This number is for Father's cell phone, he will check this voicemail 24/7.  In the event of a pastoral emergency such as grave illness or the death of a loved one, or to schedule an anointing please use this number.

To learn more about the Sacrament of Anointing please read the article at the bottom of this page.

When should someone receive the Anointing of the Sick?
The Second Vatican Council's  Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1963) says that "as soon as one of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived."

“Great care and concern should be taken to see that those of the faithful whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age receive [the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick]. A prudent or reasonably sure judgment, without scruple, is sufficient for deciding on the seriousness of the illness; if necessary a doctor may be consulted.”   Pastoral Care of the Sick

How is the Sacrament of the Sick different from "last rites?
The primary purposes of this Sacrament are comfort during illness, strength and courage to face the illness, and renewal of hope for recovery. In a sense, it consecrates the sick person and everyone and everything related to his/her health care in the hope of healing. The Rite is realistic about our fragile human nature and knows not every illness will end in a cure. So when someone falls seriously ill or notably weakens in their condition, the time has already arrived from the Sacrament of Anointing. Also people undergoing serious surgery or seriously ill children may also be Anointed.

What are “last rites”?
If someone has been Anointed when an illness began, or later as an illness worsened, “last rites” would include the Sacrament of Penance and Viaticum (= “food for the journey” or Holy Communion before death). Of course, depending on the acute nature of the illness or injury, Anointing might be included.

If you or a loved one wishes to receive the Sacrament of the Sick, please contact Fr. Daniel at (585) 210-3024

Theology of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
The one element of the anointing of the sick that can be traced back further and that remains the same is the blessing of the oil by the bishop. Before going into this, we must note here that the rite allows for the priest to bless any vegetable oil in cases of emergency when the priest has no access to the oil blessed by the Bishop. Other than this exception the condition of having the oil blessed by the bishop seems to go as far back as we have evidence (8th century). Some might say that in James we have mention of the blessing of the oil by the Bishop, what we have is a bringing of the sick person before the elders who will anoint him. At that point we cannot even say for sure if the oil was blessed or not but the command to bring the sick before the elder I think fulfills the same function as the practice of the later Church up to our days of having the oil blessed by the bishop. I will say more about this when I come to my explanation of the importance of this practice. The other element that we notice regarding the blessing of the oil is that it happens in the context of the celebration of the Eucharist. If we think of the Bishop and the Eucharist we immediately see the relevance of this sacrament and its deeply ecclesial nature. We also see that this puts the sick and the ministry to the sick at the center of the Christian community. The fact that the blessing of the oil is reserved to the bishop, and has been as far as we can prove, seems to show how in the person of the bishop the whole community surrounds and blesses the sick.  When the ministers, either lay or clergy, (note that lay ministers are no longer permitted to do this) bring the oil to the sick, by virtue of the Bishop´s blessing they bring with them the prayer of the whole community to the sick person. This sense is even more heightened by our current practice of blessing the oil specifically at the Chrism Mass when all the clergy gathers around the Bishop who blesses this oil not only in the context of the Eucharist but on the day (or a day close to it) in which we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist. I believe that the importance of this blessing and of the sacrament itself is at least twofold: 1) It clearly shows that the ministry to the sick is of great importance to the whole community that in this way continues Jesus’ ministry to the sick, and 2) That this acknowledges that sickness is a kairotic time in one’s life and that a sick person that lives this time in Christ is a gift to the Christian community. If we put the blessing of the oil of the sick in the context of the blessing as well in the same liturgy of the oil of catechumens and the Holy Chrism we can see in relation to these the twofold nature of the sacrament: As the oil of catechumens strengthens them in a kairotic time of their lives in which they work towards conversion and entrance into the church, so the oil of the sick strengthens the sick in a time of suffering and grace. As the holy chrism commissions the confirmed and the priests for a new role in the Christian community, the oil of the sick calls the infirm to unite their suffering to the suffering and face it in the certainty of God´s triumph over death and suffering and in doing so, becoming salvific witnesses in the midst of the community. Once again we see that this oil ministers to the sick and also acknowledges the unique gift they are in the midst of the Christian community. This ecclesial ministry to the sick, and this ecclesial acknowledgement of the gift of the sick is preserved by the reservation of the blessing of the oil to the Bishop or in James case by the command to bring the sick before the elders who in that context are the head of the community, and as such exercise the ministry for the community as a whole.
The ministry to the sick is clear in Jesus’ ministry so we will not go further into that. The gift of the sick is not so readily understandable, so let us say a few more words about it. This gift is again twofold: 1) the gift of sickness for the ill person her or himself and 2) the gift of the sick for the church. In talking of sickness as gift, I do not mean to disregard the challenges, suffering, etc. that come with sickness, nor its essential evil, yet I intend to show how in the Christian mystery, this evil of sickness by the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection is transformed, lifted up, over turned in its core and from an evil becomes a gateway to grace, transformation and salvation. That is I think the essence of the Christian mystery and certainly what we celebrate in this sacrament.
Sickness (here I refer to sickness as an illness that forces one to face one’s mortality, this is the kind of sickness in which the sacrament is properly administered, and the kind of illness I am talking about here rather then about a simple cold) is a gift for the sick person and opens a kairotic time in their lives because it forces them to face death, and in facing death, to face the fundamental questions, their own truth, etc. Such times of suffering can be graced times of conversion and in this sense times of salvation for the sick. Much has been said about this reality, we can certainly think of Heidegger´s treatment of death and authenticity, or of Karl Jasper’s treatment of limit situations, just to name a couple examples.
Sickness is a gift in the midst of the Christian community because: 1) by the presence of the sick in our midst we are all forced to a lesser degree to face our own mortality and so are called to conversion. 2) Because we are moved to serve and minister to the sick and in this sense moved to effective conversion, and to the effective practice of Christian love. The sick pull us into the experience of God. ("By experience of God we mean the following: when you feel from within that you have to commit yourself with someone or with something; that you have to lay down your life for others.” Fr. Gustavo Baena, S.J. S.T.D.). I wonder if this was the intuition of the early church in relating this sacrament to the forgiveness of sins, the fact that it moves both the sick and the community to conversion (forgiveness of sins). If it was or not I could not say, what is certain is that this relation of the sacrament with forgiveness of sins (can also be related to the common origin of sin and sickness) ended up, by tying anointing and penance, in the practice of extreme unction that as we can see has nothing to do with the multiple twofold meanings that we have reflected upon. This is why we still have a lot of work to do in terms of catechesis to bring forward the great value of this sacrament of anointing radically different from extreme unction and viaticum. The sacrament of anointing is meant to strengthen and commission the sick for their special role in the community, their kairotic time of sickness, and to minister to them and in some cases bring about not only spiritual healing (conversion) but also physical healing. Viaticum, has a very different meaning, it is ministry to the dying, nourishment for the journey of death and mostly that last participation in communion here that recalls the promises of Baptism (unity with God and God´s family as a child of God, eternal life, etc.) that will be fulfilled in the heavenly banquet and the ultimate communion with God and others. This last Eucharist is a foretaste of the ultimate Eucharist. The rite of viaticum is beautiful and of great richness in itself but radically different from Anointing and it should be kept that way. The practice of extreme unction in a way pulled these two realities together and in doing so impoverished both distinct realities and occasions of grace and hope.
I think that a poem by Gabriela Mistral sums up pretty well what I have intended to say when talking of this sacrament as the celebration of the gift of the sick/sickness:

PRAYER TO THE CHRIST OF THE CALVARY
BY GABRIELA MISTRAL

On this evening, Christ of the Calvary,
I came to pray for my ill flesh;
but, when I see you, my eyes go back and forth
from your body to my body with
shame.
How can I complain about my tired feet,
When I see yours destroyed?
How can I show you my empty hands, when yours are full of wounds?
How can I explain to you my loneliness,
when you are hanging and alone in the cross?
How can I explain to you that I have no love,  when your heart is torn?
Now I do not remember anything,
all my  sufferings fled from me.
the drive of the prayer I brought
became silent in my asking mouth.
And I only ask not to ask for anything,
just to be here, next to your dead image,
and learning that suffering is only
the key to your holy door. Amen.

ORACION AL CRISTO DEL CALVARIO
GABRIELA MISTRAL

En esta tarde, Cristo del Calvario, 
vine a rogarte por mi carne enferma; 
pero, al verte, mis ojos van y vienen 
de tu cuerpo a mi cuerpo con vergüenza.
¿Cómo quejarme de mis pies cansados, 
cuando veo los tuyos destrozados? 
¿Cómo mostrarte mis manos vacías, 
cuando las tuyas están llenas de heridas?
¿Cómo explicarte a ti mi soledad, 
cuando en la cruz alzado y solo estás? 
¿Cómo explicarte que no tengo amor, 
cuando tienes rasgado el corazón?
Ahora ya no me acuerdo de nada, 
huyeron de mí todas mis dolencias. 
El ímpetu del ruego que traía 
se me ahoga en la boca pedigüeña.
Y sólo pido no pedirte nada, 
estar aquí, junto a tu imagen muerta, 
ir aprendiendo que el dolor es sólo 
la llave santa de tu santa puerta. Amén.