Until recently most people died at home rather than in a medical facility, and Catholic families were urged to be prepared for the coming of a priest to give the "Last Rites" for a dying loved one. The easiest way to do this was to have a manufactured "sick call" set that contained objects useful in the administration of the sacrament and convenient for the priest, who would always with him the Ol
eum Infirmorum (Oil of the Sick) and Communion, but not necessarily other things that are helpful and meaningful. Since most people now die in hospitals rather than at home the need for these devotional objects in the home has seemingly diminished, but these sets are still an important part of every home, and still serve us well as tools of our faith. What we used to call "Extreme Unction" is now referred to as the "Sacrament of the Sick", and together with Viaticum (Communion for the dying) are part of the "Last Rites" of the Church. Sick Call sets are used for simply bringing Communion to the seriously ill as well. A sick call set is a collection of objects used in the visitation of someone who is sick (for Confession and the reception of Holy Communion), or for the Sacrament of the Sick (aka Extreme Unction or the Last Rites), which includes the Holy Annointing. In the Catholic Church there as always been a desire for the aged, the very sick, and the dying to receive the Sacrament of the Sick, formerly known more commonly as Extreme Unction or the Last Rites. Special emphasis has always been on the dying. There are also sick call sets designed for priests to carry around. Most, however, are designed to be in the home. For a sick call set a family could simply have a box of supplies in a drawer, but manufacturers realized that sets could be created that not only served the practical purpose of storing items, but could also be devotional items used and displayed when not being used for their ultimate purpose. These include the shadow and ornate boxes that go back to the 1800s as well as the hidden-compartment crucifix models that have been the most common sick call sets since probably the 1930s. Fortunately there have been many other variations as well!
