Our Lady of Lourdes: The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes falls this Wednesday and is a special Day of Prayer for those who are sick, so we will give her due honour at Mass that day, remembering all those on our Sick list and all those who are sick you wish to pray for. We might also pray for all those who care for the sick, not just doctors and nurses and other professional but the often great sacrifices made by those caring for relatives and friends at home; truly a work of mercy in the sight of God.
A reminder that those who are seriously ill should always ask for the Sacrament of the Sick, using the Holy Oil kept in the Aumbry in the Baptism chapel (along with the Baptismal Oils). If you are going into hospital for an operation, for example, you might request it beforehand. If someone is in hospital, it can always be requested from the Hospital Chaplain, but you must request it there and ask for a note to be made in patient records. Due to data protection laws, hospitals are often reluctant to simply give the names of Catholics even to the official Chaplain, without the express request of the patient or family.
What Are the Effects of the Anointing of the Sick?
“The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects: the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church; the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age; the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of penance; the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul; the preparation for passing over to eternal life” (CCC 1532).
Does a person have to be dying to receive this sacrament? No. The Catechism says,
“The anointing of the sick is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived” (CCC 1514).
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