A selection of sick call sets housed at Burns Library. There are 17 record cartons full of different versions of these sets in storage at the archive. (1) Photos (2)
A sick call set is a tool case that a priest would use in the home of a person who could not attend mass, typically for a medical reason. This was a procedure done by priests on a regular basis for elderly or disabled populations and did not always entail a sacrament such as Last Rites, and could simply bless the sick person or administer them communion.
Within a sick call set, there are specific items to ensure the priest can properly minister to the layperson. The central object is a crucifix, typically wood with metal accents and sometimes extra accoutrements, such as gilding or pearl. There are also two candles included in a set, to be lit and stood up to burn in the built-in candleholders of the casing. Finally, there is a vial of Holy Water in the set to bless the person. It is probable that the priests would also bring communion to these visits, but this would be done with a Pyx, a type of travel box for Eucharist which is not part of a sick call set. Some sick call sets additionally include instructions for ministry, or a calendar of the liturgical year.
As you can see in the photo gallery of sick call sets at the Burns Library, these items come in a range of sizes and shapes, with the most unique in the shape of a cross that housed inside, quite like a puzzle, all the necessary materials to perform this act.
These items were crucially made and marketed to be bought and kept in the homes of Catholic laypeople, not to be transported with the priest. This is the reason for ornate or interestingly shaped sets, and the decoration on many of them can suggest that the sick call sets were displayed all the time, not only taken out when needed.
The sick call set, though not an object widely known or used today, was evidently a large part of the faith of people in the first half of the twentieth century. This insinuates a particular reliance of faith in times of sickness and death, and begs the question of what replaced it after these sets fell out of fashion after Vatican II. Catholic historian Sarah K. Nytroe did research on the sick call sets at Burns Library in 2018 and concluded that "when sick call sets are "read" alongside instruction sheets and religious literature authored by church authorities, primary source objects and texts reveal an emphasis on institutional authority and control over the Church's sacramental life" (3). This is indicative of the two-way relationship between clergy and laity and can be read in two different ways. First, the sick call sets signify the general public's interest in understanding the sacraments around sickness and death, and a need to be personally connected in this process. On the other hand, the widespread use and reverence for sick call sets in the twentieth century also reveals "the institutional desire to ensure the proper administration of the sacraments in a space that existed outside of a church" (4).
One of the aspects of these objects to take note of is their display value, particularly with those in crucifix-shaped cases. These sets were able to be assembled so the cross stands upright, like a miniature church altar. It is clear that these sets relied on adherence to ritual and reverence for blessed objects to stay relevant. After Vatican II deemphasized the physical aspect of spirituality, sick calls had to change, becoming less frequent and for more dire situations, elevating use of objects like the pyx, holy water bottles, and covered chalices instead.