(English/Espanol)
Feast of St. Luke, Patron of Doctors
If you are sick, awaiting surgery, growing feebler with age, or struggling with a debilitating condition, please come to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick – A Sacrament of Healing – in the midst of a prayerful community. If you know a Catholic in need of the sacrament, please invite them. All are welcome to offer prayerful support. Especially welcome those in the medical field as they participate in the healing ministries. RSVP Below or call the parish at 301.924.3838.
Anointing of the Sick is a Sacrament of Healing – our prayers are for healing and not for “dying.” Occasionally, we hear discussions about “last rites.” Many presume it refers to the Anointing of the Sick, but there is nothing “last” about this Sacrament. From ancient times, we have testimonies to the practice of anointing of the sick with blessed oil. The Church teaches that anointing is to be celebrated early on in an illness for healing in body, mind and spirit, and not as a last measure.
The Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament not only for those who are at the point of death. As soon as any one of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time
for them to receive this sacrament has arrived.
Those of the faithful whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age are invited to receive this sacrament. A prudent or reasonably sure judgment, without scruple, is sufficient for deciding on the seriousness of an illness.