By Tony Bidgood, C.Ss.R.
This past Friday, I experienced the coming together of three different worlds: The Redemptorist family, hospital chaplaincy and the effects of the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Already, like every other hospital, the Health Sciences Centre here in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada has been transformed from a bustling centre to a quiet place, a place of anxiety and nervous anticipation. The pandemic has reserved the hospital for the very sick and Covid-19 patients. Many services are closed such as the cafeteria, and other services like coffee shops and cafes are all following physical distancing. Each department has adapted to a new reality. For example, our Pastoral Care Department has changed from a denominational basis of care to an ecumenical and interfaith care model. Prior to Covid-19, denominational chaplains would visit their own congregants. But now, in an effort to reduce the number of people on units, there is one chaplain assigned to a unit who is tasked with visiting everyone who identifies with a particular religion or denomination.
Around 4 pm on a recent Friday, while I was in the ICU where there were four patients in isolation with Covid-19, I was paged to the Emergency Room to anoint a 90-year-old woman. Once I arrived in the ER, there was a larger than normal group of nurses and doctors there and I was stopped by them and kindly directed to dress in full PPE (personal protective equipment, which consisted of a mask, face shield, gown and surgical gloves) prior to entering the isolation room of the patient. I was not allowed to bring in the Pastoral Care ritual book because of the risk of contamination, but I could bring in my Anointing oil. These protocols were in place as a precaution because the patient arrived with breathing difficulties and coughing and thus, was tested for Covid-19. At the time of the anointing, we were still awaiting the results of the test.
When I entered the room there were two nurses present, also dressed in PPE, and to my surprise there lay on the bed a life-long parishioner of the Redemptorist parish of St. Teresa’s in St. John’s and a friend of the Redemptorists over our many years at the parish. She was a faithful woman. As did many Redemptorists over the years, I would visit her in her home to celebrate the sacraments with her when she could not come to church due to declining health. I always found her sitting in her chair in the living room with her breviary at her side and patiently making rosary beads to distribute far and wide. Truly, she was a woman of deep faith in Christ. Not having any family of her own, in this time of pandemic, she was alone in the Emergency Room.
As I anointed her, I could not help but consider how good it was that this life-long and faith-filled woman was being attended by two nurses and a Redemptorist priest as she was dying. I was very pleased to be the one at her side, feeling that I somehow partially represented the Redemptorist tradition and the presence of so many of my predecessors whom she knew and loved. In some sense, it was very fitting. But once she was anointed, I could not stay much longer. I was directed in the proper procedure for removing the PPE, hand washing etc. (They even took my vial of oil and wiped it down with an antiseptic wipe before handing it back to me). Then I was led out of the room, made a notation on the chart and returned to ICU. She died in the early hours of Saturday morning. Her test results later showed that she did not have Covid-19.
I firmly believe we are shaped by the context in which we live. Our experiences of God, come through our context. Right now, in the midst of a pandemic that keeps the world inside and isolated, we are experiencing God in a new way. As I write this, it is Holy Week, unlike any other in our lifetime.
This great friend of the Redemptorists died in this time of pandemic. This time shaped how she was anointed, and how the Redemptorists were present to her after so many decades of her being present to us. While I was glad to be with her, I was also saddened that it seemed so minimal because of the Covid-19 protocols.
As is often the case in chaplaincy, I felt the contradictions and nuances of emotions that come with the great privilege of this ministry that I dearly love. She confirmed for me what I have often seen: that in times of death and difficult circumstances – like the one our world faces today – God comes alongside and joins with us. God was there with her as she lay dying through the Sacrament of Anointing, through the care of the nurses in that room, the doctors, and through the medical technology available to keep her comfortable. I also know that in her failing body at the moment, this deeply religious woman was revealing to me God’s presence in her.
Grace finds many ways to be present, regardless of circumstances. Today as we move through this pandemic when our lives have changed so radically for the moment, this humble woman, faithful to God and friend of the Redemptorists, revealed God’s grace present even now.
Photo by Dimitri Conejo Sanz / Cathopic.com