Monday, January 30, 2023

Holy Viaticum...

   Is any among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters of
the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with
oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith 
will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; 
and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. -  James 5:14-15


From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC):

1524  In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of "passing over" to the Father, has a particular significance and importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection, according to the words of the Lord: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." The sacrament of Christ once dead and now risen, the Eucharist is here the sacrament of passing over from death to life, from this world to the Father.

1525 Thus, just as the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist form a unity called "the sacraments of Christian initiation," so too it can be said that Penance, the Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist as viaticum constitute at the end of Christian life "the sacraments that prepare for our heavenly homeland" or the sacraments that complete the earthly pilgrimage.



Continue reading about this beautiful Sacrament 
and gift of the Church
 Catechism of the Catholic Church - Sections 1499-1532

Please call a priest 
for this holy time 
of preparation and passage.


01.jpg (499×499)
Viaticum angels - wood engraving, France - 1891

"The world's thy ship and 
not thy home." - St Thérèse of Lisieux

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