Last Rites? Prayer?

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knotanes

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My husband’s grandmother is dying. I know she was a protestant, but not the denomination. It had been many years since she attended any church, but I know she always had a picture of the Last Supper in her kitchen.

My husband and I are both RICA…stalled a bit but have been attending for 7 years.

We were wondering, should we call a priest to go visit her? We have been warned she will die either tonight or early tomorrow.

What would be the proper response?

Thank you.
 
knotanes said:
My husband’s grandmother is dying. I know she was a protestant, but not the denomination. It had been many years since she attended any church, but I know she always had a picture of the Last Supper in her kitchen.

My husband and I are both RICA…stalled a bit but have been attending for 7 years.

We were wondering, should we call a priest to go visit her? We have been warned she will die either tonight or early tomorrow.

What would be the proper response?

Thank you.
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You can definitely call a Catholic priest to go visit her. It is a very good idea. I don’t think he can administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to her, but one never knows what the presence of an ordained minister of God can do. Besides, there are very special and expedite rites in articulo mortis if she were moved by the Spirit to desire to join the Church.
 
Also, one thing that would be a great gift would be to pray out loud the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy near her.

In the private revelation (approved by the Church) in which Jesus gave us this prayer, He said:
When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior
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When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person, God’s anger is placated and his unfathomable mercy envelops the soul
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Is she still conscious ? Many times by this stage they are unconscious mostly often due to pain killers or other drugs. I only ask because her openness to the final sacrament depends on her making a decision.

Its never wrong to consult a priest though especially about death.

Beyond that there is simply prayer. If she is a devout protestant then I would not pray the Hail Mary or other clearly catholic prayers in her presence. Even though they appear unconscious hearing is often still very active. Instead pray prayers that will both comfort her as well as protect her.

Psalm 23 and many others

Protestant hymns are often prayers and beautiful. Softly singing amazing grace, in the sweet bye and bye, shall we gather at the river, nearer my god to thee, on and on and on. The songs are less objectionable to the dying and yet are also prayers.

Its hard, no matter what you do you will question if you did enough or the right thing.

I still pray the Catholic prayers regardless of the faith of the person but I pray them quietly next to them. But I try to be sensitive to their wishes.
 
R_C said:
Also, one thing that would be a great gift would be to pray out loud the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy near her.

In the private revelation (approved by the Church) in which Jesus gave us this prayer, He said:
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Thank you for the suggestion. I can’t get anyone to listen…again. Everyone thinks it is a nice idea and they would appreciate it assuming she is still alive tomorrow. So frustrated. This happened on the other side of the family last year with my uncle. Everyone thanked me for asking but it wasn’t important enough to do right away…and so he died. Which was awful because he attended Catholic Church for most of his life but never converted officially.
 
Keep in mind that Protestants have valid baptisms…and if it wasn’t valid you can baptize in a emergency!
 
R_C said:
but God knows
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True. I just think it would have been a comfort to him and I would have liked to have seen him be able to convert. He always stayed away from RCIA because he said he didn’t want to “pay the Pope”. But, I still have masses said for him.
 
Thank you to everyone! She made it through the night and our priest was very quick to get out to her. He blessed her and prayed with the family. I left them a prayer book and a rosary, as well, when I visited.

Probably by the end of the day she will no longer be with the family, but I hope and trust the prayers have helped make the transition from this life to the next with as much peace and grace as is available.

I love the Catholic Church for being so filled with God’s merciful love that it will drop and run to the aid of believers of any kind. :grouphug:
 
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