www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Prayer My wife, Loretta

Prayers will continue.

May this burn itself out soon - two weeks seems an eternity when you are watching for the slightest sign of recovery

Brothers and sisters:

Loretta's finally on the mend--thanks be to God. It's been about two and a half weeks. She still has a deep, raspy cough but is improving.

I thank God for His great and rich mercy as well as the generosity He has put into the hearts of each of you here to pray for her.

Glory be to Jesus Christ!! Glory be to Him forever and ever!!!

BOB

Dear Theophan,

I am so glad! It is very important that she continue to eat well and rest alot.
Glory to God!

Your Sister in Christ,
Alice

Dear Theophan,

I am so glad! It is very important that she continue to eat well and rest alot.
Glory to God!

Your Sister in Christ,
Alice

Dear Theophan,

I am very glad to hear this.

When you first wrote about her I wondered if she might have to be hospitalized, it sounded so severe what with the continuing high fever and inability to eat much.

What great news that she is better!

Communion of Saints

Dear Theophan, +May the LORD bless you! Be sure and let us know when your wife is ALL better? We're still remembering her daily and at Proskomedia each time we stand, by God's great mercy, at the Holy Table. My best to you at this great time of THANKSGIVING!

In His Holy Name,
+Father Archimandrite Gregory, who asks for your holy prayers!

Prayers for our ailing sister, Loretta. May her health continue to improve in the Lord's sight.

OrthodoxEast

Glory be to Jesus Christ!! Glory be to Him forever and ever!!!

Brothers and sisters:

Thank God for all of you and for your holy and powerful prayers on Loretta's behalf. She is back to work, the fever is gone, she has a little better appetite, but she can't seem to throw this awful, deep, raspy cough. I want her to go back to her physician for a chest x-ray, but she's not convinced. I will keep you all posted. Thank God for the return to health she has experienced.

Let's keep in our prayers all who experience this nasty flu--or whatever it is--this year.

May each of you who celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow have a rich blessing from the Giver of All Good Gifts, to Whom we all need to be thankful each day, in every way, and for everything. And may all our brothers and sisters who do not have a formal holiday still give thanks for everything that God has given. Our greatest act of thanksgiving is always the Eucharist and, if we have nothing else, we have everything if we receive Christ into our lives on all the levels He wants us to have a relationship with Him.

In Christ,

BOB

Bob,

Prayers.

On a practical level as well - have you changed/cleaned your furnace filter? If not (and you are in a "heating area") do it.

Are you humidifying living/working space? Heated air is often as arid as Death Valley. This is extremely irritating to an already irritated respiratory system. A small "personal humidifier" can be a godsend in a dry office - hech, I used to use my Black & Decker Handy Steamer sometimes!
(If you do humidify, keep the units clean. Especially with the cold water and ultrasonic units, be sure to run a bit of bleach through - or follow manufacturers instructions - avery week or so - those units can harbor creepies like legionella if you're not careful.)

Sometimes coughs hold on long after the acute illness is gone, and they can be debilitating by themselves. I've never had any luck with the OTC stuff (most of which is contraindicated for thyroid freaks like me anyway). If she's not allergic to it, you might see about geting some codeine. When my cough turns to chronic bronchitis, half a dose of codeine before bed breaks the cycle nicely. Dunno if that might help Loretta.

Sympathetic BTDT vibes, prayers, etc.

Sharon

Sharon:

Glory be to Jesus Christ!! Glory be to him forever and ever!!!

Done all those things you kindly suggested. The cough still hangs on.

Brothers and Sisters:

It's interesting to me that Loretta has been told by her own medical sources that what I told her previously is true--that the flu this year will be like that of 1917-1918 where many lives were lost. (Oh well, I guess spouses aren't the ones we listen to when we are feeling miserable.) The word is also going around in the medical community here that the strain that is causing deaths--a couple reported in the western U.S.--is not included in the vaccine given this year in our flu shots. So we humans are faced with returning to the truth--God's in charge and all of our science and earthly wisdom cannot change that fact.

I've always said that we need to turn to Him in every way and everyday--in the good, the bad, the happy, the sad, and the glad times in our lives. I guess that's why we have those differing types of events--so we can turn to our Father and place our complete faith and trust in Him at all times and in all things.

In the meantime, I will pray for all those who may be involved with this flu this year.

May the Lord heal each one and grant that each person may return to his family in peace to praise His Holy Name all the days of his life.

In Christ,

BOB

Dear Theophan,

I also will pray for her full recovery.

There is a saint who is often asked to intercede for people with throat illnesses, I just can't remember who it is right now.

In Christ,
Andrew

Dear Bob,

Yes, two people have died from that flu in the seniors' home where my aunt now lives - this happened last weekend. We've had other deaths here already, involving both young and old.

As bad as the flu of the end of World War I you say?

That is terrible. That flu killed millions of people.

We have a bad-tasting cough syrup up here called "Buckley's."

It was concocted here in Toronto by a Dr. Buckley during that terrible flu epidemic just after the first world war.

It contained pine needle oil and other tasty treats, but it kept people alive by constanting getting them to cough up the phlegm - that flu strain basically made people produce more phlegm than they could handle.

People, and even young, strong soldiers drowned in their phlegm during that epidemic.

That syrup is still around and is famous up here. The main marketing line is "Its gonna taste awful - and it's gonna work."

I agree that the signs are here for one of the nastiest and deadliest flu seasons ever. And we've just come out of a season battling SARS where people were walking about with masks on their faces.

May St Roch of Montpellier, the patron against pestilential diseases, protect us against this new pestilence!

(To Neil the Irish Melkite - I don't remember where I got the above information about St Roch from - I just remember reading it somewhere, O.K.? ).

Alex

Dear Reader Andrew,

That is St Blasius, and the RC's bless throats in his honour annually.

I used to get my throat blessed regularly when I attended RC high school.

Perhaps that is why I'm so talkative now . . .

Alex

Bob

So glad to hear that your wife is beginning to recover, thanks be to Our Saviour Jesus Christ for his unending mercy.

As I said before, there's something nasty going around, and I'll admit I'am actually scared, not so much for myself, but for those who are not as healthy as I am. The Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918 killed somewhere between 20 and 40 million people world wide, including half a million in the US, and over 3000 in Chicago (over 300 died in one day in the Windy City) One of those 3000+ was my Mom's sister, who was only 3 yrs old. I'am not as old as that sounds though, it was before my Mom was born, and back then women often had 25 yrs between there first and last born. That Fall was unusually warm like this one, and at the peak of the epidemic, Church services were shortened, theatres were closed,windows kept open in schools, and even funeral parties were restricted in size. Finally a cold spell seemed to put an end to the epidemic. I think we all are going to have to pray very hard in the days ahead.

Yes, let's thank Alex, (Alex, thanks) for reminding us of St. Blasius (Vlassios in Greek and Vllashi in Albanian) as the one to ask to intercede for sore throats.

The Theological Seminary of the Church of Albania, outside of Durres, is in the ancient Monastery of St. Vllashi, where the saint himself is said to have stayed at or near his martyrdom. There was a miracle-working spring coming from a stone at that holy place that drew thousands of pilgrims annually, Christian and Muslim alike.

The Communists (1944-1992) were not amused and so they destroyed the stone and allowed the monastery to fall into ruins.

The Church has built a magnificent seminary and monastery there, a multi-million dollar investment all in stone (touche, you atheist communists). And miracles of healing spring forth from these new stones as the graduates go on to glorify God as clergy, school teachers, presbyteras (matushki), and simple faithful layfolk. See it all at www.ocoal.org [ocoal.org] or visit in person.

With love in Christ,
Andrew