Understanding Sacramental Healing

Understanding the Sacraments of Vocation presents insightful catechesis or mystagogy on the sacraments of vocation based on the words, actions, and signs of the rites and pastorally connects the meaning of the sacraments into daily Christian life.

Understanding the Sacraments of Healing offers insightful catechesis on the sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick. Guiding readers through the words, actions, and signs of the rites, this book explores the connection between the sacraments of healing and daily Christian life.

Sacraments are visible signs of an invisible healing, "medicine for immortality," according to St. Ignatius of Antioch. The sacraments are meant to be experienced as personal encounters with Christ in his Church, so that the healing we so urgently need can go forth from them. The purpose of this book is to contribute to that experience.

This book is aimed at the general reader who desires insight into the Catholic teaching on the sacraments of penance and anointing; it addresses the theology of these two sacraments as well as particular concerns that both lay person and priest may have about them.

"Is sacramental anointing the same as last rites? ""Don't you have to have some kind of special gift to be part of the Church's healing ministry?"" ""Why am I sick? Is it God's punishment?"" ""Ever since I became sick, I don't feel like myself anymore."" If life is a journey, what happens when our way is obstructed by sickness or failing health? In Healing Touch and Saving Word, Linda Malia draws upon the rich theology of the Anglican tradition personified in the Episcopal Church's sacramental liturgies of healing. In easy-to-understand language, Healing Touch examines the theological foundations of the Episcopal Church's healing liturgies, from the first Book of Common Prayer to the most recent sacramental rites. Probing the dynamics of symbol and ritual, the complex relationship of sin and sickness, and the spiritual and psychological impact of every serious illness, the book explores the power of these graced encounters in enabling the faithful to draw new hope and renewed purpose out of the chaos and turmoil of illness and debility. Individuals struggling with life-changing illness and those who care for them--clergy and laity alike--are sure to find Healing Touch a helpful and thought-provoking resource. "