Clipart from this siteSue of Half the Kingdom has a very good post on the Holy Souls: Anointing of the Dying: Apostolic Pardon.
Why it is important to call for a priest early on to administer the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick to a loved one who is near deathYou can read the entire post over at Sue's blog.
Here are some of the most important reasons :
1. The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick takes away all mortal and venial sins, even if the person is unconscious. To hear the person’s last confession and to provide them with the Viaticum ( Holy Eucharist ), prepares them for their journey to Our Lord. In addition, the apostolic pardon takes away any temporal punishment (purgatory time) that remains for the soul.
Apostolic Pardon: (to be given by a priest only): ” By the authority granted me by the Holy See, I hereby grant you full pardon and remission of all your sins: In the Name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
2. The devil at the time of death tempts the soul to despair by accusing it of its sins. Among other reasons, Our Lord instituted the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to drive him away at this time.
I remember when my mother was dying and we had travelled all day to Penola, where Mary MacKillop had a school house.
ReplyDeleteBy 11PM we had to rush Mum to hospital and the lovely Priest there visited me throughout the night as I stayed by my mothers side. Father Peter gave her the Last Rites...I couldnt believe that a Priest would get out of bed to come and visit us throughout that long night.
This is an important Sacrament for those who suffer long term illness.
Thanks Esther:)
Peace, JOY & Love to you:)
Marie xoxoxoo
What a beautiful testament of a true priest of God! Thank you for sharing that dear Marie. One of the parishioners at our church was dying but a fellow parishioner couldn't contact one of our priests. He called up the priest from a neighboring parish and that priest got out of his sick bed to go to the hospital to tend to the dying person. Unfortunately, the person had died but he still have the last rites.
ReplyDeletePeace and love to you too.
This is something I wish I thought of when my mother was dying... it was 10:30pm when we got called to the hospice... and I didn't think of calling the parish priest to come do the Anointing of the Sick.
ReplyDeleteOh Heather!!I'm so sorry about that!
ReplyDeletehugs,