Background: World Day of the Sick
February 11, 2023
February 11 is the 31st World Day of the Sick, a commemoration instituted by Pope St. John Paul II. The World Day of the Sick takes place each year on the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Pope Francis’s message for the day, issued on January 10, is entitled “‘Take care of him’ (Lk. 10:35): Compassion as a synodal exercise of healing.”
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.” The messages of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis are available on the Vatican website.
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