Sacramental anointing of a parish community

Father Patrick Williams, pastor of St. Pius X Church in New Orleans, celebrated the sacrament of anointing Oct. 19 as part of the parish’s regular Holy Hour.

Reading from the Rite of Anointing, Father Williams told the congregation: “As the gospels relate, those who were in need of healing came to (Jesus). Moreover, he loves us so much that he died for our sake. Through the apostle James, he has commanded us, ‘Are there any who are sick among you?

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”6″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails” override_thumbnail_settings=”0″ thumbnail_width=”240″ thumbnail_height=”160″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ images_per_page=”20″ number_of_columns=”0″ ajax_pagination=”0″ show_all_in_lightbox=”0″ use_imagebrowser_effect=”0″ show_slideshow_link=”1″ slideshow_link_text=”[Show slideshow]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]Let them send for the priest of the church and let the priest pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick persons and the Lord will raise them up. If they committed any sins, their sins will be forgiven them.’

Let us, therefore, commend our brothers and sisters who are in need of God’s mercy and healing to the grace and power of Christ that he may save them and raise them up.”