DETROIT — Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron celebrated Mass on the World Day of the Sick at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit on Feb. 9.
The annual commemoration occurs on the Sunday closest to the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Feb. 11, a devotion of special significance to Archbishop Vigneron and his fellow Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta.
The Order of Malta, seminarians from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, parishioners of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament and the faithful across the Archdiocese of Detroit gathered to pray for physical and spiritual healing for the sick and their caregivers.
Archbishop Vigneron said this year’s commemoration carries a special significance in the Jubilee Year of Hope, as Pope Francis calls for a renewal of hope throughout the Church, a hope, Archbishop Vigneron added, that does not disappoint.
“This hope is especially addressed to the sick because it is so easy for the sick to be tempted into discouragement,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “In the time of illness, there are many trials and temptations against hope that inevitably come along with the pain and the hurt of sickness. So today especially, the sick throughout the world are invited to accept again the grace of hope as one of the fruit of the anointing of the sick.
“Our prayer (is) for the whole Church this jubilee year, but especially for the sick in our midst this day,” Archbishop Vigneron continued. “We pray through the power of this anointing that the sick will be confirmed in this assurance that God is not a liar, that He keeps his promises, that He safeguards our happiness.”
(Photos by Valaurian Waller | Detroit Catholic)
