THE SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK
And He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the
LORD your God,
and do what is right in His sight, and listen to His
commandments,
and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on
you which
I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.”
Exodus 15, 26
Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the
church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name
of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the
Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.
James 5, 14-16
In the Catholic Church, the Anointing of the Sick, also known as Extreme Unction, is a sacrament that is administered to a Catholic “who, having reached the age of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age” except in the case of those who “persevere obstinately in manifest grave sin.” The sacrament provides physical and/or spiritual healing according to God’s will. It offers necessary graces so that the sick person may prepare for death; it pours out consolation and hope and provides an opportunity for the forgiveness of sins even when the sick person is too ill to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation. The Anointing of the Sick is often administered near the time of death to bring the person receiving the sacrament spiritual and physical strength. As a sacrament (an outward sign of something internal), it is performed to give God’s grace through the Holy Spirit. Only priests (presbyters) and bishops have the authority to minister the anointing of the sick using oil blessed by the bishop since Christ gave his apostles and the men they appointed in the ministry special power over natural and supernatural phenomena.
The
Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has its foundations in “the economy of
salvation.” Because sin has entered the world, illness and suffering plague our
human condition. “In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his
limitations, and his finitude.” Those who are gravely or chronically ill catch
a glimpse of death and are humbled by their illness. They acquire the wisdom that health and happiness aren’t permanent, and their lives must eventually end (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1500). The
acquisition of wisdom is a good thing, but illness, suffering, and the thought
of approaching death carry a negative influence. Although an ill or dying
person might become more mature and able to discern the more important things
in life than what one had previously thought were essential for happiness and
contentment, but, in reality, were temporal and fleeting in their shallowness,
“illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and
revolt against God.” Still, suffering and/or dying can be good because it often
prompts a person to search for God and be reconciled to Him (CCC, 1501).
The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is vital in the life of the Church because it is a medium through which Jesus extends his love to the sick and dying. Our Lord heals the person in body and soul by conferring his graces to help them overcome their anguish and despair and make peace with God for peace of mind and spiritual rest.
God’s
chosen people of the Old Covenant lived their sicknesses in the presence of
God. They lamented their illnesses and misfortunes before God because they
believed God was punishing them for their sins. Illness served as a means of
conversion and prompted the Israelites to seek God’s forgiveness. With
forgiveness should come restoration. The true Israelite in spirit sought the
grace of being at peace with God despite their unfavorable condition, unlike those who sought a temporal change of fortune for the better. In any
event, “illness was linked to sin and evil, while faithfulness to God restored
life” (CCC, 1502).
In the
New Covenant, Christ is the physician in his consubstantial oneness with the
Father. Christ’s compassion for the sick and the lame and his numerous
miraculous healings of a variety of infirmities was a radiant sign that God had
visited his people and that the kingdom of God was in their midst (Lk 7:16; Mt
4:24). Our Lord came into the world to heal the whole person, body, and soul,
with the forgiveness of sin. The physically and spiritually infirm needed him (Mk 2:5-12). Jesus went so far as to identify himself with the sick to
remind us that we should have the same love and compassion for them as he had
(Mk 25:36).
The
Magisterium of his Church reminds us that “His preferential love for the sick
has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of
Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of
tireless efforts to comfort them” (CCC, 1503). In carrying out the sacramental
rite, the priest acts in persona Christi as a physician. He is essentially a
spiritual healer, but there have been occasions in which physical healing has
been miraculously brought about with the forgiveness of sin and reconciliation
to God by the grace of sanctification or justification bestowed through the
sacrament.
Jesus
offered his apostles a share in his priestly ministry and gave them the
authority to preach the gospel and call people to repentance. This
commission included the power to cast out demons and heal the sick by anointing
their heads with oil (Mk 6:12-13). In the Catholic rite, a priest prays over
the person and anoints their head and hands with chrism (holy oil). The
anointing is how supernatural results are achieved. The act of
anointing someone is a power that comes with the manifestation and
operation of the Holy Spirit. The anointing is the presence and power of God
through which the efficacy of divine grace heals the soul and restores it to
good health.
If
miraculous physical cures accompany spiritual restoration, they are
visible signs to remind us of the connection between suffering and sin. Jesus
healed the paralytic to show he had the authority to forgive sins. If he
hadn’t had this authority, he couldn’t have produced the miracle that happened
(Mt 9:1-8; Mk 2:1-12; Lk 5:17-26). The scribes and Pharisees who told Jesus in
their rage that only God could forgive sins had no idea that he was, in fact,
God incarnate. Nor did they see that as a man, Jesus was given the divine
authority from the Father to absolve people of their sins and the power to
miraculously cure them in the power of the Holy Spirit. This authority and power was transferred from Jesus to his apostles since it was in his
humanity that the divine Person carried out his priestly ministry.
This same
authority and power lie with the Catholic priest. The chrism he uses in
conjunction with the formula of prayer is symbolic of its effects. When a
priest anoints the head and palms of the hands (Roman rite) of those who are
gravely or chronically ill and close to death in most circumstances, the
primary purpose is to give spiritual strength, notably the graces of faith and
hope. However, the sacrament does address the physical and bodily conditions of the illness. The anointing is regarded as a means of health, comfort, and a
symbol of being consecrated to God. For the sacrament to be efficacious, the
recipient must have faith in God and in His power, which is communicated through
the sacrament. He or she must also be repentant for the forgiveness of sin.
The
Universal Magisterium of the Catholic Church teaches: “A particular gift of the
Holy Spirit. The first grace of this sacrament is one of strengthening, peace,
and courage to overcome the difficulties that go with the condition of serious
illness or the frailty of old age. This grace is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who
renews trust and faith in God and strengthens against the temptations of the
evil one, the temptation to discouragement and anguish in the face of death.
This assistance from the Lord by the power of his Spirit is meant to lead the
sick person to the healing of the soul and the body if such is God’s will.
Furthermore, “if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (CCC, 1520).
Again, in
almost all cases, the body isn’t physically healed and restored to health by
God’s will as a grace of this sacrament. However, the Holy Spirit produces beneficial psychological and emotional effects. Miraculous cures are
extremely rare because suffering unites us with the passion of Christ. “ By the
grace of this sacrament, the sick person receives the strength and the gift of
uniting himself more closely to Christ’s Passion: in a certain way, he is
consecrated to bear fruit by configuration to the Savior’s redemptive Passion.
Suffering, a consequence of original sin, acquires a new meaning; it becomes a
participation in the saving work of Jesus” (CCC, 1521).
Christ
conferred redemptive value on suffering and death, which are penalties for
original sin. He transformed what was evil into something good. But our Lord
and Savior’s objective act of redemption must be joined with our subjective
redemptive participation. We remit our temporal debt of sin by joining our
suffering with Christ’s suffering to reap the full benefits of the
eternal debt he alone has paid on our sinful behalf, provided we accept our
suffering as a means of temporal reparation for our sins. The grace of the
sacrament gives us the power and wisdom to discern this truth and the strength
to accept our cross and carry it together with Christ so that we might be saved
and rewarded with eternal life (Mt 16:24; 2 Tim 2:11-12).
By the
grace we receive, we may be configured to Christ in his passion, death, and
resurrection. Thus, the grace in the sacrament benefits not only the person
receiving it but also the whole Church and the people of God. In this sense, it
is called “ecclesial grace.” By “freely uniting themselves to the passion of
Christ,” the sick who receive this sacrament “contribute to the good of the
People of God.” In the communion of saints, the Church intercedes for the sick person's benefit by celebrating the sacrament. At the same time, he or she
“contributes to the sanctification of the Church and to the good of all men for
whom the Church suffers and offers herself through Christ to God the Father”
(CCC, 1522). By configuring themselves to Christ in his passion and death and
having a share in his self-sacrifice, the sick person can merit grace (de
congruo) for the entire body of Christ (cf. Col 1:24).
Finally,
in preparation for the final journey, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the
Sick should be ministered to by a priest or bishop without hesitation when
death is imminent. In addition to the anointing, those who are gravely ill or
dying should receive the Holy Eucharist as Viaticum. “Communion in the body and
blood of Christ received at this moment of passing over to the Father has a
particular significance and importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the
power of resurrection, according to the words of the Lord: ‘He who eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day.’ (Jn 6:54). The sacrament of Christ once dead and now risen, the Eucharist
is here the sacrament of passing over from death to life, from this world to
the Father” (CCC 1524).
The Latin
word viaticum means “provision for a journey,” from “via” or “way.” For
Communion as Viaticum, the Eucharist is given in the usual form, with the added
words “May the Lord Jesus Christ protect you and lead you to eternal life.” The
sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist form a triad called “the
sacraments of Christian initiation.” The sacraments of Reconciliation or
Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, and the Eucharist as Viaticum constitute
the end of the Christian life. These latter are the sacraments that “‘prepare
for our heavenly homeland’ and the sacraments that ‘complete the earthly
pilgrimage’” (CCC, 1525).
Perseverance
is an essential character trait for us to succeed in
life. It means determination to work hard regardless of any odds or
obstacles. It is to insist and to be firm on getting something
done and not giving up. This practical definition can be applied in a spiritual
sense and in a Christian context:
“Brothers, I do not consider that I
have made it my own. But one thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus.”
Philippians 3, 13-14
“Let us hold fast the confession of
our hope without wavering,
for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10, 23
“For you have need of endurance,
so that when you have done the will of God
you may receive what is promised.”
Heb 10, 36
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when
you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and
complete,
lacking in nothing.”
James 1, 2-4
Early Sacred Tradition
O God who sanctifiest this oil as
Thou dost grant unto all who are anointed
and receive of it the hallowing wherewith Thou didst anoint kings and priests
and prophets, so grant that it may give strength to all that taste of it and
health
to all that use it.”
St. Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition, 5:2
(c. A.D. 215)
“In addition to these there is also
a seventh [sacrament], albeit hard and laborious In this
way there is fulfilled
that too, which the Apostle James says: ‘If then, there is anyone sick,
let him
call the presbyters of the Church, and let them impose hands upon him,
anointing him
with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will
save the sick man, and if he be in
sins, they shall be forgiven him.’”
Origen, Homily on Leviticus, 2:4
(A.D. 244)
“Of the sacrament of life, by which
Christians [baptism], priests, kings, and prophets are
made perfect; it
illuminates darkness [in confirmation], anoints the sick, and by its secret
sacrament restores penitents.”
Aphraates the Persian Sage, Treatises, 23:3
(A.D. 345)
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“Why, then, do you lay on hands, and believe it to be the
effect of the blessing, if perchance
some sick person recovers Why do you
assume that any can be cleansed by you from the
pollution of the devil? Why do
you baptize if sins cannot be remitted by man? If baptism is
certainly the
remission of all sins, what difference does it make whether priests claim that
this
power is given to them in penance or at the font? In each the mystery is
one.”
St. Ambrose, Penance, 1,8:36
(A.D. 390)
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“Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and
scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.”
Luke 10, 19
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