Recently my niece, Sydney, had to have surgery (she is fine). The day before she was speaking with my mother and Mom asked her if she had told Fr. Paul, Sydney’s pastor, and gotten a blessing. Sydney called Fr. Paul and he told her to stop by the parish office and he would be happy to bless her. So Sydney, after going to the gym and picking up her daughter, stopped to see Fr. Paul. As he was anointing her, Sydney asked, “Am I getting a sacrament?” Fr. Paul told her she was indeed receiving the Anointing of the Sick. Sydney said, “But I thought that was only for people who are dying?”
Sydney is not alone in her misunderstanding of the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. Due to an unfortunate translation of the Latin title, many people think of it as “Last Rites.” While among the prayers of the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, there are some for those for whom death is imminent, the sacrament is for anyone who is suffering a serious illness or injury.
“By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1499).
Illness and suffering has been a trial for human beings since the Fall. When we are ill we experience our powerlessness, our limitations, our finitude, and when seriously ill, we might even glimpse our eventual death. Often when we are sick we can feel isolated and alone. But we are never alone.
During his public ministry, Jesus healed many people of their illnesses and sufferings. He allowed the sick to touch him, and he touched them. “Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn. By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick. Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of compassion and healing” (CCC #1506). “The apostolic Church has its own rite for the sick, attested to by St. James: ‘Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders [presbyters] of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.’ Tradition has recognized in this rite one of the seven sacraments” (CCC #1510).
The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is for anyone who is seriously ill, which the Church defines as anyone who begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age. Because one of the effects of Anointing is the forgiveness of sins, only a priest may administer the sacrament. During the rite of Anointing, the sick person is given the opportunity to receive the sacrament of Penance, then Scripture is read. The oil is then prayed over, and then the priest anoints the sick person on their forehead and the palms of their hands, saying, “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.” One interesting note, is since a priest has his palms anointed with Chrism at his ordination, when he receives the Anointing of the Sick, the back of his hands are anointed, not his palms.
There are several effects of the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. 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, which is a special gift of the Holy Spirit. By the grace of this sacrament the sick person receives the strength and the gift of uniting themself more closely to Christ’s Passion. The sick person, by freely and willingly receiving the sacrament, contribute to the good of God’s people. Finally, the Anointing of the Sick completes our conformity to the death and Resurrection of Christ, just as Baptism began it.