IV The Message m for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana August 30, 1996
Nun-author aims book at spiritual needs of elderly
By JULIE ASHER
Catholic News Service
Until Sister Sandra DeGidio
was elected president of her
order, the Servants of Mary, she
never paid too much attention
to the nursing home run by the
sisters.
But during her six-year
tenure, she said, she fell in love
with the elderly. "There is such
a beauty and a wisdom in them,"
said Sister DeGidio, author of a
new book on prayer aimed at
residents of nursing homes and
retirement facilities.
While she was president, the
Servants of Mary expanded
their nursing home, adding beds
and including areas for assisted
living and for independent liv-
ing.
But the inspiration for her
Prayer Book
Sister Sandra DeGidio, OSM, is the author of Giving Comfort
and Joy, a book of prayer services for the elderly. It con-
tains prayers and rituals for liturgical seasons, holidays and
other special occasions.
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book, "Giving Comfort and Joy:
Prayer Services for the Elderly"
published by Twenty-Third Pub-
lications, came from chaplains
and pastoral ministers who
work with the elderly. They
challenged her to put'together a
book that would address the
spiritual well-being of older
adults.
"Spiritual well-being is crucial
to successful aging. When all
else goes, spirituality remains,
a strength that can endure to
the end," Sister DeGidio wrote
in the book's introduction.
The "continued spiritual de-
velopment" of older adults is di-
rectly related to their participa-
tion in worship and group
prayer, she said. "Prayer and
rituals help them respond to
their inner needs and their
faith." Allowing older adults to
participate in the rituals they
have known all their lives can
keep them from becoming anx-
ious or depressed.
An active spiritual life also
helps the elderly "in accepting
death," she said in a telephone
interview from her home in the
Milwaukee suburb of Oak
Creek. "I think we are able to ac-
cept death when we have lived
well."
The author of seven books,
Sister DeGidio has previously
written about family catechesis,
sacraments, liturgy and the Rite
of Christian Initiation of Adults.
She writes a monthly column for
a health care newsletter and has
worked as a consultant for inde-
pendent-living residences and
assisted-living facilities.
Her new 104-page volume is
organized in a workbook-style
format in three sections. The
first, "Liturgical Seasons," in-
cludes an Advent ritual,
Hanukkah, blessing of the
Christmas tree and creche,
Epiphany and psalms for Lent.
The next section, "Minor
Church Feasts," covers New
Year's Day, St. Valentine's Day,
Mardi Gras, feasts of Mary and
others.
The largest section is "Cele-
bratory Days and Special Occa-
sions." In it, Sister DeGidio pre-
sents a ritual for birthdays and
anniversaries, a service that can
be adapted for various civic hQ1-
idays, celebrations for the four
seasons, and services to use
when a fellow resident dies,
when the adult child or spouse
of a resident dies or even just for
times of"sadness, anxiety, frus-
tration, doubt." This section also
has rituals for welcoming new
residents or celebrating the
work of the caregivers or simply
to give thanks for good news.
For each ritual in her book,
Sister DeGidio makes sugges-
tions on how to prepare the
room that will be used and the
materials to use. In addition,
she provides opening prayers,
responses, citations for the ap-
propriate readings, closing
prayers and a suggested closing
hymn. She also urges advance
preparation for those leading
the service.
She provides tips on how to
use the book, encouraging those
who do to be creative in adapt-
ing what she has outlined to
their particular circumstances.
Among the recommendations
she offers includes developing
familiarity with the particular
needs of the group which is
being ministered to and being
sensitive to the challenges con-
fronting "third agers," such as
loss of hearing, sight, mobility
and cognition.
Other challenges she identi-
fies are "challenges to self,"
"challenges of loneliness" and
"challenges of skin-hunger."
For the self, she said, involve-
ment in prayer rituals can raise
older adults' self-esteem. Lone-
liness, she added, can some-
times lead to bitterness, but
group prayer can help alleviate
such feelings.
"Skin-hunger" she defines as
the need to be touched or
hugged. She suggests incorpo:
rating "touch and symbols of
touch" in prayer, such as hand-
holding and gestures of blessing.
As the U.S. population ages,
meeting the spiritual needs of
older adults will become in-
creasingly important, Sister
DeGidio said.
She said she is impressed by
the many parishes across the
United States that have volun-
teers going into nursing homes
and retirement facilities and
with formation programs that
exist for pastoral ministers. But,
she added, "I think there is cer-
tainly more than could be done."
What concerns her more than
parish involvement, though, is
"what's happening in nursing
homes themselves," she said.
Facilities are trimming their
budgets, leaving little room to
hire a chaplain, she added.
'Tin hearing that more and
more and more," she said. "[
think what is going to ... have to
happen is parish pastoral min-
isters are going to need to reach
out more."
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