LEAVES Website for Mar-Apr 2026 Issue
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column:
Dear. Friends and Readers of LEAVES.,
I can hardly believe that Christmas and the first month of the New Year are already something of the past. We are now starting the months of March and April. I began writing this Leaflet three times and it just didn’t work. So, I prayed to the Lord to help me find something that I could use for this issue of Leaves.
This time I felt a little more confident. After all the joys of Christmas and the beginning of the New Year, what came to mind was the fact that a lot has been done for the children of God. Yes, we are His children, and I think that we forget about this reality.
To me Christmas is a time when we think of the fact that we are God’s children. What is God preparing to give His children during these days? He wants to give them, in some ways, a new life. Let us look closely at the Gospel readings and see how the Lord wants to do this. The Breviary, for this time of Lent starts with the evening hymn:
Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us did fast and pray,
Teach us with you to mourn our sins,
And close by you to stay.
As you with Satan did contend
And did the vict’ry win,
O give us strength in you to fight,
In you to conquer sin.
The Lord has a special love for “children.” In Matthew 18, the Apostle writes: “The disciples approached Jesus and asked Him: ‘Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?’ ’’ Matthew writes: “Jesus called a child over, placed it in their midst and said, “Amen, I say to you: Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me’ ”(Mt 18:1-5).
No wonder that the Church often speaks about children and asks that we protect them and care about them. Jesus said: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Mt 18:6).
Then he adds: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it will not be the will of your Heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost” (Mt 18:10-14).
In St. Mark’s gospel, the Apostle writes how the people would bring children to Jesus, that He might touch them. “But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me; Do not prevent them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. … whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.’ Then He embraced them and blessed them, placing His hands on them’’ (Mk 10:13-16).
Yes, Jesus has a special place for children. They are very important in the life of the Church. At the beginning of the Church, many of them were martyred because of their love for Jesus. One of them was St. Tarcisius, a 10-year-old Roman altar server. He brought a ciborium filled with consecrated hosts to give to some people who were in prison in Rome because of their faith.
A group of young Romans saw him holding something under his cloak. They asked him to show them what he was carrying, but he refused to do so. They kicked him and tried to find what he was holding. But they never found what it was. They kicked him many times and treated him in such a way that the boy was left on the street dying.
A soldier who was Christian passed by and saw him. He picked him up and brought him to the catacombs where the boy died from the wounds he had received. Many young children were treated badly when they were suspected of being Christians.
This last September 7, Pope Leo XIV canonized a 15-year-old English-born Italian, Carlo Acutis, who died from leukemia in Milan in Italy. He had a great devotion to the Eucharist. He enjoyed computers and invented an online website of Eucharistic miracles which was used in many churches. He said: “It is important to be close to Jesus.’’ He would add: “That is my life plan.’’
In so many ways these young disciples have a lot to give us. And they are in more than one way God’s gift to each of us. May we accept them and be inspired by their love and way of following Christ.
Wishing a glorious Easter to all our LEAVES family and your dear ones! The Lord is truly risen, alleluia! To him be glory and power for all the ages of eternity, alleluia, alleluia! – Fr. Michael Sheehy, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”:
Blessed
Engelmar Unzeitig
A Life of
Blessed Engelmar
There is now available a booklet of the life of Bl. 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.
Biography
Fr. Engelmar (Hubert) Unzeitig was born on March 1, 1911, in Greifendorf, a little village in the Czech Republic. He entered the seminary at age 17, and on Aug. 6, 1939, he was ordained a priest for the Missionaries of Mariannhill. A year later he was appointed administrator of the parish in Gloeckelberg, a small village in his home country. It was already World War II.
Fr. Engelmar was not silenced by fear of the Nazi. Instead, he courageously spoke out what faith and reason prompted him to say. Eventually what he preached in church and taught in school got back to the civil authorities.
On April 21, 1941, he was arrested and carted off to prison. Six weeks later they transferred him to the Dachau concentration camp. Some of the charges against him were that he insisted one must obey God more than man and that he defended the Jews.
When typhus entered the camp and there were no medicines or disinfectants to check it, when the SS guards kept clear of the quarantined barracks and thousands of prisoners died unattended, 20 priests, Fr. Engelmar one of them, volunteered in February of 1945 to enter the infected quarters and succor the dying. Eighteen of them died quickly, Fr. Engelmar on March 2.
Priests who were his fellow inmates in the camp readily testified later to his exceptional holiness. They called him the personification of love, the Angel of Dachau, a martyr of charity, a saint. In July 1991, the process of his beatification was formally opened in Germany.
+ + +
[Editor’s Note: March 2 is the feast day of Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig. Bl. Engelmar, pray for us!]
(Whoever receives favors through the intercession of Bl. Engelmar is asked to report them to the following person: Postulator General, c/o Mariannhill Mission Society, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.)
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.
Lord, Send Your
Abundant Blessing
Lord, send your abundant blessing upon your people
who devoutly recall the death of your Son
in the sure hope of the Resurrection.
Grant us pardon; bring us comfort.
May our faith grow stronger
and our eternal salvation be assured.
(From Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers)
A Prayer for
Passion Sunday
By St. Clare of Assisi
Praise and glory to you, O loving Jesus Christ,
for the most sacred wound in your side …
and for your infinite mercy
which you have made known to us in the opening
of your breast to the soldier Longinus,
and so to us all.
I pray you, O most gentle Jesus,
having redeemed me by baptism
from original sin,
so now, by your Precious Blood,
which is offered and received
throughout the world,
deliver me from all evils,
past, present and to come.
And, by your most bitter death,
give me a lively faith,
a firm hope, and
a perfect charity,
so that I may love you
with all my heart
and all my soul,
and all my strength;
make me firm and steadfast
in good works
and grant me perseverance
in your service
so that I may be able to please you always. Amen.
An Irish Blessing
May God grant you always …
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to cheer you,
Faithful friends near you,
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you.
Resurrection Prayer
Heavenly Father, Lord of life and death,
when Christ our Paschal Lamb was sacrificed,
He overcame death by His own dying
and restored us to life by His own rising.
In virtue of His life-giving Passover,
pour your Holy Spirit into our hearts,
fill us with awe and reverence for you,
and with love and compassion for our neighbor.
We ask this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sweet Spring
By Margaret Peterson
How lovely the snowfalls may be,
A yearning begins for “Sweet Spring,”
A time for nature to enjoy rebirth,
A time for blue birds to sing,
A time for crocuses to raise purple heads
To see if it’s time to bloom,
A time for hyacinths, sweet violets too
And lilacs to chase away gloom.
Could it also be time to freshen our view
Of God and His heaven above?
Perhaps we’ve been cold like the snow that has left.
We need the warmth of His love.
When God draws near, we become a new “you,”
A type of an inner Spring
Producing rich blooms of love and forgiveness,
Rejoicing in God our King.
His Love
By Margaret Bochicchio
They jeered Him
Stretched upon a tree,
Mocked Him
With shouts of blasphemy.
Blinded by sweat,
Wracked with searing pain,
He never showed regret;
He did it for our gain.
What love within Him
Fed His dying words?
Who is this
Whose forgiveness now was heard?
What kind of beings
Mock a dying man?
The baseness of our very sins
Forgiven by this Man.
The Final Say
By Norma N. Poblete
Professing we’re Christians from birth and all life through,
In following God’s words, are we really up to?
Loving our brethren is one rule we must do.
Not harboring grudges, drop them off, don’t be blue.
Why do we get bitter for a trifle matter?
Settle it right away so we can feel better.
Remember the good Lord accepted to suffer,
No ill-feeling for us, though He is the Master.
As we go on along believing that one day
Saying to ourselves – in heaven we will stay,
But how would it happen if we don’t wipe away
Grudges against others … God has the final say.
Jesus
There is a little place
Within my inner space.
I long to meet Him there;
His gentle loving care.
His presence fills with light
That chamber sealed so tight.
The walls go tumbling down
Without so much a sound.
And I can scarce contain
The joys that there remain.
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column:
Dear. Friends and Readers of LEAVES.,
I can hardly believe that Christmas and the first month of the New Year are already something of the past. We are now starting the months of March and April. I began writing this Leaflet three times and it just didn’t work. So, I prayed to the Lord to help me find something that I could use for this issue of Leaves.
This time I felt a little more confident. After all the joys of Christmas and the beginning of the New Year, what came to mind was the fact that a lot has been done for the children of God. Yes, we are His children, and I think that we forget about this reality.
To me Christmas is a time when we think of the fact that we are God’s children. What is God preparing to give His children during these days? He wants to give them, in some ways, a new life. Let us look closely at the Gospel readings and see how the Lord wants to do this. The Breviary, for this time of Lent starts with the evening hymn:
Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us did fast and pray,
Teach us with you to mourn our sins,
And close by you to stay.
As you with Satan did contend
And did the vict’ry win,
O give us strength in you to fight,
In you to conquer sin.
The Lord has a special love for “children.” In Matthew 18, the Apostle writes: “The disciples approached Jesus and asked Him: ‘Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?’ ’’ Matthew writes: “Jesus called a child over, placed it in their midst and said, “Amen, I say to you: Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me’ ”(Mt 18:1-5).
No wonder that the Church often speaks about children and asks that we protect them and care about them. Jesus said: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Mt 18:6).
Then he adds: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it will not be the will of your Heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost” (Mt 18:10-14).
In St. Mark’s gospel, the Apostle writes how the people would bring children to Jesus, that He might touch them. “But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me; Do not prevent them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. … whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.’ Then He embraced them and blessed them, placing His hands on them’’ (Mk 10:13-16).
Yes, Jesus has a special place for children. They are very important in the life of the Church. At the beginning of the Church, many of them were martyred because of their love for Jesus. One of them was St. Tarcisius, a 10-year-old Roman altar server. He brought a ciborium filled with consecrated hosts to give to some people who were in prison in Rome because of their faith.
A group of young Romans saw him holding something under his cloak. They asked him to show them what he was carrying, but he refused to do so. They kicked him and tried to find what he was holding. But they never found what it was. They kicked him many times and treated him in such a way that the boy was left on the street dying.
A soldier who was Christian passed by and saw him. He picked him up and brought him to the catacombs where the boy died from the wounds he had received. Many young children were treated badly when they were suspected of being Christians.
This last September 7, Pope Leo XIV canonized a 15-year-old English-born Italian, Carlo Acutis, who died from leukemia in Milan in Italy. He had a great devotion to the Eucharist. He enjoyed computers and invented an online website of Eucharistic miracles which was used in many churches. He said: “It is important to be close to Jesus.’’ He would add: “That is my life plan.’’
In so many ways these young disciples have a lot to give us. And they are in more than one way God’s gift to each of us. May we accept them and be inspired by their love and way of following Christ.
Wishing a glorious Easter to all our LEAVES family and your dear ones! The Lord is truly risen, alleluia! To him be glory and power for all the ages of eternity, alleluia, alleluia! – Fr. Michael Sheehy, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”:
Blessed
Engelmar Unzeitig
A Life of
Blessed Engelmar
There is now available a booklet of the life of Bl. 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.
Biography
Fr. Engelmar (Hubert) Unzeitig was born on March 1, 1911, in Greifendorf, a little village in the Czech Republic. He entered the seminary at age 17, and on Aug. 6, 1939, he was ordained a priest for the Missionaries of Mariannhill. A year later he was appointed administrator of the parish in Gloeckelberg, a small village in his home country. It was already World War II.
Fr. Engelmar was not silenced by fear of the Nazi. Instead, he courageously spoke out what faith and reason prompted him to say. Eventually what he preached in church and taught in school got back to the civil authorities.
On April 21, 1941, he was arrested and carted off to prison. Six weeks later they transferred him to the Dachau concentration camp. Some of the charges against him were that he insisted one must obey God more than man and that he defended the Jews.
When typhus entered the camp and there were no medicines or disinfectants to check it, when the SS guards kept clear of the quarantined barracks and thousands of prisoners died unattended, 20 priests, Fr. Engelmar one of them, volunteered in February of 1945 to enter the infected quarters and succor the dying. Eighteen of them died quickly, Fr. Engelmar on March 2.
Priests who were his fellow inmates in the camp readily testified later to his exceptional holiness. They called him the personification of love, the Angel of Dachau, a martyr of charity, a saint. In July 1991, the process of his beatification was formally opened in Germany.
+ + +
[Editor’s Note: March 2 is the feast day of Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig. Bl. Engelmar, pray for us!]
(Whoever receives favors through the intercession of Bl. Engelmar is asked to report them to the following person: Postulator General, c/o Mariannhill Mission Society, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.)
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.
Lord, Send Your
Abundant Blessing
Lord, send your abundant blessing upon your people
who devoutly recall the death of your Son
in the sure hope of the Resurrection.
Grant us pardon; bring us comfort.
May our faith grow stronger
and our eternal salvation be assured.
(From Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers)
A Prayer for
Passion Sunday
By St. Clare of Assisi
Praise and glory to you, O loving Jesus Christ,
for the most sacred wound in your side …
and for your infinite mercy
which you have made known to us in the opening
of your breast to the soldier Longinus,
and so to us all.
I pray you, O most gentle Jesus,
having redeemed me by baptism
from original sin,
so now, by your Precious Blood,
which is offered and received
throughout the world,
deliver me from all evils,
past, present and to come.
And, by your most bitter death,
give me a lively faith,
a firm hope, and
a perfect charity,
so that I may love you
with all my heart
and all my soul,
and all my strength;
make me firm and steadfast
in good works
and grant me perseverance
in your service
so that I may be able to please you always. Amen.
An Irish Blessing
May God grant you always …
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to cheer you,
Faithful friends near you,
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you.
Resurrection Prayer
Heavenly Father, Lord of life and death,
when Christ our Paschal Lamb was sacrificed,
He overcame death by His own dying
and restored us to life by His own rising.
In virtue of His life-giving Passover,
pour your Holy Spirit into our hearts,
fill us with awe and reverence for you,
and with love and compassion for our neighbor.
We ask this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sweet Spring
By Margaret Peterson
How lovely the snowfalls may be,
A yearning begins for “Sweet Spring,”
A time for nature to enjoy rebirth,
A time for blue birds to sing,
A time for crocuses to raise purple heads
To see if it’s time to bloom,
A time for hyacinths, sweet violets too
And lilacs to chase away gloom.
Could it also be time to freshen our view
Of God and His heaven above?
Perhaps we’ve been cold like the snow that has left.
We need the warmth of His love.
When God draws near, we become a new “you,”
A type of an inner Spring
Producing rich blooms of love and forgiveness,
Rejoicing in God our King.
His Love
By Margaret Bochicchio
They jeered Him
Stretched upon a tree,
Mocked Him
With shouts of blasphemy.
Blinded by sweat,
Wracked with searing pain,
He never showed regret;
He did it for our gain.
What love within Him
Fed His dying words?
Who is this
Whose forgiveness now was heard?
What kind of beings
Mock a dying man?
The baseness of our very sins
Forgiven by this Man.
The Final Say
By Norma N. Poblete
Professing we’re Christians from birth and all life through,
In following God’s words, are we really up to?
Loving our brethren is one rule we must do.
Not harboring grudges, drop them off, don’t be blue.
Why do we get bitter for a trifle matter?
Settle it right away so we can feel better.
Remember the good Lord accepted to suffer,
No ill-feeling for us, though He is the Master.
As we go on along believing that one day
Saying to ourselves – in heaven we will stay,
But how would it happen if we don’t wipe away
Grudges against others … God has the final say.
Jesus
There is a little place
Within my inner space.
I long to meet Him there;
His gentle loving care.
His presence fills with light
That chamber sealed so tight.
The walls go tumbling down
Without so much a sound.
And I can scarce contain
The joys that there remain.