Prayer request

To the friends of this blog: a prayer request.


I care for an elderly retired priest, Fr. Leon Belanger, a retired Navy Chaplain who retired into our Pembroke Diocese 22 years ago. For 15 years he provided replacement services at any parish where he was asked to go, after which he suffered from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm and was left physically and mentally impaired necessitating his entry into a nursing home.


Fr. Leon is dying. He is slowly losing his battle for life at the Pembroke Regional Hospital and is now in the final stages of palliative care.


I ask you please to pray for a quick and peaceful death. He is suffering from a severe case of pneumonia as a result of a sudden inability to swallow food or water (he aspirated whatever he swallows into his lungs). With large doses of morphine and Ativan, the hospital is able to keep him almost pain free but he is still struggling for breath hour after hour. 


Thanks to the aid of great friends, we have been able to ensure that he will not die alone as the three of us ensure that someone is at his side night and day. As I left the hospital early this morning, it was becoming clear that he will probably not live more than a day or two at most. 


Your help, prayers and good thoughts will be appreciated to help him through this final trial.


Thank you.


Fr. Tim