"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." (James 5:14-16)
If you are experiencing an illness, injury, impending surgery, or weakness due to age, there is a powerful help available for you here in our Church.
Jesus reached out to the sick throughout His ministry and passed on to His priests the power and duty to do the same.
The Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament of the Church in which the priest prays, lays hands, and anoints the sick person with blessed oil. It may be preceded by the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) and followed by Eucharist. The sacrament may be repeated if the recipient suffers from a different illness or injury or if the same illness or condition becomes more serious.
Elderly people may be anointed if they have become weakened, even though no serious illness is present.
This sacrament is a ritual of healing appropriate not only for physical but also for mental and spiritual sickness.
We want you to be spiritually fortified and experience the peace that God alone can give. Turn to God, our Father, and to Jesus, our Savior, with your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
Contact the Rectory Office at 215-822-0179 to speak to a priest or make an appointment.
“O God who sanctifiest this oil as Thou dost grant unto all who are anointed and receive of it the hallowing wherewith Thou didst anoint kings and priests and prophets, so grant that it may give strength to all that taste of it and health to all that use it.” Hippolytus of Rome, Apostolic Tradition, 5:2 (c. A.D. 215) .
“[A] priest is to be called in, who by the prayer of faith and the unction of the holy oil which he imparts will save him who is afflicted [by a serious injury or by sickness].” Cassiodorus, Complexiones (A.D. 570).