By Mark Hahn
Marketing & Communications, Emmaus Catholic Hospice
“Deep down in every human heart, there is knowledge of God. And deep down in every human heart is the desire to communicate with him.” St. Teresa of Calcutta
Katherine Thorpe, a full-time clinical nurse at Emmaus Catholic Hospice since June 2024, knows the power of prayer first-hand.
“Again and again, I’m amazed that so many of the patients we work with have done the spiritual preparation and the emotional preparation and they are ready. They are ready to just surrender themselves to the arms of their loving God and move onto the next life,” she shared.
On the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, Katherine was the Emmaus nurse on call. On her way to 7 p.m. Mass, she received a call from a patient’s family member. Concerned about their loved one’s discomfort, Katherine talked with the family member, walked through the options available and provided different care points for comfort and support. She also promised to follow up with a call in a few hours. Katherine finished the call and headed to Mass.
“I was a little late, and I missed some of the opening of Mass, but I sat down and just started praying and praying, and praying so hard, interceding for this patient, for comfort and for the family members. Praying they would have the courage and strength to accompany this person. After Mass, I could not stop thinking about this patient. So, I just offered everything I had,” she recalled.
After Mass, Katherine called the family to check in, and she decided to head over for a personal visit. When Katherine arrived, the family member described the events of the night: “I was told the patient was continuing to be very uncomfortable, and the family was not quite sure what to do.”
However, there was also a period of relief. During this challenging stretch, there was a specific window of time when the patient was very much at peace, not experiencing any discomfort.
That window of time? 7:05 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. that evening — when Katherine was at Mass and offering prayer for her patient and family.
“I just felt this great astonishment. I knew what God was doing during that time. He was using the graces of the Mass and reminding me that there is such great power in praying the Mass,” she shared.
Katherine and the entire care team at Emmaus Catholic Hospice see the unbelievable benefits of care through available medical resources and having God included throughout the journey.
In many home hospice care relationships, beautiful, intentional connections and healing are brought through prayer. At Emmaus Catholic Hospice, prayer is vital for the clinical team during personal visits with patients and their families and loved ones. Outside of personal visits, too, there are plenty of opportunities for prayer and intercession, like during Emmaus’ regular recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet for current patients, those who have died, anyone receiving a terminal diagnosis, those actively dying and those dying that day. Or, in Katherine’s case, during Mass for a holy day.
Whether in personal visits or in personal or communal prayer, by prioritizing prayer, the entire team at Emmaus, including non-clinical team members takes an active role in the care and comfort provided at this very beautiful and sacred time of life.
“God loves to use us in every way possible. He wants to use us as those bringing interventions, medications and education to the bedside. But he also wants to remind us and invites us to really be vessels of grace to all the patients that we work with. I don’t always have the answers for sure, but just showing up, he wants to work the rest,” Katherine shared.
“So, a combination of the things that we can offer here as nurses and as a medical team, in conjunction with all the graces that prayer, and especially the Holy Mass can offer. . . it’s really just the best medicine,” she concluded.
+++
Known as the “start-up 100 years in the making,” Emmaus Catholic Hospice has deep Colorado Catholic healthcare roots. It began as the Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor in 1923 and evolved into Emmaus Catholic Hospice, recently welcoming its 75th patient into care. The Emmaus team brings over 360 years of collective clinical experience and healthcare leadership to Catholic hospice care, delivered wherever patients call home: a personal home, independent living community or facility.
If someone you know might have a need for home hospice care or if you simply have questions, please reach out to Emmaus Catholic Hospice at 303-322-1413 or emmauscatholichospice.org.
