Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lima (Agenzia Fides) - "From Faith and silence, pain becomes Holiness": this is the title of the
"National Day of the sick and elderly missionary", organized for tomorrow, Sunday, July 14, by the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), in all the dioceses of Peru. The intent of the day is "to unite the sick to Christ through the offering of prayer, pain and sacrifice for missions, which becomes the spiritual strength for the universal Church." The sick and the elderly - explains the note sent to Fides by the PMS in Peru - "are living stones that their testimony of faith seek to make a contribution to the world, transforming pain into courage".
The day involves patients in all hospitals, church group seniors and volunteers who work in the health care sector. There are thousands of participants and from year to year, the number and awareness of the volunteers involved in every parish, and health care center increases. Today, 13 July, the Holy Mass will be held where the Sacrament of the Sick will be given "in order to strengthen our sick brothers and sisters and renew their personal encounter with Christ" in the parish of Christ the King in the area of Santa Beatriz in Lima.
The Union of Sick Missionaries ("Union de Enfermos Misioneros"), was established in 1928, when Marguerite Godet, who wanted to be a missionary but was immobilized by illness, offered herself as a "sick missionary" in the Seminary of Foreign Missions in Paris, thus giving rise to the Union of Sick Missionaries. Today the Union is organized and promoted by the Pontifical Mission Societies, that gather all the chronically ill or elderly who want to offer their pain and their lives for missions. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 13/07/2013)
