Anointing of the Sick – Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - Crowborough

World Day of the Sick which always falls on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.  This year, it falls on Saturday, February 11, 2023.  This is a good opportunity to pray for the sick and those who care for them.  The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is for all who face a serious illness or surgery or are impaired by infirmity. This Sacrament confers a special grace that unites the sick person more intimately to the Passion of Christ. This is for their good and for the good of all the Church.  It gives comfort, peace, courage, strength, and even the forgiveness of sins if the sick person cannot make a confession. Sometimes, if it is the will of God, this sacrament even brings about the restoration of physical health.

Anointing of the Sick is the sacrament that is received by those who are ill or suffering. By the sacred anointing and the prayer of the priest, the whole Church commends those who are sick to Christ. The sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gifts of strength, faith, peace, and courage, and his or her suffering is united with the suffering of Christ for the building up of the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], nos. 1520-23).

Through the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, the Church carries out Jesus’ mission of compassion and healing for the sick. The one who is ill can also be a minister to others. By uniting their suffering to Christ, those who are sick can be signs of faith and witnesses of Christ’s Resurrection to the entire community (Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici [The Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World], no. 54).