Viaticum

Viaticum is the term the Roman Catholic Church uses for the Eucharist given to a dying person. It is thus not an eighth sacrament, but the Eucharist administered in special circumstances.

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The Latin word viaticum, an adjectival form of the noun via, means "for a journey", and when used substantively means "provisions for a journey". The Eucharist is seen as the ideal food to strengthen a dying person for the journey from this world to life after death.

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If the dying person cannot take solid food, the Eucharist may be administered in the form not of bread, but of wine.

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The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is often administered immediately before.

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Roman Catholic Church: The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest organizational body of Christians. Its membership is over one billion. 1,085,557,000 is the figure, rounded to the nearest thousand, given in the 2003 Statistical Yearbook of the Church, page 43. Because of obstacles to reg...

Eucharist: The Eucharist is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesus's instruction, as recounted in the New Testament (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25), to do in memory of him what at his Last Supper he did when he gave his disciples bread, saying: "This is my body", and wine saying:"This is...

Sacrament: A sacrament is a Christian rite that mediates divine grace....

Viaticum related Images and Photos (experimental)

Viaticum on a Beach in Normandy 1874