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…NOT MY WILL, BUT THY WILL…<br />
REVEREND MONSIGNOR<br />
LEO A. LECLERC<br />
A Call To Holiness
…NOT MY WILL, BUT THY WILL…<br />
REVEREND MONSIGNOR LEO A. LECLERC<br />
A Life of Holiness
Carol Anne Dube<br />
...NOT MY WILL, BUT THY WILL...<br />
Rev. Msgr. Leo A. Leclerc<br />
A Life of Holiness
“Jesus says to the Father, let this cup pass away from me without my<br />
having to drink it.“ And the Father says no to His own son, He says no.<br />
And so Jesus says ok, may Your will be done, not mine.”<br />
Letter to his people on dying, May 11, 2010—Msgr. Leo A. Leclerc
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS<br />
I wish to extend special thanks to the Leclerc<br />
family for their kindness and patience in allowing<br />
me to fulfill Msgr. Leo’s wishes in seeing that this<br />
story is told.<br />
A heartfelt thank you goes out to the<br />
faithful people who Msgr. Leo’s life touched, and<br />
whose lives touched his. Their contributions of<br />
photos, stories, memories and good wishes were<br />
abundantly helpful in completing this project by<br />
adding personal elements of faith and love to the<br />
narrative of a life so beautifully enriched by his<br />
priesthood.<br />
My personal thank you to my teacher, my student, my<br />
mentor, my friend, for <strong>final</strong>ly giving me the<br />
opportunity to tell a story, that in a world so filled with<br />
uncertainty, desperately needed to be told. I am<br />
humbly grateful for the richness and grace my life has<br />
experienced as a result of our friendship. Your untimely<br />
passing shall forever leave a hole in my heart, that is<br />
now filled with the example of your courage and many<br />
fond memories.<br />
Carol Anne Dube
A<br />
A Message From The Author<br />
On May 8, 2010 as I sat alone at the hospital bedside of the man who was my mentor and dear friend for over two decades,<br />
Msgr. Leo Leclerc, he said five words to me I will never forget. He said: “Put it in a book.” No other explanation was<br />
necessary, for I knew exactly what he meant. As a passionate writer, there was one story I was always eager to tell and that<br />
is the life story of this remarkable man.<br />
Over the years he resisted the idea of writing his memoirs or putting his life in print. But on this day, something had<br />
changed him. He was facing death with the faith, courage and conviction he lived out his whole life, and he now realized it<br />
was God’s plan to tell his story to others. On the evening of May 11, 2010 he called me on the phone from his hospital bed,<br />
and with weakened voice he said, “I know I have been hesitant before about telling my story, but now it is apparent to me<br />
that the whole process of my dying says something and I want you to share it. I love you and I trust my name is safe in<br />
your gifted hands.”<br />
I was overwhelmed by the offering of trust that I was just given by this humble, holy man. Over the next week, as his<br />
health allowed, we spent extensive amounts of time together working through the details of when, and how this project<br />
would unfold. As happened so often in the past when we worked together, we would always differ on the magnitude of the<br />
finished product. My motto was always “go big or go home.” He being more modest and a lot less marketing oriented than<br />
I, had a smaller plan in mind. We found common, holy, ground somewhere in the middle of our ideas and here in your<br />
hands is the result of that compromise.<br />
Two things were important to him and were prerequisites to his giving his blessing to go forward: one, that it would not be<br />
an historical, chronological treatise on the “life of Leo” as he said. Lastly, that it be inclusive in that it be available to all,<br />
and proceeds would benefit Catholic education in whatever area it was sold. He wanted this to be more of a focus on priesthood,<br />
vocations and the fulfillment of our baptismal call to holiness, rather than his own life. This could be accomplished<br />
and illustrated by the many stories and testimonies told on the memorial websites, created for him as he lay ill.<br />
So my friends, guided by prayerful conversations with God, inspired by the spirit of Leo, and taken from my own personal<br />
experience of him, here is the story of one of God’s most faithful servants; one who loved all and was loved by all, ordained a<br />
priest to bring God to people and people to God.<br />
I pray that my words and pictures have done justice to your memories of the man who was the “face and hands of Christ”<br />
here on earth.<br />
Carol Anne Dube
Forward
Chapter 1<br />
I<br />
t was an unseasonably warm late April evening when the phone rang, immediately filling me<br />
with joy as I answered it, hearing the voice of my mentor and friend Leo, a Monsignor in the Catholic<br />
Church. He was having some throat trouble as of late so it was not his usual calming voice I detected,<br />
but instead a raspy, breathy sound which emanated. “Hey Teach, got a second?” This was our<br />
private joke we always went through when he needed computer help. I had been teaching him<br />
computers for the better part of our twenty year friendship which earned me the honored title of<br />
Teacher while he, the apt pupil, I fondly began to call Grasshopper. As I so often had responded in<br />
the past, I laughed and said “… Grasshopper for you a lifetime.”<br />
“Can I read you something?,” he said with weakened voice. I said “Sure,” rather intrigued, because<br />
even though we shared a common love of books, Leo was fairly predictable in our phone conversations<br />
and this request was a first.<br />
He whispered: “It’s from ‘The Journey Home’.” Now my interest was even more heightened, as this<br />
was the book I wrote chronicling my experiences as caretaker in the <strong>final</strong> days of my mother’s illness,<br />
until her eventual death, just seven months before. I had given Leo a personal signed copy of it in<br />
thanks for his unwavering and comforting presence to me and my family during a very difficult time.<br />
His hoarse voice began to speak all too familiar words:<br />
“I have grown in faith. I have embraced trust and surrender in a whole new way. This is not a ‘school’ I<br />
recommend for anyone. But on the other hand – if I were to choose a process of dying for someone I love as much<br />
as Mom again, this would definitely be it. This is the mystery of death I have come to understand: this is the<br />
mystery of grace; how one person’s death can be a catalyst for many other miracles. The chain reaction is more<br />
like a trail of dominoes that creates joy as you watch it unfold.”<br />
A brief silence ensued, eventually broken only by his one word, “Wow.” I thought I detected a quiver<br />
in his voice as he continued: “Teach, I don’t know what to say but thank you. I just called to tell you I<br />
needed to hear that and it comforts me.” Even more puzzled than before, I simply uttered, “Your<br />
welcome,” and we said our goodbyes and hung up.
The haunting tone of this phone call kept me awake all night. In retrospect, it was as if the ringing<br />
had tolled sounds of imminent sorrow and his words were continuing the mysterious tale by offering<br />
me some message I had yet to comprehend. It wasn’t long before I would come to understand firsthand,<br />
the meaning of prophesy.<br />
The second call which came just a few days later, held a more serious tone when he said, “Carol, I’m<br />
sorry but I have some bad news and I don’t know how to say this but to come right out and say it: the<br />
cancer is back and it’s not looking good.”<br />
His words set in motion the stacking of that trail of dominoes, waiting for the miracles which would<br />
eventually unfold in a way no one could have ever predicted. God had begun to orchestrate the<br />
process and it would take weeks for the entire path to come into full view. What I feared most was<br />
the one event that would set them falling, in order for that to happen.
Chapter 2<br />
T<br />
he challenge of privacy for well loved public figures is a daunting one and certainly Leo’s life fell into that<br />
category. Since his death was inevitable as a result of a terminal diagnosis, he needed time to process it. He<br />
needed to be with his biological family, yet not remain too distant from the spiritual family which had grown<br />
to be such a big part of his life and his nearly forty nine years of Catholic priesthood. He needed sacred space<br />
to wrestle with God over his own mortality, yet he still needed the comfort of friends and family in the<br />
process, whose stories and memories would help him to reaffirm his vocation. The problem was: how can he<br />
have both? This was the dilemma he had shared with me by phone.<br />
Knowing what was ahead, I had already begun to draft and idea for a website to honor his life and allow the<br />
many people who knew him to come and share their sorrow, their prayers and their memories and find<br />
healing. Playing on his lifelong affinity for frogs, the “Lily Pad of Prayer” was born. My next challenge<br />
would be to convince this very private man to put his dying days on display.<br />
I was scheduled to visit him in the hospital the next day. So with paper drafts in hand I had prepared myself<br />
to tenderly broach the subject. My fears were allayed when he brought the predicament back up again on his<br />
own. “ My family and I need the privacy but I need to be connected to my Church family Carol, any ideas?” I<br />
said, ”Well as a matter of fact I do have one.” I sat on the bed next to him and shared the plan for the website,<br />
treading lightly and gauging his reactions as we went along. Having completed my pitch, I was not surprised<br />
by the silence that would follow. Through our many years of personal interactions I recognized the<br />
look which signaled his careful consideration of the topic at hand before responding. “How can I be sure I<br />
am reaching all the people that I have ministered to, like Notre Dame, Pittsfield for example? It’s important<br />
that all people are included not just St. Rose and not just people with computers. I don't want to leave anyone<br />
out.“ Notre Dame was Leo’s first assignment, his first love as he fondly called it, and St. Rose, nearly sixty<br />
miles away, was the parish where he and I met, his last assignment, his last love. I thought for a moment and<br />
uttered the words I had carefully prepared, “you can draft messages to them directly as your health allows<br />
and I will post them on the website and e-mail copies to the parishes for inclusion into the bulletins for people<br />
without computer access. This will be one place where they can get accurate information that they know<br />
is coming only from you. I have already contacted all the pastors, they are standing by to help in any way
they can. ” The second silence was one I was not prepared for as his emotions surfaced and the nod of<br />
approval came.<br />
Leo had just agreed to open the doors to his very private world of dying and I was to be his messenger.<br />
Once again, in less than seven months, I was going to help someone I love, disappear before my<br />
eyes. Yes, I had embraced trust and surrender in a whole new way as a result of my mother’s passing,<br />
but God was once again going to test, just how much.<br />
Msgr. Leo in prayer, St. Rose de Lima Chapel
Chapter 3<br />
A fter a bit of back and forth with Leo on wording, “The Lily Pad of Prayer” was launched with<br />
my inaugural message as webmaster: “Our much beloved Pastor Emeritus, Msgr. Leo Leclerc is facing serious<br />
illness and in need of our prayers. For the many years, and for the many ways, he has supported and loved<br />
us, we want to return that support and love one hundred fold. This site is designed to share your prayers, your<br />
memories and your love. It will allow the family to print and share these thoughts with Fr. Leo as he is able to<br />
receive them. We love you Fr. Leo! Tout es grace!”<br />
“Tout es grace,( grace is everywhere)” had become a favorite phrase of Leo’s taken from the line of
George Bernanos’ “Diary of A Country Priest.” He and I had decided on this theme for his mass of<br />
farewell upon his retirement in 2005. It later had become a joke with us, after we realized we incorrectly<br />
remembered this to be the last line of the book. It was shortly after his announcement of the<br />
terminal diagnosis that we shared the irony of the actual last line: “Je crois qu’il est mort presque aussitôt,”<br />
which translates: “ and he died just then.” It didn’t seem so funny now.<br />
The Prayer Pad begins with<br />
my opening words. The<br />
family offers their approval<br />
by logging in next and sharing<br />
their gratitude.<br />
The main page of the “Lily Pad of Prayer”
A Baptismal Call<br />
To Holiness<br />
A Brother Priest, Lily Pad of Prayer<br />
May 2010
My Story<br />
I have called you by name and you are mine.<br />
Isaiah 43:1<br />
O<br />
ne of my earliest memories is of my First Communion Day.<br />
I remember going up the church steps praying, “Lord help me to<br />
be a priest.” I remember “playing Mass” with my brothers and<br />
sisters and wanting to help people.<br />
It is not surprising therefore that the priesthood to me<br />
was always linked to the Eucharist and to the people I<br />
served. In my nearly 44 years of priestly ministry, the<br />
Eucharist was my anchor, my lifeline. I tried to be in<br />
intimate contact with the body of Christ, as it came<br />
to me on the altar, as it showed itself in the parish<br />
office or in the nursing home.<br />
Though I certainly did not succeed all the time, my<br />
desire to help people was fulfilled in so many ways,<br />
even when I could do little else but offer the<br />
experience of my own woundedness.<br />
It has been a great life! When I first uttered that simple<br />
prayer, “God help me to be a priest,” I could never have<br />
imagined the abundant ways that I would be graced by God<br />
and by God’s people.<br />
First Communion Day, 1941<br />
Msgr. Leo Leclerc, V.G.<br />
Diocese of Springfield MA, Vocations Interview, 1995
And those he predestined he also called; those he called he also justified;<br />
those he justified he also glorified.<br />
I<br />
Romans 8:30<br />
This is where I will begin to speak about vocations in general.<br />
The call to holiness, the discernment process et. This page will follow “leo’s<br />
first call.”
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek<br />
Hebrews 5:6<br />
Ordination, first mass photo here<br />
Ordained a Priest to<br />
“Bring God to People, and People to God.”
In the Beginning...<br />
Notre Dame Du Bon Conseil, Pittsfield, MA<br />
My “First Love”
Newman Center, University of Massachusetts<br />
In The Beginning...
The day you were<br />
called to break bread for a<br />
living was the day you were<br />
called to be broken...<br />
The days you spend bending over bread are spent bent around<br />
mystery of fraction.<br />
If you are indeed broken, you need to<br />
gather up each other’s fragments<br />
gently, and remember how again,
Believe what you read…
……......Teach what you believe…<br />
Fr. Leo chats with a St. Joan of Arc School Kindergartener
...and practice what you teach.
Laughter…...<br />
“Are You The Father?”<br />
The funniest story in my family about Fr. Leo is when I lived in Chicopee & went into labor for my son, Scott. My husband had left<br />
for CT so I called Aunt Alvine. She came right over to keep my daughter, Tammy. She called Fr. Leo who was saying 7 am Mass. He<br />
comes right over & speeds (sorry Fr. but you never did go slow!...) to Providence Hospital. "runs" 2 red lights, gets me there, the<br />
Nun comes out with the wheel chair, he is getting something out of the car and she hollers "Are you the Father?" " Yes", he answers<br />
(he was really nervous at the time!) and he turns around, he has his "collar" on and that poor Nun almost faints!! ~ Cousin Sue<br />
“That Guy….”<br />
Dear Fr. Leo: Cheryl and I are praying for. You have made such a difference in our lives and have been a large part our development<br />
as a Catholic married couple. All of our children are praying for you as well. I know how much you enjoyed speaking during<br />
your homilies about the cute things children say so I thought ...I would share one with you. Last night our 4 year old daughter<br />
Rachel was saying her prayers before she went to bed and said "God please help that guy at church". That guy is you so I hope you<br />
felt a moment of peace when she whispered those words. We all love you very much. ~ Bob & Cheryl W.
Laughter…...
The Final Chapter<br />
May 11, 2010<br />
Hello everyone, I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be able to stay in<br />
touch with you, entering the last days of my life.<br />
much that they can do anymore.<br />
I believe without a doubt, I believe that God can heal me<br />
with the help of doctors and nurses. But I also believe that God can<br />
heal me without their help. They have now told me that there is not<br />
So it seems as if, this is the beginning of my last conversation with all of you and I am so touched to be able to read your<br />
messages. I can’t tell you how you’ve pleased me.<br />
One of my favorite pictures of Jesus in the bible is the image of Jesus in the garden of olives. Where Jesus says to the<br />
Father, “Let this cup pass away from me without my having to drink it. “ And the Father says no to His own son, He says no.<br />
And so Jesus says ok, may Your will be done, not mine.<br />
That’s what I want now. I want God’s will to be done not mine. And whatever good may come from all your prayers, I<br />
offer those prayers up to God. I offer them up for you.<br />
Use those prayers, they certainly come from a loving God.<br />
I’ll be in touch with you regularly, hopefully once a week and we’ll go from there. I look forward to greeting you and I<br />
thank you very, very much.<br />
God Bless You,<br />
Fr. Leo Leclerc
The Final Chapter<br />
Sunday May 16, 2010<br />
Hello Everyone,<br />
It’s early evening and night is closing in.<br />
I’d like to thank you again for reaching out to me these past days with<br />
your cards, letters, emails, and online postings to the website .<br />
You can be assured I am getting these messages daily. Please know that I love you all and I would like for you all to keep in<br />
mind that in the Christian story, everything ends all right and if it is does not end all right then it is truly not the end.<br />
Fr. Leo
The Final Chapter<br />
Monday, May 17, 2010<br />
The Reverend Msgr. Leo Leclerc recently received a letter from one of his caregivers.<br />
This letter along with the daily show of affection by the hospital staff has served as<br />
an inspiration for him to address the entire Mercy Hospital organization. He considers<br />
them an outstanding group that has been committed to providing physical and spiritual<br />
healing for him and the residents of Western Massachusetts for years.<br />
“Monsignor Leo,<br />
It has been such a pleasure to care for you, I could not have asked for a better patient. I must say that I will miss you dearly when you<br />
leave us here at Mercy. You have truly touched my heart and made a difference in my life. Please know that I will be thinking of you always and<br />
you will forever have a place in my heart. May God continue to bless you; may you find eternal peace and happiness.”<br />
Respectfully,<br />
Your nurse, Ashlee<br />
The following is the Rev. Msgr. Leo’s response regarding his stay and care received at Mercy Hospital.“I wake in the<br />
morning, it is usually 5:30am. The nurses, personal care technicians and staff come in to wash me and comb my hair. Their tender<br />
voices and touch make me feel much better. They have changed my clothes and changed my dressings as I have experienced some<br />
paralysis. I’ve been in this hospital bed for 11 days, unable to move my lower limbs and yet I feel well and I’m glad to wake each<br />
morning and rejoin the human race. And why is that? That is because of the quality of human care I have received here at Mercy<br />
Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. The entire “Mercy Corp” has pleasantly whispered words of encouragement and faith into
The Final Chapter<br />
Monday, May 17, 2010<br />
(continued)<br />
pleasantly whispered words of encouragement and faith into my ears as I wake and they<br />
see to my complete comfort throughout the day and night. The doctors have changed<br />
some of my medications, and that has made me even more comfortable. The staff at Mercy<br />
is truly dedicated to the elimination of human pain and suffering, they have eliminated it<br />
in me. Like God, they have brought joy to my early morning and give me the strength to<br />
carry on with the endeavors of the day ahead. Mercy Hospital, you are many names, and you are tops in my book. I ask all of my<br />
friends to join me in thanking the many people at Mercy and to remember to thank those for which you are grateful for in your<br />
daily lives.<br />
I love you,<br />
Fr. Leo
The Final Chapter<br />
Sunday, May 23 2010<br />
This is the page that appeared on the memorial website, just hours after the death of Msgr. Leo. He offered his approval and contributed<br />
to its design, while in his hospital bed, a week before.
This is the authorized story of Reverend<br />
Monsignor Leo A. Leclerc a Roman<br />
Catholic priest in the Diocese of Springfield<br />
Massachusetts. On the day of his priestly<br />
ordination in 1961, he heard these words<br />
“...practice what you teach.” After forty eight<br />
years of priesthood, God invites him to<br />
embrace them in a very personal way:<br />
through a terminal cancer diagnosis. What<br />
followed was an outpouring of testimonies,<br />
unraveling the extraordinary account of one<br />
man’s answer to a call to holiness.