Matthew and I have a request. Our beloved brother Kevin is extremely ill with brain cancer. Without going into much detail, this is the type of situation that now requires a miracle and we believe in miracles.

We ask you to join us in praying for our brother.

If I may, we ask to you to pray, in particular, for the intercession of Rose Hawthorne. I found out about Rose from my brother-in-law Denis (Dmac) and the wonderful Fr. Barron. Rose Hawthorne, whose cause for sainthood was opened in 2003, is the daughter of famed author Nathaniel Hawthorne and a Catholic convert. In 1998, she opened a refuge for cancer victims on New York’s Lower East Side and made her vows as a Dominican nun on Dec. 8, 1900, taking the name Alphonsa. More can be found out here.

As a New Yorker who took care of Cancer patients, we believe her intercession is special. Kevin, who is 43, has a wonderful wife of great faith, a daughter of eleven years, and a son of eight years. We ask you to pray for Kevin and his family and ask Rose Hawthorne to pray for him as well.

Lord God, in your special love for the sick, the poor and the lonely, you raised up Rose Hawthorne (Mother Mary Alphonsa) to be the servant of those afflicted with incurable cancer with no one to care for them. In serving the outcast and the abandoned, she strove to see in them the face of your Son. In her eyes, those in need were always “Christ’s Poor.”

Grant that her example of selfless charity and her courage in the face of great obstacles will inspire us to be generous in our service of neighbor. We humbly ask that you glorify your servant, Rose Hawthorne, on earth according to the designs of your holy will. Through her intercession, grant that Kevin Archbold will be healed of the cancer that now afflicts him.

Thank you so much.