Prayer Requests and Praise Report

A reader writes:

I’ve had a lot going on in my family for the past couple of years and haven’t written to ask for prayer before, but I feel now’s the time to ask you to put this request before the blessed band of intercessors who follow the blog.

It appears that my 83-year-old father has reached the end stages of heart failure and death is approaching. He is not a Catholic, but has been a strong believer and disciple of Christ since his teen years. Over the past 10+ years, he has suffered through four strokes and a heart attack; the heart muscle damage from the heart attack was not able to be repaired due to the stroke risk involved in an operation. My family and I have all known this was coming, but now that the signs of his body shutting down are appearing (actually, coming and going – that’s the excruciating part), we are all in uncharted waters as to how to deal with all the care details – on top of our anticipatory grief – as each day goes by.

We have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow with the assisted-living staff, the Kaiser palliative care team, and our family. I am terrified that the assisted living facility is going to ask us to move Dad to a nursing home because his care needs exceed what they can provide. This would be a great burden on my mom, since she has invested so much of herself in caring for him – and a great logistical nightmare for us, since we are already also caring for my chronically ill brother (he lives nearby in a residential care facility).

Please pray that God will provide for us the strength, wisdom, and presence of mind to care for my father and for each other in the best way possible, and that He would grant my father a peaceful and holy death. And to join me in praying for – basically, since I can’t figure out anything else specific – to beg the Lord for an end to his (and our) present suffering.

Thanks.

Father, hear our prayer through your Son Jesus Christ. Mother Mary, pray for these people and obtain for them all the graces and provision they need, especially the grace of a happy death for my reader’s father.

Another reader writes:

My wife and I went in for our ordinary 17 week ultrasound. Today they got back to us with the results. It is most likely a “partial molar pregnancy”–we don’t really understand it, but from what we can gather talking to doctors and nurses, our baby has severe developmental defects, and won’t survive much longer.

Further, they discovered “placenta previa”, which, as far as I understand it, means that vaginal delivery of the baby is probably risky.

What’s more, because of the nature of molar pregnancies, my wife is also at a pretty high risk of having/getting cancer even after we lose our baby. Our hearts are broken, and we are very sad. We already fell in love with our new child, and don’t know how to cope with the loss, and the fear of what could happen to my wife.

If anyone has gone through something similar, it would be a comfort to me to hear their stories in the combox.

Father, be with your children in this terrible trial. Give eternal life to their baby and protection and healing to mother. Give them all grace, peace, consolation, strength, faith, hope, and love through Christ our Lord, as well as the provision and care to prevent any cancer. Surround them with love and friendship. Mother Mary, St. Luke, and St. Peregrine, pray for them. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Another reader writes:

I had written you a couple of weeks or so ago about concerns over my wife possibly having a miscarriage. I wanted to report that we had our 8 week ultrasound today and things are actually looking good so far! Deo Gratias! Thank you and your readers so much for all of your prayers and support. My wife is having some morning sickness symptoms but nothing too severe. We are very encouraged and excited about things to come! Plus, with your posting I got to learn about St. Gerard and am now praying for his intercession on a daily basis for my wife’s benefit.

Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ!