When to Call a Priest
Diagnosis of serious disease
Terminal diagnosis
Emergency circumstance of possible death
Please call the parish office at 303.233.1523 if someone is ill or hospitalized and would like to be anointed. Anointing is not to be delayed to the last minute. A person who has been anointed once does not need to be anointed again within the same illness. It is also important for someone who is anointed to be prepared to go to confession when the priest arrives (if they are able).
This sacrament of mercy and healing offers prayers for the recovery, but its primary intention is to give spiritual strength and calm the soul of the one suffering from illness. Traditionally, this sacrament was referred to as Extreme Unction or Last Rites
“By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ.” -Catechism of the Catholic Church 1499
“Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life. In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude…Illness can lead to anguish…It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him.”-Catechism of the Catholic Church 1500-1501
“The Church believes and confesses that among the seven sacraments there is one especially intended to strengthen those who are being tried by illness, the Anointing of the Sick…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….If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness the person’s condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. The same holds for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced.” -Catechism of the Catholic Church 1511, 1514-1515
