The dictionary describes compassion as "strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering of ill fortune of others and desire to help them" (Cambridge International Dictionary).  The root of the word comes from the Latin word for sympathy – to bear or suffer with.

Compassionate care is at the heart of Caritas mission.  As Caritas Health Group enters its second decade, it draws on the examples set by the Misericordia Sisters and Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) who reached out to any and all in need of care.  For these congregations, established in the 18th and 19th centuries in Montreal, their mission of caring compelled them to respond to those who had few resources and no voice or social standing.  Their work encompassed unwed mothers, children, the chronically ill, the poor, the elderly, and the broken of mind and spirit.

Today, this strong sense of compassion lives on in Caritas Health Group's Commitment to responsiveness, openness, and social responsibility.  Most powerfully, it is expressed in the individual acts of caregivers, volunteers and supporters.  From a simple touch to generous donation, these actions have the potential to leave to a deep lasting impression on individuals, families, communities and society.

In his book The Laws of the Spirit, Dan Millman wrote, "Compassion means living with passion.  It is a tidal wave that can, in a single instant, was away judgements and resentments in a sea of profound understanding…a flow and overflow of the fullest human and divine energies."