www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Prayer Prayer for Friend and Steubenville Alumnus who is Dying of Cancer

Friends,

I think most of you know Paul Furey, fellow Steubenville alumni, adept philosopher, and ardent missionary for the new evangelization. I just learned yesterday that the treatments for Paul's cancer have been unsuccessful and the doctors are speculating that he may have only a couple of months to live.

While Paul has handled his illness with remarkable faith, let's storm heaven with prayers for him, in the chance that divine providence would use this case as a witness to holiness of His servant, John Henry Cardinal Newman.

The attached Novena begins today and ends on Cardinal Newman's birthday. Please join us in prayer.

God bless -

Clayton

Paul Furey, former DRE and Adult Faith Formation Director at St. Mary�s in New Ulm, was in Rochester last fall for an adult stem cell transplant to hopefully cure his cancer.

Novena to John Henry Cardinal Newman
For the healing of Paul Furey
Opening prayer:

Dear Cardinal Newman, you taught us that miracles should be seen �not as unconnected and unmeaning occurrences, but as holding a place in an extensive plan of Divine government, completing the moral system, connecting Man and his Maker, and introducing him to the means of securing his happiness in another and eternal state of being.� From the earliest days of the Church, God has chosen to make His saints recognized on earth by granting miracles through them. Now we beg the grace of a new miracle through your intercession�that our friend and brother, Paul, may be restored to full health, and that God may be glorified and the Church renewed, by the formal recognition of your sanctity.

Day 1.
O Adonai, O Ruler of Israel, Thou that guidest Joseph like a flock, O Emmanuel, O Sapientia, I give myself to Thee. I trust Thee wholly. Thou art wiser than I�more loving to me than I myself. Deign to fulfil Thy high purposes in me whatever they be�work in and through me. I am born to serve Thee, to be Thine, to be Thy instrument.

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�


Day 2.
Mystery of mysteries, that the ineffable love of Father to Son should be the love of the Son to us! Why was it, O Lord? What good thing didst Thou see in me a sinner? Why wast Thou set on me? "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him?" This poor flesh of mine, this weak sinful soul, which has no life except in Thy grace, Thou didst set Thy love upon it. Complete Thy work, O Lord, and as Thou hast loved me from the beginning, so make me to love Thee unto the end.

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�


Day 3.
Most tender and gentle Lord Jesus, when will my heart have a portion of Thy perfections? When will my hard and stony heart, my proud heart, my unbelieving, my impure heart, my narrow selfish heart, be melted and conformed to Thine? O teach me so to contemplate Thee that I may become like Thee, and to love Thee sincerely and simply as Thou hast loved me.

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�

Day 4.
Mystery of mysteries, that the ineffable love of Father to Son should be the love of the Son to us! Why was it, O Lord? What good thing didst Thou see in me a sinner? Why wast Thou set on me? "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him?" This poor flesh of mine, this weak sinful soul, which has no life except in Thy grace, Thou didst set Thy love upon it. Complete Thy work, O Lord, and as Thou hast loved me from the beginning, so make me to love Thee unto the end.

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�

Day 5.
Everything short of Thee, O Lord, is changeable, but Thou endurest. Thou art ever one and the same. Ever the true God of man, and unchangeably so. Thou art the rarest, most precious, the sole good; and withal Thou art the most lasting. The creature changes, the Creator never. Then only the creature stops changing, when it rests on Thee. On Thee the Angels look and are at peace; that is why they have perfect bliss. They never can lose their blessedness, for they never can lose Thee. They have no anxiety, no misgivings�because they love the Creator; not any being of time and sense, but "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today, who is also for ever.

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�

Day 6.
My Lord, my Only God, "Deus meus et omnia," let me never go after vanities. "Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas." All is vanity and shadow here below. Let me not give my heart to anything here. Let nothing allure me from Thee; O keep me wholly and entirely.

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�

Day 7:
Keep thou this most frail heart and this most weak head in Thy Divine keeping. Draw me to Thee morning, noon, and night for consolation. Be Thou my own bright Light, to which I look, for guidance and for peace. Let me love Thee, O my Lord Jesus, with a pure affection and a fervent affection! Let me love Thee with the fervour, only greater, with which men of this earth love beings of this earth. Let me have that tenderness and constancy in loving Thee, which is so much praised among men, when the object is of the earth. Let me find and feel Thee to be my only joy, my only refuge, my only strength, my only comfort, my only hope, my only fear, my only love.

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�

Day 8:
My God, Thou knowest infinitely better than I, how little I love Thee. I should not love Thee at all, except for Thy grace. It is Thy grace which has opened the eyes of my mind, and enabled them to see Thy glory. It is Thy grace which has touched my heart, and brought upon it the influence of what is so wonderfully beautiful and fair. How can I help loving Thee, O my Lord, except by some dreadful perversion, which hinders me from looking at Thee?

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�

Day 9:
O my God, whatever is nearer to me than Thou, things of this earth, and things more naturally pleasing to me, will be sure to interrupt the sight of Thee, unless Thy grace interfere. Keep Thou my eyes, my ears, my heart, from any such miserable tyranny. Break my bonds�raise my heart. Keep my whole being fixed on Thee. Let me never lose sight of Thee; and, while I gaze on Thee, let my love of Thee grow more and more every day.

Our Father�, Hail Mary�, Glory be�

Concluding prayer:

The Pillar of the Cloud

LEAD, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home�
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene�one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that Thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path, but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on,
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

"At Sea."June 16, 1833.

* Prayers for each day are excerpted from Newman�s Meditations and devotions

Paul's Dear Friends and Aquaintances,

Paul has asked me to update you on his situation. Unfortunately, he received bad news at Mayo today. His cancer has spread and is now in both lungs and throughout his body. His doctors at Mayo have decided it is best to keep him there for the next week or so. The plan is to give him about 6 rounds of Chemo to get him up to par to be able to endure a donor Stem cell transplant (I believe from his brother) in about 3 months and doctors are telling him that that transplant has about a 10 percent chance of success.