Mary Queen of Heaven Parish holds monthly healing ministry
Prayers raised for physical, emotional recovery

By Cindy Crebbin, Special to the Catholic Herald

WEST ALLIS — On the first Friday of the New Year — a cold, gray wintry evening — nearly 50 people from different parts of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, from children to senior citizens gathered for a monthly Mass with prayers for healing at Mary Queen of Heaven Parish. While numerous parishes in the archdiocese have Masses with anointing for the sick, Mary Queen of Heaven is one of a handful of parishes that have Masses with special prayers for healing.

Healing ministry within the church has a long tradition. In November 2000, the Vatican issued norms on faith-healing services, saying prayer meetings for healing need the approval of local church authorities and must avoid anything resembling hysteria. (See accompanying sidebar in the Catholic Herald.)

In contrast to the drab weather outside, the Mass inside began with uplifting songs accompanied by a guitarist and a woman shaking a tambourine, amid the festive red and green Christmas decorations, the crib, and the twinkling white lights still adorning this intimate church.

After the Mass that featured special petitions and prayers for those sick and in need, people in attendance were invited by Fr. Michael Merkt, pastor, to share blessings or to give witness to healings, which had occurred to them or others since the last time they gathered for Mass in December.

One woman said she had to thank the Lord for another healing. “For some time I was unable to kneel,” she said. “After the last (Mass with prayers for healing) I was able to kneel, so I give glory to God for that,” said the woman to applause. Another woman at the service said she had an image of the Lord with “his arms outstretched pouring down his blessings.”

Following the sharing of blessings and healings from the congregation was the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament which Fr. Merkt said reminds us Jesus is our healer. Then came the anointing for anyone who came forward to Fr. Merkt and a visiting priest, Franciscan Fr. Paul Maslach, of Sacred Heart Croatian Catholic Church, Milwaukee. Maslach also gave the homily as other visiting priests do each month.

Grace Elliott of New Berlin, and a member of Mary Queen of Heaven, was one of those anointed. She regularly comes to the Masses. “I’ve been coming for three years,” she said. “It has made an enormous difference in my life. The presence of the Lord is so evident. The healing that takes place you can feel it.”

According to Elliott, she is not anointed for a specific illness, but she has prayed for friends who were ill, and during that time one of her friends was cured of cancer. During this anointing, as well as others at the Masses, several of those anointed went limp and were gently laid on the church floor by those assisting the priests. “It’s called resting in the Spirit (of God),” said Elliott. “Some people cry while they lay there, others smile.” While resting in the spirit has never happened to Elliott she said, “I wish it had.”

Another person anointed was Dennis Creegan, a member of St. Francis Borgia Parish, Cedarburg. Creegan said he has been coming to the Mass with special prayers for healing since 2001. “I’ve been diagnosed with cancer,” he explained, adding that he’s responded well to medical treatments. “I attribute that to the Lord,” said the soft-spoken Creegan. “You get a wonderful feeling here. You leave the services feeling renewed.”

Indeed, at the end of the recent Mass and anointings (about half of those present were anointed), the congregation stood, many of them with arms uplifted, and joyfully sang the jubilant song “Shine, Jesus, Shine,” by Graham Kendrick.

In an interview prior to the Mass, Fr. Merkt said the Masses with special prayers for healing have been held at his parish for four years. He said people attending range in age from babies to age 70. “We have families and young children. It’s a real cross-section,” he noted.

Generally he said 35 to 70 people turn out for the Masses. In addition, he said those participating come from different parishes and different backgrounds, ranging from teachers to those in the medical profession. People come for physical healing including cancer, migraine headache, fibromyalgia, arthritis, as well as alcoholism and mental illness. But some come to heal broken relationships, including family relationships, as well as those among co-workers.

A core team for this healing ministry meets a week before and a week after each Mass to pray. Core team members, Rosalie Hersil, a member of Mary Queen of Heaven Parish and Margaret Brings, a member of Divine Mercy Parish, South Milwaukee (formerly St. Sylvester Parish, South Milwaukee), shared their insights on the Masses.

“I hear people say they feel the blessings and graces they receive are passed on in their work, so they have a new vision of love,” said Hersil. But not only do those in need of healing change. Sometimes Hersil said people in the community see the transformation of people suffering among them, and it helps them grow in their own faith. “You see God working.”

During the prayer meeting each month, Hersil said, “We wait and listen, and read Scripture, and get confirmation as to what the Lord is doing, and what the Lord wants us to do.”

“Out of the prayer groups you find your gifts, then healing comes out of that,” noted Brings.

According to Hersil and Brings, the seeds for the special Masses were planted about 15 years ago with the start of a charismatic prayer group at St. Mary Parish, Hales Corners. The group was called the “River of Life.” Later, the group moved to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and then to St. John Kanty Parish.

While at St. John Kanty, Hersil said she and a friend, Joanne Schlessinger prayed for years, and “the Lord led us to believe it was time to have a (Mass with prayers for healing). But we didn’t know how to start one. I don’t know how this came about, but it just came together,” she said of the Masses which are now held at Mary Queen of Heaven.

“Now people at the prayer group are ministering to people after the Mass,” she said.

>From Fr. Merkt’s perspective, the Mass “strengthens people’s faith. It brings about a sense of renewed faith.” He also said, “It enhances that the Body of Christ is just not one people.”

The next two Masses with special prayers for healing at Mary Queen of Heaven will be on Friday, Feb. 6th and Friday, March 5th, both at 7 p.m.

Other parishes which have Masses with prayers for healing include Our Lady of Good Hope, Milwaukee, Holy Hill, Hubertus, and St. James, Mequon. Once a year, Divine Mercy Parish, South Milwaukee, has Mass with special prayers for healing.

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