Extreme Unction
Who can give the catechism answer to this question:
What is the sacrament of Ex- treme Unction?
Extreme Unction is a sacrament which, through the annointing and the prayer of the priest, ngives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body, when we are in danger of death through sickness.
When you think of Extreme Unction you usually think of a priest hurrying to a deathbed on a race with death. That is not quite correct. Unless it is a case of accident or sudden sickness, there should be no need for the priest to hurry. He should be called in time. It is a wrong idea to think that we must wait until the last minute before calling the priest. Extreme Unction is a help to the body as well as the soul. As soon as a person is dangerously ill, a priest should be called. When he comes he will anoint the senses of the person one by one, asking God to forgive whatever sins have been committed through that sense. Then he will recite the beautiful prayers of the Church for the sick and dying. It is a well-known fact that a priest will face any danger even death itself to be with a dying person.
There was once a priest named Father Maturin. He was a famous priest and had written many books on the spiritual life. Father Maturin was sailing on that ill-fated ship, the Lusitania. You have certainly heard your parents talking about the Lusitania at one time or other. At about two o'clock on the afternoon of May 7, 1915, Father Maturin was walking up and down the deck saying his breviary. Suddenly there was an explosion. The ship had been torpedoed. The newspapers said that it sank twenty minutes after it had been struck. During that twenty minutes Father Maturin moved among the crowd, quieting fear, giving absolution, helping people into life belts, gathering the children into lifeboats. Just before the boat went down Father Maturin was seen walking down into the engine room to anoint a man who had been injured by the torpedo. Any priest will risk his own life to be with the dying.
The priesthood is proud of its record in that regard and everyone of us is proud of Father Maturin, who faced death himself to make death easier for others.
"Greater love than this hath no man that he lay down his life for his friends."
Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941
Who can give the catechism answer to this question:
What is the sacrament of Ex- treme Unction?
Extreme Unction is a sacrament which, through the annointing and the prayer of the priest, ngives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body, when we are in danger of death through sickness.
When you think of Extreme Unction you usually think of a priest hurrying to a deathbed on a race with death. That is not quite correct. Unless it is a case of accident or sudden sickness, there should be no need for the priest to hurry. He should be called in time. It is a wrong idea to think that we must wait until the last minute before calling the priest. Extreme Unction is a help to the body as well as the soul. As soon as a person is dangerously ill, a priest should be called. When he comes he will anoint the senses of the person one by one, asking God to forgive whatever sins have been committed through that sense. Then he will recite the beautiful prayers of the Church for the sick and dying. It is a well-known fact that a priest will face any danger even death itself to be with a dying person.
There was once a priest named Father Maturin. He was a famous priest and had written many books on the spiritual life. Father Maturin was sailing on that ill-fated ship, the Lusitania. You have certainly heard your parents talking about the Lusitania at one time or other. At about two o'clock on the afternoon of May 7, 1915, Father Maturin was walking up and down the deck saying his breviary. Suddenly there was an explosion. The ship had been torpedoed. The newspapers said that it sank twenty minutes after it had been struck. During that twenty minutes Father Maturin moved among the crowd, quieting fear, giving absolution, helping people into life belts, gathering the children into lifeboats. Just before the boat went down Father Maturin was seen walking down into the engine room to anoint a man who had been injured by the torpedo. Any priest will risk his own life to be with the dying.
The priesthood is proud of its record in that regard and everyone of us is proud of Father Maturin, who faced death himself to make death easier for others.
"Greater love than this hath no man that he lay down his life for his friends."
Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941
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