Recently added to the list: COVID-19, which she tested positive for on her 105th birthday. She sailed through the two-week quarantine like a champ without any symptoms, said her granddaughter, Shawn Laws O Neil.
The tale triggered a flurry of recent articles; her uplifting health news spread far and wide, resulting in an outpouring of greetings from around the globe all of which reached DeClerck at her residence in Mystic Meadows Rehab and Nursing Center in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey.
There, ensconced in a room adorned with pictures of saints and an olive wood cross from the Holy Land, she recently shared her advice for a long life: prayer without ceasing; love without constraint; abiding concern for others; an open door; no junk food; and, oh yes, nine golden raisins soaked in gin every day as a tonic.
Deacon Robert LeBlanc Pilot file photo
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This is the first in a series of articles profiling the five men who will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on May 22.
BRIGHTON Even though he spent his childhood in Libertyville, a town north of Chicago, Deacon Robert LeBlanc has always considered Boston his home.
His parents were from Newton, and when he was halfway through college, his family moved back to the East Coast. Boston s always really been home for me. It s where my family s all from, so I had spent a lot of time in the Boston area, Deacon LeBlanc said in a March 24 interview.
.Pope Francis delivers his blessing after praying the Regina Coeli after Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday at the Church of the Holy Spirit near the Vatican in Rome April 11, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) .Pope Francis celebrates Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday at the Church of the Holy Spirit near the Vatican in Rome April 11, 2021. Concelebrating with the pope are Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, left, and Msgr. Jozef Bart, right, rector of the church. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) .Pope Francis celebrates Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday at the Church of the Holy Spirit near the Vatican in Rome April 11, 2021. Also pictured is Msgr. Jozef Bart, right, rector of the church. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
.Australian Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy died April 10 at the age of 96. He is pictured with German Lutheran Bishop Christian Krause at the signing of The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in Augsburg, Germany, Oct. 31, 1999. Cardinal Cassidy, representing the Vatican, and Bishop Krause, president of the Lutheran World Federation, signed the document marking the resolution of a doctrinal dispute that sparked the Reformation. (CNS photo/Ralph Orlowski, Reuters)
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) Australian Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, a longtime Vatican diplomat and former president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, died April 10 at the age of 96 in Newcastle, Australia.