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Anointing of the Sick
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Anointing of the Sick
The anointing of the Sick should always take place in the early stages of any serious illness so that it may be received with full, conscious faith and devotion. In this way, the sick as well as their family and friends may truly participate and derive real comfort from the celebration.
The sacrament should be celebrated as early as possible – before there is a sense of crisis. Families should contact the parish as soon as the situation becomes serious. If the patient is in hospital, the family should speak to the nurse and ask for the priest on call to come and administer the sacrament.
The sacraments for the sick should never be delayed. When death has occurred, Anointing is not celebrated or administered. The sacraments are celebrated for the living; the dead are remembered through the prayer of the Church.
The anointing of the sick is administered when a loved one is ill, is to undergo surgery, is chronically ill or is elderly. Please call the office at 416-244-3066 and request to receive this sacrament before being admitted to the hospital. Please download this brochure from the Archdiocese of Toronto that explains the Pastoral Care (Anointing of the Sick) that is available to you.
(From the Catechism of the Catholic Church)
1531
The celebration of the Anointing of the Sick consists essentially in the anointing of the forehead and hands of the sick person (in the Roman Rite) or of other parts of the body (in the Eastern rite), the anointing being accompanied by the liturgical prayer of the celebrant asking for the special grace of this sacrament.
1532
The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:
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the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church;
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the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
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the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
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the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul;
- the preparation for passing over to eternal life.
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Jesus replied: Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him.
Anyone who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not my own: it is the word of the Father who sent me.
I have said these things to you while still with you;
but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.
Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
(John 14: 23-27) |
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