Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

Our mission as church is to do what Jesus did. And on nearly every page of the Gospels we read of Jesus' concern for the sick.  Healing was essential to the mission of the disciples.

In the course of time, the focus of the sacrament shifted from healing to forgiveness of sins. The time for receiving the sacrament was delayed to the deathbed when forgiveness of sins would also be the final preparation for heaven. 

"Over the centuries the Anointing of the Sick was conferred more and more exclusively on those at the point of death and because of this received the name ‘extreme unction.’ The sacrament of the sick had become the last anointing, the unction in extremis.”

The Second Vatican Council, who wanted to remedy the situation, placed the sacrament in the context of mutual prayer and concern described in the Epistle of James. Anointing "is not a sacrament for those who are only at the point of death" but intended for all those who are seriously ill.

Receiving the sacrament

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that when the sick are anointed they should be "assisted by the priest and the whole ecclesial community, which is invited to surround the sick in a special way through their prayers and fraternal attention. Like all the sacraments the Anointing of the Sick is a liturgical and communal celebration so it is very fitting to celebrate it within the Eucharist."

The criteria for receiving the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick are as follows:

1.     A prudent or reasonably sure judgment without scruple is sufficient for deciding on the seriousness of the illness; if necessary a doctor may be consulted.

2.     The sacrament may be repeated again if the sick person recovers after being anointed and then falls ill, or if during the same illness the person’s condition becomes more serious.

3.     A sick person may be anointed before surgery whenever a serious illness is the reason for the surgery.

4.     Elderly people may be anointed if they have become notably weakened even though no serious illness is present.

5.     Sick children may be anointed if they have sufficient use of reason to be strengthened by this sacrament.

V  The parish administers the sacrament periodically. This can generally occur during Saturday vigil Masses.  This celebration is announced a number of weeks prior to the occurrence. You do not need to be a member of the parish to receive this sacrament.