World Day of the Sick Mass
A Mass in conjunction with World Day of the Sick that will include anointing of the sick, blessing of caregivers, and blessings with holy water from Lourdes, France is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Feb. 7, at St. Mary's Cathedral, 1111 Gough St., San Francisco.
Archbishop George H. Niederauer will be principal celebrant at the liturgy which will honor Our Lady of Lourdes. Last year the Church celebrated the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes to a young peasant girl who would later be declared a saint, St. Bernadette Soubirous.
The Western Association U.S.A. of the Order of Malta will host the event. The universal Church officially marks the 17th Annual World Day of the Sick on Feb. 11.
In his message for World Day of the Sick last year, Pope Benedict XVI asked that it be "a propitious occasion to invoke in a special way the maternal protection of Mary over those who are weighed down by illness, on health-care workers and workers in pastoral health care."
"I think in particular of priests involved in this field, women and men religious, volunteers and all those who with active dedication are concerned to serve in body and soul the sick and those in need," the pontiff said, adding:
"I entrust all to Mary, Mother of God and our mother, the Immaculate Conception. May she help everyone in testifying that the only valid response to human pain and suffering is Christ, who by rising defeated death and gave us life that knows no end."
Last April 29 to May 7, the Order of Malta's Western Association made its annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. The 325 persons taking part included 50 "malades," individuals who are ill.
San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer was also a guest of the organization and played an active role in supporting and caring for the malades.
The Order of Malta's full name is the Sovereign Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta. Founded in Jerusalem at the end of the 11th century to run a hospice for pilgrims, the Knights of Malta received papal recognition as a religious order in 1113.
Today the order operates numerous hospitals and clinics around the world. It has ambulance corps and mobile first-aid facilities to care for the wounded in wars or natural disasters. It operates relief programs for refugees and the needy. It sends millions of dollars of food, medicine and relief supplies around the world each year.
Most of the Knights' 12,500 members are lay associates, men and women.
(From January 16, 2009 issue of Catholic San Francisco)
