SAN DIEGO — In observance of the World Day of the Sick, the Order of Malta will host the Diocese of San Diego’s second annual World Day of the Sick Mass.
With Bishop Robert W. McElroy serving as principal celebrant and homilist, the special liturgy will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, at Our Mother of Confidence Parish, and will include the sacrament of the anointing of the sick as well as a blessing of caregivers.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened” is the theme of this year’s World Day of the Sick. In caring for the sick, Pope Francis is encouraging in healthcare workers the human warmth and personalized approach of Jesus Christ.
In 1992, Pope St. John Paul II, just one year after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, instituted the World Day of the Sick. Since 1993, it has been celebrated every year on or near Feb. 11, the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, as a special time of prayer and sharing, of offer-ing one’s suffering.
The feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes was chosen because of the healing inter-cessions of Our Lady and is especially poignant to the Order of Malta due to the Order’s special devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes and its annual pilgrimage to Lourdes.
The Order of Malta is a Catholic lay order founded in 1048 A.D. with a double mission to witness to the faith of the Roman Catholic Church and to serve the poor and sick.
For more information about the Mass, contact the Our Mother of Confidence Parish office at (858) 453-0222.
