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Volume LIV Number 7 National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos In the Redemptorist Church of Saint Mary’s Assumption www.seelos.org 919 Josephine Street New Orleans, LA 70130 (504) 525-2495 July 2015 Daniel Brooks of Alexandria, Louisiana, was desperate. He couldn’t take the pain any longer and he wanted to die. Little did he know that a 19 th century priest from New Orleans would have a hand in his healing. Brooks, 58, had been through 16 surgeries in three different cities since his motorcycle accident in 1986. “A truck hit me and knocked me into a telephone pole on Horseshoe Drive,” he said of the accident that led to six spinal surgeries, five abdominal surgeries, two hips surgeries and three for the thighbone. Some surgeries were in Alexandria; others were in New Orleans and Houston. All that led him to start taking pain pills—hard narcotics. “I got addicted,” he said, “with one surgery after another.” He tried quitting the drugs, but was always overwhelmed by either the pain or the withdrawal symptoms—including nausea and diarrhea. His worst pain, he said, was from a ruptured disc, a pinched nerve and a broken C7 vertebrae. “Very, very sharp—like being stabbed with needles deep inside me,” he said. “I couldn’t turn my head. I have a titanium plate in my neck, and I’ve had three cervical fusions and four lumbar fusions. “I prayed and prayed and couldn’t get relief,” he continued. One day last November he was desperate to be rid of the pain—pain that plagued him for so many years and had become unbearable in recent weeks. “I prayed harder than I have ever prayed that I could go to sleep and die,” he said, noting he did go to sleep and then had a profound dream. In his dream, he explained, he went to a Mass at St. Frances Cabrini Church with his oldest son, Daniel Jr., and his family, and they were the only ones there besides the Rev. Chad Partain, the church pastor. “Father Chad wanted me to go to confession,” he said, continuing to discuss his dream, “and after he gave me absolution, I told him all about my problem, that I was hopelessly addicted to strong narcotics for 3-5 years and couldn’t take it anymore. I said you are a Roman Catholic priest and you have the power to forgive and the power to ‘bind and loose’ (MT 18:18), and you have the power to break this narcotics passion within me. I’m asking you to pray for me.” As the dream continued, Partain came out from the confessional and laid a hand on Brooks’ head and said prayers and then told him to go home and pray a 9-hour novena every hour on the hour to Blessed Father Seelos. If he did, Partain assured him in the dream, “You will get what you ask for.” Soon after Brooks woke up, he was agitated by the dream and called his oldest son and told him about it. “Because he had been in so much pain for two weeks and struggling with withdrawals, I thought it was pretty sensational,” Daniel Brooks Jr. said. “But I figured if it was from God, he would be delivered from the withdrawals and (his severe pain).” So Daniel Jr. encouraged his father to do as Partain told him to do in the dream. Brooks did so—immediately. He held a rosary in his hands as he told his story. Above a nearby door, a small painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus looked down on all in his living room. He said he had never heard of Blessed Father Francis Xavier Seelos before the dream, but after receiving encouragement from his son to say the prayer, he immediately started a novena to Seelos in his own words. “After my final prayer following the ninth hour, I felt a warmth on the back of my neck and was content and happy inside,” Brooks said. “I took my pills and flushed them down the commode, just trusting in God. I went to bed and fell asleep, and slept all night, which I never do. I woke up the next morning feeling great. I kept waiting to go through withdrawals and didn’t. I kept waiting for the pain to come back and it didn’t. I told my son about it and he was in shock.” Rev. Chad Partain & Daniel Brooks BY BOB TOMPKINS “It’s been like night and day. [My father] has personally changed. He’s a different person. . . This was certainly an experience that showed me that the intercession of saints is powerful with God. Thank you, Blessed Father Seelos!” —Daniel Brooks, Jr. (continued on page 3)
Transcript
Page 1: National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos In the ... · PDF fileNational Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos In the Redemptorist Church of Saint Mary’s Assumption ...

Volume LIVNumber 7

National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

In the Redemptorist Church of Saint Mary’s Assumption

www.seelos.org919 Josephine Street New Orleans, LA 70130 (504) 525-2495 July 2015

Daniel Brooks of Alexandria, Louisiana, was desperate. He couldn’t take the pain any longer and he wanted to die. Little did he know that a 19th century priest from New Orleans would have a hand in his healing.

Brooks, 58, had been through 16 surgeries in three different cities since his motorcycle accident in 1986. “A truck hit me and knocked me into a telephone pole on Horseshoe Drive,” he said of the accident that led to six spinal surgeries, five abdominal surgeries, two hips surgeries and three for the thighbone. Some surgeries were in Alexandria; others were in New Orleans and Houston.

All that led him to start taking pain pills—hard narcotics. “I got addicted,” he said, “with one surgery after another.” He tried quitting the drugs, but was always overwhelmed by either the pain or the withdrawal symptoms—including nausea and diarrhea. His worst pain, he said, was from a ruptured disc, a pinched nerve and a broken C7 vertebrae. “Very, very sharp—like being stabbed with needles deep inside me,” he said. “I couldn’t turn my head. I have a titanium plate in my neck, and I’ve had three cervical fusions and four lumbar fusions.

“I prayed and prayed and couldn’t get relief,” he continued. One day last November he was desperate to be rid of the pain—pain that plagued him for so many years and had become unbearable in recent weeks. “I prayed harder than I have ever prayed that I could go to sleep and die,” he said, noting he did go to sleep and then had a profound dream.

In his dream, he explained, he went to a Mass at St. Frances Cabrini Church with his oldest son, Daniel Jr., and his family, and they were the only ones there besides the Rev. Chad Partain, the church pastor. “Father Chad wanted me to go to confession,” he said, continuing to discuss his dream, “and after he gave me absolution, I told him all about my problem, that I was hopelessly

addicted to strong narcotics for 3-5 years and couldn’t take it anymore. I said you are a Roman Catholic priest and you have the power to forgive and the power to ‘bind and loose’ (MT 18:18), and you have the power to break this narcotics passion within me. I’m asking you to pray for me.”

As the dream continued, Partain came out from the confessional and laid a hand on Brooks’ head and said prayers and then told him to go home and pray a 9-hour novena every hour on the hour to Blessed Father Seelos. If he did, Partain assured him in the dream, “You will get what you ask for.”

Soon after Brooks woke up, he was agitated by the dream and called his oldest son and told him about it. “Because he had been in so much pain for two weeks and struggling with withdrawals, I thought it was pretty sensational,” Daniel Brooks Jr. said. “But I figured if it was from God, he would be delivered from the withdrawals and (his severe pain).”

So Daniel Jr. encouraged his father to do as Partain told him to do in the dream. Brooks did so—immediately. He held a rosary in his hands as he told his story. Above a nearby door, a small painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus looked down on all in his living room. He said he had never heard of Blessed Father Francis Xavier Seelos before the dream, but after receiving encouragement from his son to say the prayer, he immediately started a novena to Seelos in his own words.

“After my final prayer following the ninth hour, I felt a warmth on the back of my neck and was content and happy inside,” Brooks said. “I took my pills and flushed them down the commode, just trusting in God. I went to bed and fell asleep, and slept all night, which I never do. I woke up the next morning feeling great. I kept waiting to go through withdrawals and didn’t. I kept waiting for the pain to come back and it didn’t. I told my son about it and he was in shock.” Rev. Chad Partain

& Daniel Brooks

BY BOB TOMPKINS

“It’s been like night and day. [My father] has personally changed. He’s a different person. . . This was certainly an experience that showed me that the intercession of saints is powerful with God. Thank you, Blessed Father Seelos!”

—Daniel Brooks, Jr.

(continued on page 3)

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Seelos Center Services Pilgrimages to Seelos Shrine & Museum. Call Center: 504-525-2495, Open Mon-Fri, 9 to 3; Sat, 10 to 3:30.Inspirational Message 504-586-1803 Blessings of the Sick with a Seelos Crucifix in designated area hospitals:East Jefferson Gerry Heigle: 504-482-4404 Anne Batt: 504-458-0310Ochsner (Kenner) Linda DiMaggio: 504-287-8732 B. J. Chauvin: 504-427-5469Ochsner (Jefferson) Mark/Monica Surprenant 504-895-5371 Marie Giorlando 504-568-0522 Earl Moraga 504-428-5141 Uptown/Innercity Dennis Waldron: 504-442-6336Westbank Elaine Freeman: 504-341-2213 Mary Grace Orsag: 504-367-7515Abbeville/Erath/Lafayette Boniface ‘Boni’ Suire: 337-937-5675Alexandria Deacon Bill /Joan Travis: 318-664-7069Baldwin/Franklin Patti Ibert: 337-578-1798Baton Rouge Gloria Bacque: 225-753-3800Covington Dr. Ann Logarbo: 985-886-0218 April Mayo: 985-892-1828Denham Springs Kathy Newcomb: 225-665-1924Iota Anne Ritter: 337-254-8451Lacombe/Abita Springs Billy Bachemin: 985-288-7006Lake Charles Lisa Verrette: 337-274-4810 Mandeville David Brumfield: 985-886-9235 Lisa & Eric Johnsen: 985-276-4445Mississippi C. Corolla (Carriere): 601-916-4233New Iberia/Abbeville/Jeanerette Rachel Gonsoulin: 337-224-7855Opelousas Suzanne Pitre: 337-351-8489Ponchatoula/Hammond Gasper Corpora: 225-294-5938Prairieville/Gonzales M/M Claude Bourgeois 225-337-0945 Shreveport/Bossier City Tom & Marjorie Rivers: 318-797-3116Slidell Mary Jo Stewart: 985-502-9033St. Bernard/Arabi Patricia Noote: 504-756-4163Thibodaux Martha Bourgeois: 985-446-0124

Byron Miller, C.Ss.R.

Dear Readers,“There’s nothing to writing,” according to Red Smith, “All you do is sit

down at a typewriter and open a vein.” Similarly, Gene Fowler quipped, “Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead.”

Although I have been sitting at a computer and initially staring at a blank screen to fill these pages, writing is rather easy when it’s about Father Seelos. Nevertheless, I pass out easily at the sight of blood, and it’s time to sign off after sixteen years.

I personally requested a transfer from the Seelos Center because my work here is done. At this writing, a new Director and Vice-Postulator for the Seelos Cause has not been officially determined; nor do I know where I go from here. Like the priest in the final chapter of Walker Percy’s Lancelot, I may be ready to “take a little church in Alabama, . . . preach the gospel, turn bread into flesh, forgive the sins of Buick dealers, [and] administer communion to suburban housewives.”

Years ago, I was moved by a passage found in The Collar by Jonathan Englert: “Ours is the pain of constantly pitching tent and folding it up again, of befriending strangers and bidding them goodbye, of loving the world but never truly being satisfied with it, of pouring our heart and soul into a project others have begun and still others will finish. . . . We need to make the most of occasions when we gather by the roadside to break bread together and compare directions. Joy must be discovered in the going as we never really arrive, not even in a lifetime.”

I have derived a tremendous amount of joy and satisfaction in this dynamic Seelos shrine ministry, pouring heart and soul into a canonization cause that others have begun and still others will finish. The experience for me was far beyond what I ever imagined, and far beyond what I can ever repeat. But the most rewarding part of all—thanks to Father Seelos—has been in befriending countless strangers. And that’s why the hardest part is not due to any blood or sweat shed over the years, but to the tears in now bidding you goodbye.

Blood, Sweat & Tears:FINAL Message from the Editor

DANIELLE BEAMON MARY B I UNDO LORRAINE B ISSO GASPER & C INDY B I V A L A C Q U A CHRISTINE BOURGEOIS JOYCE BOURGEOIS KIM BOURGEOIS OLIVIA BOURGEOIS JAN BROWN ROSE & TRACY BROWN ANN BURGEAU CHARLOTTE CAROLLA ANTHONY CATA-LANO KATHLEEN C O L L I N S ANNA & DAWN DAWSON DEBBIE D ILEO AL I CE DORNAN NOREEN DUHON LIZ FITZPATRICK PEG FOLEY SARA & TINA FOUQUET DEBBIE GRIFFIN LISA HARDIE MICHELLE HELFFRICH CAROLYN HELLER CHARLOTTE HOOD JOHN & LOIS KUCHLER ART & AUDREY LAPORTE WALTER &

A Victorian-era stained glass window in the Seelos Welcome Center is dedicated to supporters, living and deceased; inscribed on this page is a tribute to the current volunteers and staff.

PAM LARTER PATT L EMAR I E D I ANA M A H E R C I N D Y MORAN FAY NEAL MEL IDA OL IV I ER SCOTT PARTIN NICOLLE PERNIECERO SIS PERTUIT NORRIS PLAISANCE N I C K P UN CH ASHLEY & CASSANDRA RAZIN TIM RIVERS GESILE RULH WILMAE SPEDALE SH IRLEY STEWART BONI SUIRE MARK & MON I C A SURPRENANT CAROL T E R R E ANDR E A T H I B O D E A U X

KHAM VONGKHAMCHANH DENNIS WALDRON ALMA WEILBAECHER BARBARA WHEELER MAUREEN VICKNAIR DAVID WHITE MARIA ZABALAOUI BILL ZIMMERMANN (continued in next month's issue)

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Neck brace no longer needed

Seelos Prayer Cards with popular images of Bl. Francis Seelos, prayer, & biographical information. Assortment of 100 total in 4 styles. (Donation: $13.50, incl.p/h)Seelos Oil in new exclusive 1 oz. size bottle to be used when praying over people for healing; to bless family members, homes, or objects. (Donation: $9 incl. p/h) Seelos 3-D Wodcut Plaque: Mea-sures 4” x 6”. Comes in clear gift box. Made in Italy. (Donation: $15, incl. p/h)Mother of Perpetual Help Pillow: Vivid image with prayer on back brings beauty & inspiration to every-day settings. Measures 10” x 12” (Donation: $28, incl. p/h)Ceramic Madonna Tile set in beveled-edge wood frame with white protective enamel finish & hardware on back. Limited quantity. Measures 8.75” x 8.5” (Donation: $29, incl. p/h)

Garabandal Journal: Featured cover story by Mark Regis on “Blessed Fran-cis Seelos, Powerful Intercessor” in the Sept/Oct 2003 issue. (Donation: $5, incl. p/h)3rd Class Relic Cross: 4” wooden crucifix touched to Seelos’ original cross & touched to a rare hair clipping preserved at the time of his death in 1867. (Donation: $10, incl. p/h) Praying the Rosary with Saint Alphonsus 2-CD Set: First Rosary CD to feature the music of a saint. (Donation: $23 for 2 CDs - incl. p/h)

A Life of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, 108-page paperback bio-graphy, illustrated. (Donation: $12 - includes p/h)

A Seelos Vigil Candle wil l burn near his sacred resting place in Seelos Shrine, New Orleans, for an offering of $3.

Seelos 2nd & 3rd-Class Relics/ Seelos Pamphlets & Prayer Cards also in Spanish & Vietnamese. Call 504-525-2495. Currently, Seelos 1st Class relics are unavailable.

Seelos Center Devotionals

Please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery.

The son of a retired Baptist minister, Brooks became a Catholic when he was a sophomore at Alexandria Senior High. He said he was drawn to the faith by the Eucharist and by the Blessed Mother. He thought about entering the seminary after high school to become a priest but “it didn’t work out,” he said. Instead, he met his future wife, whom he married while at LSU of Alexandria. Later, feeling called to ministry, he left the Catholic Church for “about 15 years” to become a preacher for a now defunct nondenominational church, Omega Full Gospel Assembly. “I prayed my rosary and went to Mass every day even while preaching as a protestant,” he said, noting he eventually returned to the Catholic Church.

Disabled for about two decades since his sixth spine surgery, Brooks still has some heart problems and migraine headaches. He is retired and takes care of his octogenarian parents with whom he lives. One of his past jobs, for three years, was as a teacher at the Louisiana Special Education Center for handicapped children, teaching science and algebra.

Brooks, who couldn’t eat solid foods for a year because of problems with his stomach that became life threatening, said he left that job because of his pain. He has found relief since his novena to Seelos.

“Father (Partain) told me in a dream to pray to Father Seelos, and I did,” said Brooks. “I’ve since found out he was a holy priest and lived in difficult times in New Orleans and was a healing priest. And I found out he needs another miracle (through prayers asking for his intercession) to make himself (eligible to become) a saint.” Asked if he believes his case might be considered the second “miracle” to elevate Seelos to sainthood, Brooks said, “I don’t know if that’ll happen. I leave that to the church.”

“Only the church can certify whether a given phenomenon is an actual miracle,” said Partain. “Provide the facts and the church holds it up for scrutiny. The passage of time is important for that, too.” He said that’s a big reason he waited several months after the remarkable improvement in Brooks’ health—without any new medical procedure or medicine—to comment about it in the news media.

Daniel Jr., who describes himself as having been “quite the pagan” earlier in his life but came back to the church in 2012, said he “certainly” believes his father’s relief from extreme pain and withdrawals—the two things he prayed to Seelos to help cure—was a miracle. “It’s been like night and day. He has personally changed. He’s a different person. He laughs more, he’s more alert, more joyful. He comes to visit more to see his grandkids. A lot has changed.”

“This was certainly an experience that showed me that the intercession of saints is powerful with God,” he continued. “Thank you, Blessed Father Seelos!”

Partain was asked his reaction to the role he played in Brooks’ dream. “Every priest is only a channel or instrument,” Partain said, “but there is a connection between the priest and his parishioners. For my part, I see it as a beautiful connection of that relationship between the priest and his parishioners. Of course, the intercessory power of Father Seelos, who was a Redemptorist in New Orleans, is also another aspect of that connection between priest and the faithful.”

“I never tire of telling people our lives are interconnected in the mystical body of Christ, which is the church,” said Partain, noting he had no quarrel with anything he said in the dream. He said he didn’t know Brooks before the incident, although he knew Daniel Jr. and his family, who were parishioners at Cabrini. Partain said Brooks “had not been a regular parishioner due to the debilitating effect of the narcotics and the treatment he was undergoing.”

Nonetheless, he smiled when considering what Brooks did because of a dream. “It’s wonderful to see the healing power of Christ at work in our very wounded world. We’re surrounded by miracles but we don’t always take the time to recognize them as such. The age of miracles is not passed, and Christ is still at work,” said Partain.

Edited excerpt from article by Bob Tompkins in The Town Talk, 5/17/15, Alexandria LA. Reprinted with permission.

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covington, laOur niece was born premature at 1.1 lbs. I began praying to Bl. Seelos and carrying a holy card with a sacred relic. When I visited the baby in the hospital, I noticed another card dedicated to Bl. Seelos. The baby’s mother wore a Seelos bracelet, and the baby was blessed with the Seelos crucifix. Our niece was released from the hospital after five months of intensive care. Last July, she was air-lifted back to the hospital where she spent several more anxious weeks. She was released again and is doing well. I hope this letter will serve as another example of Bl. Seelos’ miracle power.

lafayette, laOur youth minister’s six-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Mitochondrial disease. Her parents were advised that she would need a feeding tube, long-term medication and multiple trips to New Orleans. I reminded them of Fr. Seelos’ prayers and favors that he has obtained for me and my family. When the family went to the Seelos Shrine, the six-year-old approached Fr. Seelos’ tomb and prayed quietly. Her mother asked her if she was alright and she said, “Mom, everything will be okay!” Her mom informed me that the specialist stated that she would not need a feeding tube or new medication; rather, they would start weaning her off the current meds. Since the daughter’s last appointment eight months ago, she is now off all medication and eats a regular diet. She has gained weight and has grown in length and can run up a flight of stairs (which was just a wish before the last doctor’s appointment). She is now thriving, instead of failing to thrive. The family now has a special devotion to Bl. Seelos.

mandeville, laWhen I first called the Seelos Center in December, I was thoroughly distraught and almost defeated. We had just received the news from our fourth son in California that his young wife had been diagnosed with invasive uterine cancer. I also had a dying brother and niece at that time and my husband had a head injury due to a fall. My son had also lost his job the very day that his wife was diagnosed. It was then that a prayer warrior at the Seelos Center spent some time praying with me, and during the prayer, a remarkable sense of peace occurred in my heart, literally with heat rushing through my body. I would like to testify that from that time on, I have been calm, relying completely on God to help me face whatever I needed. After we were placed on the Seelos prayer list, not only did I experience a spiritual healing, but my son soon got another job. The trials did not stop then. During his wife’s radical hysterectomy, her intestine was cut. The worst of all is that later tests revealed that she had absolutely no trace of cancer in her body. During this same time, my husband was operated on the day my brother died. The surgery with Father Seelos’ intercession was successful, but he has been left with mild aphasia. I must give thanks to Father Seelos. He has already shown his powers of intercession—by my spiritual healing, the success of my husband’s brain surgery, my son’s job and his wife’s recovery from her first surgery, with no news of cancer in her body.

TESTIMONIALS basking ridge, njA recent CT scan showed some “blips” on the kidneys, uterus and bladder. The urologist feared that my bladder cancer in the past had returned and spread. I began to bless myself with the Seelos relic twice a day and to pray for his intercession after the CT scan results. A procedure showed no cancer and the “blips” were calcification. I am sure that he helped me. I’m very grateful and continue to ask for his intercession and to bless myself with his relic.

lake charles, laI prayed to Bl. Seelos for healing for my brother who had throat cancer. I gave my brother the relic cross and told him to keep in on or near him at all times. My brother is now cancer free. Thank you Bl. Seelos for being a friend of Jesus. The cross will now be given to a dear friend who is battling brain cancer and has had many unsuccessful treatments. I now feel that there’s hope for her cure.

Dear Father Byron: In my own way, I want to support the cause of Blessed Francis Seelos in gratitude for Graces Received & Prayers Answered. $_________ to be used for: the ministry & maintenance at the National Seelos Shrine. my 1-year newsletter subscription renewal ($12) other item(s) designated below:

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Olivia Bourgeois, Nick Punch, Maureen VicknairVice-Postulators: Frs. John Vargas & Byron Miller

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