Seven Sacraments: | Baptism | Confirmation | Holy Eucharist | Confession | Holy Orders | Matrimony | Anointing of the Sick
Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament in which a person who is ill is anointed with blessed oil and prayed over by a priest.
It is meant not only for people who are dying, but for anyone who seeks forgiveness, comfort, and strength from Christ the Divine Physician. If you are suffering serious illness or facing surgery, or if you are an elderly person whose frailty has become more pronounced, you are encouraged to seek this sacrament.
The hoped-for effect is that – if it is God’s will – the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or old age.
“Now just as a bodily cure presupposes bodily life in the one who is cured, so does a spiritual cure presuppose spiritual life. Hence this sacrament is not an antidote to those defects which deprive man of spiritual life, namely. original and mortal sin, but is a remedy for such defects as weaken man spiritually, so as to deprive him of perfect vigor for acts of the life of grace or of glory; which defects consist in nothing else but a certain weakness and unfitness, the result in us of actual or original sin. against which weakness man is strengthened by this sacrament.” ― Saint Thomas Aquinas
Last Rites
The last rites (also known as the Commendation of the Dying) are the last prayers and ministrations given, when possible, shortly before someone’s death. In general, under normal circumstances, last rites for a Catholic might include the sacraments of Penance, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Communion. When Holy Communion is administered to a Catholic who is dying, it is called “viaticum” – food for the final journey, Christ accompanying us with the hope of resurrection with the food of heaven.
Requirements
Any baptized Catholic who has reached the age of reason (usually around the age of 7) and is in danger due to sickness or old age, facing surgery, or near death may request the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
If you have a sacramental emergency (a Catholic who is in imminent danger of dying and wishes to receive last rites), call the church nearest your location, ask for a priest and tell them it is a sacramental emergency.
Prayer for Divine Healing
Almighty God, in times of illness, we humbly seek Your divine healing. Pour out Your anointing on those who are sick, bringing comfort and restoration. Let Your mercy flow like a balm, soothing pain and granting strength. May Your healing touch be felt, and may those in need find solace in Your love. Amen.