In the Church's Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick - sometimes known as "the Sacrament of the Sick", through the ministry of the priest, it is Jesus who touches the sick to heal them from sin – and sometimes even from physical ailment.
When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it is God's will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit's gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the sacraments as “efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which Divine life is dispensed to us” – having Divine life dispensed to us is reason enough for wanting to receive them whenever possible and appropriate.
St Mary’s Hospital is currently the only hospital with a Catholic priest on staff who can administer the Sacrament of the Sick. Parishioners who have surgery scheduled can make an appointment with Fr. Mark or Fr. Cristobal beforehand to receive the sacrament. Both Fr. Mark and Fr. Cristobal will administer the Sacrament of the Sick at the Hospitals if a Hospital chaplain is not available. However, if the hospital stay is a scheduled one, it is prudent to schedule a visit with our priests in advance, as hospital chaplains, if available, are very busy and may not be able to come before a scheduled procedure.
If Blessed Sacrament parishioners are admitted to the hospital, the Pastoral Assistant, Maria Habib, will visit them as she is able, bringing them Holy Communion, if desired. Please let the admitting staff at the hospital know of your affiliation with Blessed Sacrament at the time of admission. We will not know that we need to tend to you or pray for and with you if we are unaware of your illness!
Anyone who is baptized and of the age where he can go to confession can receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick validly. The Rite of Anointing tells us there is no need to wait until a person is at the point of death to receive the Sacrament. A careful judgment about the serious nature of the illness is sufficient. For instance, one could ask for Anointing of the Sick before surgery, even if it is a relatively low-risk procedure.