Denver Catholic

BY AARON LAMBERT O ne night, Father Emanuele Fadini, FSCB, was called to anoint a COVID -19 patient on the verge of death. It was the first time Father Fadini had witnessed the symptoms of COVID -19 he had only read about in the news; the patient was gasping for air and unable to breathe, almost as if he was drowning. Up to that point, all of the COVID -19 patients he had visited in the hospital were unconscious. This man was not. "He was in agony," Father Fadini recalled. "That was the only time I saw a conscious patient diagnosed with COVID -19 in the ICU." Because the patient was still conscious, Father Fadini was able to hear his confession, anoint him with the oil, and give him what the Church calls "food for the journey," or the viaticum, in the form of the Eucharist. He also gave the patient his rosary. He told Father Fadini that he used to pray in the past, but then he stopped. Father Fadini encouraged the patient to hold it, and if he could, to pray with it, assuring him that the Blessed Mother "was there, more real than myself and was going to receive the tears of this man and bring them to Christ, preparing his soul and body for the Lord." The patient did not survive. When Father Fadini left him, he did so bearing the pain of his gasping and his panting. At the same time, he gave thanks to God. "Thanks God that you are," he said. "Because this man found you again." Quietly, priests have been visiting sick and dying patients in hospitals, offering the sacraments to those who need them most. While some hospitals are not allowing priests to visit those infected with the novel coronavirus, priests remain ready and willing to go to the ones that are. Anytime, day or night – if they receive a call, they go. Medical professionals and researchers around the world are learning more about the novel coronavirus with each passing day, but its increased threat for older people and those with underlying health conditions seems Around the Archdiocese 9 DENVER CATHOLIC | MAY 9-22, 2020 Signs of hope for the suffering Priests share experiences of visiting and anointing COVID-19 patients

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