The sacrament of the
anointing of the sick is just one way priests and chaplains can minister
to the dying and their families. They -- along with others in pastoral
care ministry -- can also pray, sing, read Scriptures, counsel, help
with arrangements and mediate conflicts. They even grant final requests.
One patient at Our Lady of Mercy Life Center nursing home in
Guilderland, for example, expressed a lifelong desire to see a certain
play. Marie Venaglia, the Catholic chaplain, rented a DVD from the
library and played it for her. After residents die, the center holds a
service for family, staff and visitors. It also has periodic memorial
services. "It's another form of closure, another way to talk about how
(the bereaved are) doing," Venaglia told The Evangelist, newspaper of
the Albany Diocese. "Death is a natural process. We can speak freely
about it. It's not all medical. The pastoral ministry here is all
incorporated into the whole care." She and other Catholics who encounter
death on a regular basis recently reflected on pastoral care of the
dying, God's presence at a deathbed and their common experiences in
patients' final hours. The anointing of the sick -- which Venaglia
described as "a blessing showing that the whole church is united in
praying for this person at this time in their life, not just a death" --
is offered every six weeks and as needed.
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...