Phenomenological and Contemplative Approaches to Vigiling With Persons Who Are Nearing Death

Most often when I am called to vigil, the person nearing death is semiconscious or unconscious. Although the medical staff do all they can to make the person comfortable, there is no way to know how much the person may be suffering, what their emotional state is, how he or she is experiencing the dying process, nor are there opportunities for them to heal, ask, and receive forgiveness, express thanks or love, and say goodbye. This article aims to introduce the potential for being and communicating with another who is nearing death through the phenomenological and contemplative mediums of silence, image, empathy, and the lived body.