Jesus came to heal the whole person, body and soul. In the Church’s Sacrament of Anointing 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. His cures were signs of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The core message of his healing tells us of his plan to conquer sin and death by his dying and rising. 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. When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be 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.

Prayer For Renewed Strength

O Lord, my God,

Please give me the grace to maintain my hope in you through all of life’s changes

and to taste and see your goodness.

I praise you for the gifts you have showered

on me for so many years.

Help me find joy in a renewed

strength of spirit. Please bless me with good

health, and inspire me to be a good example to others.

For you are Lord, forever and ever. Amen.

A Blessing Prayer for Those Who Are Sick

All praise and glory is yours, Lord our God,

for you have called us to serve you in love.

Bless N., so that he/she may bear this illness

in union with your Son’s obedient suffering.

Restore him/her to health, and lead him/her to glory. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Blessing Prayer for An Elderly Person Who is Sick

All praise and glory is yours, Lord our God, for you have called us to serve you in love. Bless all who have grown old in your service, and give N. strength and courage

to continue to follow Jesus your Son.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer of the Elderly, Saint Pope John Paul II, 1999

Grant, O Lord of life,

That we may savour every season of our lives as a gift

filled with promise for the future.

Grant that we may lovingly accept your will,

and place ourselves each day in your merciful hands.

And when the moment of our definitive “passage” comes, grant that we may face it with serenity,

without regret for what we shall leave behind.

For in meeting you,

after having sought you for so long,

we shall find once more every authentic good

which we have known here on earth,

in the company of all who have gone before us

marked with the sign of faith and hope.

Mary, Mother of pilgrim humanity,

pray for us “now and at the hour of our death.”

Keep us ever close to Jesus, your beloved Son and our bother, the Lord of life and glory. Amen!

Prayer For All About To Die

Lord Jesus Christ,

as you stood by the bed of good Saint Joseph and gently led him home to heaven,

so shepherd every soul about to die

to a paradise of perfect peace.

Let the tears we shed upon their passing stand witness to our love for them

and the depth of our thanksgiving

for the gift of their lives

and the grace of a good death.

For you are Lord, forever and ever. Amen.