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The Sacrament of Extreme Unction
EXTREME
UNCTION is a sacrament in which, by
the anointing with oil and the prayers of the priest, the grace of God is
imparted to the sick, for the welfare of their souls and often of their
bodies.
This sacrament is called Extreme
Unction, because it is the last anointing with oil that a Christian can
receive. The other anointings are at Baptism, Confirmation, and
Ordination.
In the Gospel according to St. Mark we
read that even during the lifetime of Christ the apostles anointed the
sick with oil. The passage reads: "Going forth they preached that men
should do penance: and they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil
many that were sick, and healed them (Mark vi. 12, 13).
This passage of Scripture is now
generally admitted. It shows clearly that Christ must have taught His
apostles the using of oil in dealing with the sick.
That Christ also elevated this
anointing to the dignity of a sacrament appears from the words of St.
James the apostle: "Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the
priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil
in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man,
and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be
forgiven him" (James v. 14, 15).
Here St. James plainly states that the
grace of fortitude, of consolation, and of pardon of sin is joined to the
anointing with oil and the prayers of the priest. It is evident that so
saving a power could not be ascribed by the apostle to these mere outward
signs and acts if he were not sure that they came from Christ and were
ordained by Him.
The outward signs of Extreme Unction
are:
1.
The blessed oil with which the priest anoints the five senses of
the sick Christian; and,
2.
The words uttered as a prayer by the priest at each anointing, and
which are as follows: "By this holy anointing, and through His own good
mercy, may the Lord be pleased to forgive thee whatsoever thou hast sinned
by the sense of thy sight, smell, hearing, taste, speech, touch, motion,
and also by thy thoughts and the lusts of thy heart."
The Sacrament of Extreme
Unction, like all the sacraments for the living, augments sanctifying
grace. Moreover, it remits venial sins, and such mortal sins as may have
been done unknowingly, as well as those grievous sins which the sick
person is no longer able to confess, and it destroys the relics of sins
already forgiven, especially the temporal punishments due to them, as well
as also the evil tendencies of the heart, the weakness of the will—all of
which are effects of past sins. Extreme Unction is a complement of the
Sacrament of Penance. It strengthens the sick person in his sufferings
and temptations, especially in the death agony. It frequently produces
favorable effects on the body, also, and if it is for the patient's
spiritual good, it sometimes restores him to full health and strength.
In the sick room, where
Extreme Unction is to be administered, the following preparations should
be made:
Let the room be clean and
tidy, and, if possible, clean clothing on the bed. Let there be a small
table, covered with a clean cloth, bearing a crucifix, two candlesticks
with candles burning, a vessel with holy water, and a plate with some
cotton. On another table let there be a plate with some salt, a piece of
the soft part of the bread for cleaning the priest's fingers, and some
water and a towel.
Extreme Unction can be
administered only once in the same sickness. If the danger of death has
passed away, and the sickness return again with renewed danger of death,
the anointing may be repeated.
The sacrament should be
received while the patient is in fair enjoyment of his faculties. Very
much depends on the subject being anointed while he can notice what is
being done, and join with devotion in the prayers of the priest. The more
devoutly the patient corresponds with the sacrament the more powerful will
be its effects.
Those persons who
willingly and knowingly neglect the reception of Extreme Unction entirely,
or defer it until the faculties are obscured, are guilty of a grievous
sin; for they deprive their souls of those highly necessary graces that
are obtained through this sacrament.
The Church has always
exercised the utmost care that no one should die without Extreme Unction,
or that the sick person should be so far gone in weakness as to be half
dead, and not know what was being done to him. In early times the
sacrament was administered as soon as the sickness set in, for the early
Christians were firmly convinced of its favorable effect on the body. It
was administered before the Viaticum, for all the relics of sin should be
killed before the reception of the Blessed Eucharist. In the early
Church, too, the custom prevailed for several priests to take part in
making the holy anointings, though this did not belong to the essence of
the sacrament, otherwise their number would have been defined.
Extreme Unction was
administered in the church, where there was a room for the purpose, a kind
of prayer hall, called the Catechumenate, in which were instructed persons
preparing for Baptism. There the sick person remained till death came, or
recovery.
In the beginning a Mass
for the sick person had been read. If he died, the Mass for the Dead was
celebrated in the church, the body being present. Offerings in behalf of
the deceased were made. If he recovered, a Mass of thanksgiving was
celebrated.
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