Background: World Day of the Sick

February 11, 2015

February 11 is the 23rd World Day of the Sick, a commemoration that was instituted by St. John Paul II and takes place each year on the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The title of Pope Francis’s message for the day is “Sapientia Cordis [Wisdom of Heart]: ‘I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame,’” a reference to a text from the Book of Job.

In his letter instituting the commemoration, St. John Paul wrote that the day should be “a special time of prayer and sharing, of offering one’s suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding everyone to see in his sick brother or sister the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying, and rising, achieved the salvation of mankind.”

 

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Further information:

• Pope Francis: Message for the World Day of the Sick 2015
• Pope Francis: the lives of those with serious illness are worth living (CWN, 12/30)
• Pope Francis: Message for the World Day of the Sick 2014
• Pope Benedict XVI: Messages for the World Day of the Sick
• St. John Paul II: Messages for the World Day of the Sick