Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Baltimore track

Baltimore Catechism No. 3

Lesson 25 — On Extreme Unction and Holy Orders

Q. 976.What is the final preparation we should make for the reception of the last Sacraments?

A.The final preparation we should make for the reception of the last Sacraments consists in an earnest effort to be resigned to God's Holy Will, to excite ourselves to true sorrow for our sins, to profit by the graces given us, to keep worldly thoughts from the mind, and to dispose ourselves as best we can for the worthy reception of the Sacraments and the blessings of a good death.

Q. 977.At what time should persons dangerously ill attend to the final arrangement of their temporal or worldly affairs?

A.Persons dangerously ill should attend to the final arrangement of their temporal or worldly affairs at the very beginning of their illness, that these things may not distract them at the hour of death, and that they may give the last hours of their life entirely to the care of their soul.

Q. 978.What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?

A.Holy Orders is a Sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties.

Q. 979.Besides bishops and priests, who are the other ministers of the Church?

A.Besides bishops and priests, the other ministers of the Church are deacons and sub-deacons, who, while preparing for the priesthood, have received some of the Holy Orders, but who have not been ordained to the full powers of the priest.