Jesus broke the bread and gave it to his disciples. 'Take it and eat', he said, 'this is my body' (Mt 26:26).

There are parishioners who are housebound because of age or sickness. There are also parishioners who are in a care home or in hospital. Possibly, they all experience a sense of isolation, of no longer belonging fully to the community. This sense of isolation can be a cause of pain and suffering.

One way of connecting with the housebound and the sick is by visiting and taking Holy Communion.  This is the task of the Eucharistic Ministers. The Eucharistic Ministers (or Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist) assist at Mass in the distribution of the Eucharist and more importantly they take the Body of Christ to parishioners who are housebound, in hospital or care homes.

When they take Holy Communion to someone at home they bring the Lord Jesus with them, but they also bring that person closer to the Parish community, on whose behalf they are carrying out their ministry. They can give the sick person news of the parish and they can also get the parish to pray for the sick person.

The leader of the Eucharistic Ministers in St Vincent's Parish is Mrs. Pat O'Donovan.

If you wish to become a Eucharistic Minister, please get in touch with her or with one of the priests. To prepare you for this ministry there will be a few meetings.

N.B-1.  If you know someone in the community who is sick or housebound and who would like to receive Holy Communion, the Sacrament of Reconciliation or the Sacrament of the sick, please make the person's name known to Mrs. Pat O'Donovan or to one of the priests.

N.B.-2. For centuries, anointing of the sick ordinarily was given only to those in immediate danger of death, which is why it was called extreme unction (“final anointing”). After the Second Vatican Council (1965), the Church developed her understanding of the sacrament, as the sacrament of healing and comfort. The faithful should therefore not wait to receive this sacrament until just before death. The Church encourages reception of the sacrament as soon as any of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age.