Prayer requests

Update: My mom is doing well. The infection is her leg, but not her knee. She’s on a course of antibiotics and they’re going to keep her in the hospital until her fever breaks, possibly Tuesday. Deo gratias. Thank you all for your prayers.

I’ve just received word that my mom has been rushed to the hospital near her home in Maine with an infection in her leg and a fever. This is particularly serious because she’s had several knee operations, including knee replacement, and has suffered from infections in the knee, which required hospitalization and surgery. They had become so bad that the doctors warned that another infection could cause her to lose her leg or even her life!

So today she called my sister to say that she had a fever and the telltale redness in her leg. The doctor advised her to call and ambulance right away to get to the hospital and so she’s there now. We’re waiting for an update.

Please, if you will, pray for her, for the low spirits she must be in now and for healing of her leg. Thank you.

We all received terrible news late yesterday. Michael Dubruiel, husband of Amy Welborn and father to their children, died of an apparent heart attack yesterday morning.

Michael collapsed this morning at the gym and was not able to be revived despite the efforts of EMTs and hospital personnel.

We are devastated and beg your prayers.

It’s been said many times that the Catholic blogosphere, the so-called St. Blog’s Parish, is like a real parish and in many ways it is: We have priests, religious, and laity. We celebrate the joys of births and marriages and ordinations and religious vows. And we grieve at illnesses and death. We have very real bonds with people we’ve never met in person and when we do meet it’s like meeting an old friend. Melanie and I have experienced much of those highs and lows as our entire relationship has spanned the time I’ve been a Catholic blogger and when Melanie received what would turn out to be a false preliminary diagnosis of cancer a couple of years ago, we felt the power of the prayers of the thousands of people—bloggers and readers alike—who lifted us up.

I pray that Amy and her sons and daughters feel the effects of those same prayers, multiplied. And I pray that Michael would even now be enjoying the beatific vision.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Update: Danielle Bean has set up a PayPal link for donations to help Amy. Amy herself has requested that those who would like to help to purchase Michael’s books.

He long ago promised God that he would give all the royalties of The How To Book of the Mass to the children’s college funds, which he did faithfully.  It is in good shape because of that. Buy them, read them, and give them away to others. Spread the Word. That is what he was all about.

A couple of prayer requests on this Saturday.

First, please pray for Carl Olson at Ignatius Insight Scoop blog. His family is struggling right now with a terrible adoption situation where the biological parents have taken back their daughter after the Olsons have had her in their family for the past five months.

Second, please pray for my Mom. She continues to be out of work, plus she’s started to have the beginnings of a cellulitis infection in her leg. If you’ve been reading for a while, you may remember that she’s had some health issues regarding her knee replacements and infections. The doctor said before that another infection in her knee could result in her having the replacement removed permanently and ending up wheelchair bound.

On top of that, my sister with whom my Mom lives recently lost her job and now they face the daunting prospect of paying the mortgage and their bills. That’s pretty scary.

Finally, on a somewhat more hopeful note, Melanie and I have put an offer on another house and we hope we have a better outcome this time.

In times like these, there are many who need our prayers. If you could spare a moment for these, I would appreciate it.

I realized I have not kept you all updated on my mom’s knee problem since my last request for prayers. The short version is that she’s doing really well.

If you recall, earlier this year she had to have one of her two artificial knees removed because of a persistent infection and then had to wait several months for all traces of the infection to disappear, remaining wheelchair-bound for the entire time.

Finally, in June, she had a new knee put in, which was somewhat harrowing because we knew that if this one didn’t take, there was no other option but to do without. Thankfully, the operation was a success and a month later mom is now up and walking about. Yes, for the next eight weeks she has to take it easy and use a cane and be careful how she places her feet, but for the moment she is much more mobile than she’s been in a long time.

I’m still praying that she makes a full recovery and then some, but until then the situation is looking good. Thank you for your prayers. Thank God for his tender mercies.

Please remember in your prayers Harry Forbes of Squaring The Boston Globe and his wife, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Our prayer are with you both, Harry.