Christine Darosh of Cressona came because of the health problems she has been having since retiring two years ago.
“Honestly, I never thought this would be a Sacrament that I would need,” she said. “I came hoping that the Holy Spirit will come to me and heal me.”
A Mass of the Anointing of the Sick was celebrated by Bishop Alfred Schlert on May 4 at St. Ambrose, Schuylkill Haven. It was the second of five Anointing Masses the Bishop is celebrating across the Diocese in this Jubilee Year of Hope.
Bishop Schlert told those gathered at the 10:30 a.m. Mass that Anointing of the Sick is “a great Sacrament of Hope,” and one that is mostly celebrated in private – in a home, in a nursing home, in a hospital room.
The Sacrament is not associated only with the dying, however. It can benefit anyone in need of healing, he said, whether it be physical healing, emotional healing, or spiritual healing.
The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick was delivered to several hundred people from St. Ambrose and surrounding parishes after the homily. Bishop Schlert was assisted by Monsignor Edward Zemanik, St. Ambrose Pastor; Father Thomas Osei Gyau, Assistant Pastor; and several other priests.
First, the priests prayed silently from the altar over those to be anointed and then gave thanks for the oil that was blessed at the Chrism Mass during Holy Week. Then the priests anointed people on their foreheads and on their palms, asking that healing and the gifts of the Holy Spirit would come to them.
The remaining Anointing Masses in the Diocese will be celebrated at:
St. Thomas More, Allentown – Sunday, Aug. 24 at noon Mass.
St. Catharine of Siena, Reading – Sunday, Sept. 7 at 11:30 a.m. Mass.
St. Joseph, Summit Hill – Sunday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. Mass.
“This is a Sacrament in the treasury of the Church,” said Bishop Schlert. “It is one of the Sacraments that Jesus gave us to bring us hope, to bring us healing.”
He said the healing of the Sacrament, whether physical or spiritual, includes “receiving the strength of the Sacrament to bear our cross, and to know that we are loved children of God the Father, redeemed by the Son, and enlivened by the Holy Spirit.”
For more information on Jubilee Year of Hope events, go to www.allentowndiocese.org/jubileeyear.
Photos by Vargas Photography.
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