJ confreres from various countries who come to Hales Corner to learn English and to get used to the English language and to get to learn more about life in the U.S.A.
It was quite a blow for my family and for the Priests of the Sacred Heart, as well. It was at a time, when I was not really able to go to Milwaukee. So my brother, Raymond, from Ocala in Florida, my sister from Keene, N.H., and my brother, Francis, from northern Vermont went to Milwaukee. The oldest nephew, Nick, came and joined them from California to attend the funeral.
I have to say that this was a bit hard for me. As the oldest of the family, I was unable to attend my brother’s funeral. But I had a lot of people who prayed for me, that all would go well.
I must admit the Lord was very good to me. The night before the funeral, I received the parish bulletin from St. Sabina parish in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, where we help out whenever there is a need for an extra priest. Inside the bulletin, an article caught my attention. The title was: “On the Death of a Loved One.”
The article went like this:
God saw you were getting tired
And a cure was not to be,
So he put his arms around you
And whispered, “Come to Me.”
With tearful eyes we watched you,
And saw you pass away.
Although we loved you dearly,
We could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating.
Hard working hands at rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best.
These words caught my attention as though the Good Lord was talking to me. His words were so powerful that all I could say was: “AMEN.”
Thank you so much for all your prayers and your support that was sent during this time. Help me thank the Lord for these soothing words I needed so much at that time. They were just what I needed. Miracles still do happen - Fr. Michael Sheehy, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”:
Bringing Back
Childhood Memories
As a family, over 50 years ago, we could get very excited about cracking an egg open with the delight of finding a double yolk. Today, I cracked two eggs in the same frying pan and found four egg yolks. Even though I am deep into being a senior citizen, when it is time to fry eggs, I still have my eyes eager to gaze on double yolks.
Simple childhood memories carry delight with them. This brings one to realize the value of parents teaching their children to pray. When parents go over the same prayers on a regular routine, it brings the child’s mind to a memorization created by our Creator for the benefit of the souls of the children and our Catholic world – Andrea R.
Novena Helps Meeting
I am sending a donation for answers to prayers. I prayed the Three-Day Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary (never known to fail). My intention was that a meeting with a couple that could have caused many problems for me would go well.
I said the novena and gave my worries up to Our Mother to take care of it. The thought of this meeting had been causing much anxiety for me.
Once I said the novena, I forgot about the meeting until the day of it. All went well. All the things I was anxious about did not happen. The couple I was worried about was most agreeable.
I am so grateful to Our Blessed Mother for taking care of this situation for me. She is always someone I can count on to intercede for me
Thank you, for LEAVES magazine, for all the comfort it gives to those who read it. And thank you to Our Blessed Mother. God bless you – Joanne M.
Feeling Alone
I am asking for prayer. Like many others who are facing the changes in body and mind and the fears of aging, I find myself trying to make decisions and changes all alone.
Either there is no one left who cares or those whom I would have depended upon are facing serious problems of their own and they can’t help me and I can’t help them – a sad predicament.
We have our faith, which is steadfast, but the daily challenges are overwhelming sometimes. I pray that I can have the stamina and strength and the mental capacity to take care of some problems, as well as maintaining my vision enough to do these things that I need to do and that I can use the God-given resources I do have left in the best way for me and to glorify Him.
As with so many others, I pray that my loved ones will return to the faith. Thank you – Helaine C.
Excerpted from Blessed Engelmar Testimonies:
A Life of
Blessed Engelmar
There is 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.
+ + +
I am requesting a booklet of Bl. Engelmar’s life. I have been getting LEAVES for over 50 years and look forward to each issue. I read it from cover to cover. I especially enjoyed The Editor’s Desk in the July-August 2024 issue, “God Will Find You.” Thanks for your words and thoughts – Nancy.
+ + +
My donation is in honor of Bl. Engelmar. On the second day of a novena to him to find a placement for our daughter in a wellness clinic (we had exhausted all avenues), our prayers were answered. She is fighting an eating disorder. She is now five weeks into the program and is doing very well. Special thanks also to St. Therese, Our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph!
My prayers and thanks to Mariannhill and your wonderful magazine – M.MacD.
Novena in Honor of
Abbot Francis Pfanner
Abbot Francis Pfanner founded Mariannhill Monastery, and 100 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.
Father’s Day Prayer
God our Father,
in your wisdom and love you made all things.
Bless our father.
Let the example of his faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, his family,
may honor him always
with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mary Queen of All Hearts
O Mary, Queen of All Hearts, advocate of the most hopeless cases, Mother most pure, most compassionate, Mother of Divine Love, full of divine light, we confide to your care the favors we ask of you today (mention your request here).
Consider our misery, our tears, our interior trials and sufferings. We know that you can help us through the merits of your Divine Son Jesus. We promise, if our prayers are heard, to spread your glory by making you known under the title Mary, Queen of All Hearts, Queen of the Universe.
Grant, we beseech you, hear our prayers, for every day you give us so many proofs of your love and your power of intercession to heal both body and soul. We hope against all hope. Ask Jesus to cure us, pardon us, and grant us final perseverance.
O Mary Queen of All Hearts, help us. We have confidence in you. (Three times.)
(Recite this prayer for nine consecutive days and receive the sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist.)
Petition to the
Sacred Heart
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have asked you for many favors but I plead for this one [mention your request here]. Take it, place it in your open broken Heart and when the eternal Father sees it covered with the mantle of your most precious Blood, He will not refuse it. It is not my prayer, but yours.
O Sacred heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you and let me think only of you.
Amen.
[June 27 is the feast day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but the entire month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.]
All for Thee,
O Heart of Jesus
How sweet it is to feel, dear Lord!
That Thou will surely see
Each work, or thought, or act of mine
That may be done for Thee!
That when I try with pure intent
To serve, to please, to love Thee,
Thy watchful Heart each effort known,
Thy blessing rests above me.
Nothing unnoticed, nothing lost
Unlike to man in all things
Grateful art Thou for all I do,
For great as well as small things.
Empty my soul of all desire
Man’s idle praise to seek,
Hide me in Thee, for Thou does know
How frail I am – and weak.
Take Thou my all, since for so long
Thy providence has sought me,
Make me Thine own, since at such cost
Thy precious blood has bought me.
[This poem was in a prayer book by Fr. F.X. Lasance dated 1905. Submitted by Virginia P.]
Letting Go
By Dona Rae
Like children bring their broken toys
with tears for us to mend,
I took my broken dreams to God
because He was my friend.
But then instead of leaving Him
in peace to work alone,
I stayed around and tried to help
through ways which were my own.
At last, I grabbed them back and cried,
How could you be so slow!
My child, He said, what could I do,
you never would let go!
Adversity
By Margaret Peterson
What’s so good about adversity?
Sometimes it makes us cry,
But it also can make us kneel to the Lord
And say, “Dear Lord, help me try.”
And the Lord who hears the smallest prayer
Gives us the grace to try,
And we become stronger for going through trials,
And we’ll see the results by and by.
The Narrow Road
By Kathleen Fessler
A choice of road to take,
The narrow or the wide.
A decision we must make
As on the road we’ll strive.
“Choose the narrow,” Jesus says,
“I’ll be at your side.”
He promises to help us,
To be our strength and guide.
The wide road is the easy one
But leads to darkened pit.
It ends in loss of heaven.
Many travel it.
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column:
Dear Friends of Leaves,
You may not have realized it, but I was not very present during the month of January. I spent eight full days in the hospital, unable to get rid of some short wind and liquid that was affecting my heart. My doctors finally managed to help me get rid of this.
Many thanks to all those who prayed for me during that time. So on the 11th of January I was able to get back home. But I still had to recuperate and get back my energy. That took longer than I expected.
In the meantime, my youngest brother, Fr. Yvon Sheehy, who is a Priest of the Sacred Heart, had to go to the hospital in Milwaukee for a slight heart attack. My sister who lives in Keene, N.H. rang him up to see how he was doing.
My brother was in a good mood and told her, “Don’t worry. I have the best heart doctors in Milwaukee and I trust them.” After three days in the hospital, he seemed to be doing well and was discharged to his place at Hales Corner. That night, he had another heart attack and he passed away.
Fr. Yvon was 74 years old and he was very active, helping the younger SCJ confreres from various countries who come to Hales Corner to learn English and to get used to the English language and to get to learn more about life in the U.S.A.
It was quite a blow for my family and for the Priests of the Sacred Heart, as well. It was at a time, when I was not really able to go to Milwaukee. So my brother, Raymond, from Ocala in Florida, my sister from Keene, N.H., and my brother, Francis, from northern Vermont went to Milwaukee. The oldest nephew, Nick, came and joined them from California to attend the funeral.
I have to say that this was a bit hard for me. As the oldest of the family, I was unable to attend my brother’s funeral. But I had a lot of people who prayed for me, that all would go well.
I must admit the Lord was very good to me. The night before the funeral, I received the parish bulletin from St. Sabina parish in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, where we help out whenever there is a need for an extra priest. Inside the bulletin, an article caught my attention. The title was: “On the Death of a Loved One.”
The article went like this:
God saw you were getting tired
And a cure was not to be,
So he put his arms around you
And whispered, “Come to Me.”
With tearful eyes we watched you,
And saw you pass away.
Although we loved you dearly,
We could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating.
Hard working hands at rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best.
These words caught my attention as though the Good Lord was talking to me. His words were so powerful that all I could say was: “AMEN.”
Thank you so much for all your prayers and your support that was sent during this time. Help me thank the Lord for these soothing words I needed so much at that time. They were just what I needed. Miracles still do happen - Fr. Michael Sheehy, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”:
Bringing Back
Childhood Memories
As a family, over 50 years ago, we could get very excited about cracking an egg open with the delight of finding a double yolk. Today, I cracked two eggs in the same frying pan and found four egg yolks. Even though I am deep into being a senior citizen, when it is time to fry eggs, I still have my eyes eager to gaze on double yolks.
Simple childhood memories carry delight with them. This brings one to realize the value of parents teaching their children to pray. When parents go over the same prayers on a regular routine, it brings the child’s mind to a memorization created by our Creator for the benefit of the souls of the children and our Catholic world – Andrea R.
Novena Helps Meeting
I am sending a donation for answers to prayers. I prayed the Three-Day Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary (never known to fail). My intention was that a meeting with a couple that could have caused many problems for me would go well.
I said the novena and gave my worries up to Our Mother to take care of it. The thought of this meeting had been causing much anxiety for me.
Once I said the novena, I forgot about the meeting until the day of it. All went well. All the things I was anxious about did not happen. The couple I was worried about was most agreeable.
I am so grateful to Our Blessed Mother for taking care of this situation for me. She is always someone I can count on to intercede for me
Thank you, for LEAVES magazine, for all the comfort it gives to those who read it. And thank you to Our Blessed Mother. God bless you – Joanne M.
Feeling Alone
I am asking for prayer. Like many others who are facing the changes in body and mind and the fears of aging, I find myself trying to make decisions and changes all alone.
Either there is no one left who cares or those whom I would have depended upon are facing serious problems of their own and they can’t help me and I can’t help them – a sad predicament.
We have our faith, which is steadfast, but the daily challenges are overwhelming sometimes. I pray that I can have the stamina and strength and the mental capacity to take care of some problems, as well as maintaining my vision enough to do these things that I need to do and that I can use the God-given resources I do have left in the best way for me and to glorify Him.
As with so many others, I pray that my loved ones will return to the faith. Thank you – Helaine C.
Excerpted from Blessed Engelmar Testimonies:
A Life of
Blessed Engelmar
There is 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.
+ + +
I am requesting a booklet of Bl. Engelmar’s life. I have been getting LEAVES for over 50 years and look forward to each issue. I read it from cover to cover. I especially enjoyed The Editor’s Desk in the July-August 2024 issue, “God Will Find You.” Thanks for your words and thoughts – Nancy.
+ + +
My donation is in honor of Bl. Engelmar. On the second day of a novena to him to find a placement for our daughter in a wellness clinic (we had exhausted all avenues), our prayers were answered. She is fighting an eating disorder. She is now five weeks into the program and is doing very well. Special thanks also to St. Therese, Our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph!
My prayers and thanks to Mariannhill and your wonderful magazine – M.MacD.
Novena in Honor of
Abbot Francis Pfanner
Abbot Francis Pfanner founded Mariannhill Monastery, and 100 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.
Father’s Day Prayer
God our Father,
in your wisdom and love you made all things.
Bless our father.
Let the example of his faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, his family,
may honor him always
with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mary Queen of All Hearts
O Mary, Queen of All Hearts, advocate of the most hopeless cases, Mother most pure, most compassionate, Mother of Divine Love, full of divine light, we confide to your care the favors we ask of you today (mention your request here).
Consider our misery, our tears, our interior trials and sufferings. We know that you can help us through the merits of your Divine Son Jesus. We promise, if our prayers are heard, to spread your glory by making you known under the title Mary, Queen of All Hearts, Queen of the Universe.
Grant, we beseech you, hear our prayers, for every day you give us so many proofs of your love and your power of intercession to heal both body and soul. We hope against all hope. Ask Jesus to cure us, pardon us, and grant us final perseverance.
O Mary Queen of All Hearts, help us. We have confidence in you. (Three times.)
(Recite this prayer for nine consecutive days and receive the sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist.)
Petition to the
Sacred Heart
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have asked you for many favors but I plead for this one [mention your request here]. Take it, place it in your open broken Heart and when the eternal Father sees it covered with the mantle of your most precious Blood, He will not refuse it. It is not my prayer, but yours.
O Sacred heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you and let me think only of you.
Amen.
[June 27 is the feast day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but the entire month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.]
All for Thee,
O Heart of Jesus
How sweet it is to feel, dear Lord!
That Thou will surely see
Each work, or thought, or act of mine
That may be done for Thee!
That when I try with pure intent
To serve, to please, to love Thee,
Thy watchful Heart each effort known,
Thy blessing rests above me.
Nothing unnoticed, nothing lost
Unlike to man in all things
Grateful art Thou for all I do,
For great as well as small things.
Empty my soul of all desire
Man’s idle praise to seek,
Hide me in Thee, for Thou does know
How frail I am – and weak.
Take Thou my all, since for so long
Thy providence has sought me,
Make me Thine own, since at such cost
Thy precious blood has bought me.
[This poem was in a prayer book by Fr. F.X. Lasance dated 1905. Submitted by Virginia P.]
Letting Go
By Dona Rae
Like children bring their broken toys
with tears for us to mend,
I took my broken dreams to God
because He was my friend.
But then instead of leaving Him
in peace to work alone,
I stayed around and tried to help
through ways which were my own.
At last, I grabbed them back and cried,
How could you be so slow!
My child, He said, what could I do,
you never would let go!
Adversity
By Margaret Peterson
What’s so good about adversity?
Sometimes it makes us cry,
But it also can make us kneel to the Lord
And say, “Dear Lord, help me try.”
And the Lord who hears the smallest prayer
Gives us the grace to try,
And we become stronger for going through trials,
And we’ll see the results by and by.
The Narrow Road
By Kathleen Fessler
A choice of road to take,
The narrow or the wide.
A decision we must make
As on the road we’ll strive.
“Choose the narrow,” Jesus says,
“I’ll be at your side.”
He promises to help us,
To be our strength and guide.
The wide road is the easy one
But leads to darkened pit.
It ends in loss of heaven.
Many travel it.