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“Leona…..our Mom”
As perceived by her third son, Donald Andre Bruneau
Before I say anything else I want to thank God for the gift of such a special mother that He has blessed my three brothers and I with.
In this ‘spiritual testimony’ of Mom’s life given by herself in interviews conducted by myself and from notes from her diaries you will meet the mother, grandmother and my special friend who raised her four boys in such a loving, caring and faith-filled atmosphere.
One of Mom’s favourite sayings in life was ‘God is so good!’. Mom’s view of God’s goodness certainly had an impact on my life as I grew up.
The Blessed Virgin Mary had a profound influence on Mom’s life. I can always remember Mom gathering us together in the evenings to say the ‘rosary’ in the living room in Chapleau, Ontario, during our childhood days. Another special memory I have is how Mom so faithfully wore her ‘Miraculous Medal of the Immaculate Conception’ of Mother Mary.
I speak of Mom’s special devotion to Mary further on in a talk I gave titled “The Power of a Mother’s Prayers”.
One of the spiritual treasures that Mom left me in the last few years of her life (at age 86) at the Golden Manor Nursing Home, in Timmins, Ontario, was her very unexpected expression to me of these words on the day after Christmas, in 2005:
Time is precious,It gives us time to love,
Time to have God’s preciousness.
These heavenly words had such a profound impact on me that in the two weeks that followed I wrote a poem titled: “Time is Precious”. I truly believe this poem is a testimony and legacy from Mom to us. This is her. This expresses her beliefs. Mom had a
Great burden to bring souls to the Love and Mercy of God.
Mom also knew ‘suffering’ in a very intimate way through much of her life, especially so since 2001, when she suffered a stroke which left her whole left side paralized and caused her so much pain.
One night at the Nursing Home as I was seated next to her bed, she was silently muttering something. I said to her: “What’s up?” She answered: “Oh! Donald, my paralized leg is causing me so much pain, but I am ‘offering it up’ to God for the salvation of the souls of my boys. Mom knew the value of co-redemptive suffering, that is to say the value of uniting one’s suffering to the sufferings of ‘Jesus Christ’ to intercede in a most powerful way for souls.
God is so good to have blessed us with a mother who cared, who loved and prayed daily for her family. She left us ‘Treasures in Heaven’. God bless her sweet soul and you dear reader be blessed many times over as Mom shares with you her spiritual journey.
Also, if you need ‘prayer’, ask her to intercede for you. She’ll be more than happy to oblige.
Donald Andre Bruneau…her third son.
On her face was seen ”An infusion of Heavenly sweetness ”
By: Rose Nadeau
‘An infusion of Heavenly sweetness’ is the only sentence that fits my recollections of knowing Leona Bruneau-Dechenes.
I had the privilege and honour of knowing Leona on many occasions because I was a good friend of her son, Donald Andre. She knew I loved him dearly as a faithful friend and supported him when others persecuted him for his love for Jesus and for souls.
His mother Leona also has a great love for souls and was ready and willing to suffer for them if this was going to be her calling in His divine plan for her life.
God called her to be a victim soul and she embraced this invitation with a heavenly infusion of sweetness and joy even if it be for one soul.
On many occasions I had an opportunity to visit at her bedside in the Nursing Home where she resided inTimmins,Ontario. In her latter years of suffering she offered up her life as a victim for the salvation of souls especially her own boys whom she loved so dearly.
During my visits all I ever saw on her smiling yet suffering face was an infusion of Heavenly sweetness in her smile. She loved Jesus and you could plainly see it in her eyes and her smiling face that said it all.
When I came upon this statement written from the writings of Thomas Kempis I said to myself, this expresses Leona’s experience of her many seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, and years of long-suffering she endured for the love of Christ and the salvation of souls.
Long-suffering was an inevitable gift of the Holy Spirit given to her to bare with Heavenly sweetness. And that she did with great joy.
I am a living witness of her joy, along with her son as we watched this soul suffer for the salvation of souls. She knew God loved her and that she had no doubt God would accept the prayers of her heart that longed and pleaded for her sons to be with her for all eternity. She was determined not to go to Heaven alone and she suffered as long and as much as God was calling her to do so to ensure their salvation.
She believed in the promises of God to answer the prayers of her heart and she was not about to give up on those promises. Her faith was so strong she knew that her many years of sufferings would never be in vain.
Her suffering today is over and gone, she cries no more, her tears have been dried but she continues in Heaven today still pleading without ceasing for the salvation of her sons. Yes, her suffering has ended, her tears are dried up, but her prayers rise up as incense to the Throne of God and are ever more powerful today than ever before.
She still awaits with the patience only a mother could posses, head bowed, hands folded, knees bent in prayer, interceding with an infused Heavenly sweetness at Heaven’s Gate watching and anticipating for the day her sons arrive at the Golden Gates of their Eternal Home. She stands with arms held open wide ready to embrace them with her heavenly Father, His son Jesus Christ and our heavenly Mother as all the angels and saints await to cheer them on when they will be united again for all of eternity.
Happy Birthday ‘Leona’, please pray for me.
December 5, 2012.
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